Evaluating Long‐Term Outcomes of a High School‐Based Impaired and Distracted Driving Prevention Program

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death among teenagers. Many of these deaths are due to preventable causes, including impaired and distracted driving. You Drink, You Drive, You Lose (YDYDYL) is a prevention program to educate high school students about the consequences of impaired and distracted driving. YDYDYL was conducted at a public high school in Southern Nevada in March 2020. A secondary data analysis was conducted to compare knowledge and attitudes of previous participants with first‐time participants. Independent-samples‐t test and χ2 test/Fisher’s exact test with post‐contingency analysis were used to compare pre‐event responses between students who had attended the program one year prior and students who had not. Significance was set at p < 0.05. A total of 349 students participated in the survey and were included for analysis; 177 had attended the program previously (50.7%) and 172 had not (49.3%). The mean age of previous participants and first‐time participants was 16.2 (SD ± 1.06 years) and 14.9 (SD ± 0.92 years), respectively. Statistically significant differences in several self‐reported baseline behaviors and attitudinal responses were found between the two groups; for example, 47.4% of previous participants compared to 29.4% of first‐time participants disagreed that reading text messages only at a stop light was acceptable. Students were also asked how likely they were to intervene if a friend or family member was practicing unsafe driving behaviors; responses were similar between the two groups. The baseline behaviors and attitudes of participants regarding impaired and distracted driving were more protective among previous participants compared to first‐time participants, suggesting the program results in long‐term positive changes in behaviors and attitudes. The results of this secondary retrospective study may be useful for informing the implementation of future impaired and distracted driving prevention programs.