Aim: To describe the road safety practices of young adults in New Zealand.
Method: Face to face structured interviews, seeking information on a range of road safety practices, were conducted with 948 members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study cohort when they were 21 years old.
Results: In the 30 days before the interview, 49% of the males and 32% of the females reported driving within two hours of drinking alcohol; 19% males and 8% females reported driving after drinking too much to perhaps be able to drive safely: and 25% males and 9% females reported driving after using marijuana. Also, 25% males and 6% females reported that they "often" drove fast just for the thrill of it, and 38% males and 11% females reported "often" driving faster than 120 kph on the open road. Seatbelt use as a driver was reported as "always" or "nearly always" by 87% of the males and 95% of the females, but as a rear seat passenger it was 34% for males and 47% for females.
Conclusions: Unsafe road traffic practices, especially among males, were unacceptably high. Continued efforts are required to find new ways of addressing these issues.