Prevalence of risky driving behaviours on popular television series

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among young adults. Social media and television have been shown to affect the likelihood that young adults will engage in risk-taking behaviour. We watched 216 episodes of five popular television series on Netflix and identified 333 separate driving scenes, of which 271 (81.4%) portrayed at least one risky driving behaviour. Unsafe driving (not wearing a seat belt) was the most common risky driving behaviour noted, occurring in 245 (73.6%) of driving scenes. Distracted driving (36 [18.8%]) and driving while using a cellphone (28 [8.4%]) were also noted. Popular television series model unsafe driving behaviours. Seat belts are infrequently used. As well, drivers are often distracted, looking away from the road to talk or talking on their cellphones. Television producers should be sensitive to modelling unsafe driving behaviours, particularly if the audience consists largely of young people.