The Prevalence of Risky Behaviours in Traffic that can Lead to Traumatic Brain

Abstract

Introduction: Traffic accidents are a common cause of traumatic brain injuries. Such injuries are often associated with problematic behaviour i.e., violations of the Traffic Safety Act. Driving under the influence of intoxicants and non-compliance with traffic signals often cause traffic accidents, and not wearing a crash helmet or not wearing a protective seat belt increase the possibility of developing a traumatic brain injury. Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of risky behaviours in traffic that can lead to traumatic brain injury and to examine differences according to gender. It is assumed that the most common risky behaviour is failure to wear a crash helmet and that the male participants will show a higher prevalence of risky behaviour compared to women. Methods: The measuring instrument is a questionnaire consisting of nine statements. The questionnaire was filled out by a sample of 302 people in Croatia. The IBM SPSS Statistics 22 program was used for data processing. The prevalence of risky behaviours was expressed in percentages, and the Pearson’s Chi-Square was used to examine the differences between male and female participants. Results: The results show that risky behaviours in traffic are present, especially not wearing a crash helmet while riding a bicycle, running across the road on a red light, and not wearing a seat belt in a car whilst sitting in the back seat. The male participants showed a higher prevalence of risky behaviour compared to women. Conclusion: To reduce the number of traffic accidents that can lead to traumatic brain injury, it is important to act on risky behaviours in traffic. Public health policies and legislation are one way of prevention. In addition, it is important to inform, educate and raise public awareness about this global problem. In order to implement the necessary preventative measures, one should be aware of the prevalence of the risky behaviours in traffic that can lead to traumatic brain injury and of the groups that are more willing to take risks in traffic.