Exposure to traffic related hazards among high-school going learners in South Africa: Findings from the 1st SA National Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, 2002

South Africa is faced with a double burden of road related injuries involving motor vehicle drivers and passengers as well as those involving pedestrians. More than half (56.4%) of child transport related deaths in the country are due to pedestrian injuries. Pedestrian deaths are ranked as the top external cause of death among children aged 5-14 years. Among older people the risk of traffic related hazards is much higher as over 70% of transport related deaths occur among pedestrians, of whom 60% have elevated alcohol concentration levels. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which young school-going learners engage in various behaviours that expose them to traffic related road hazards in South Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted across the nine provinces of South Africa. A two-stage stratified cluster sampling was utilised to select a total of 23 schools in each of the provinces and two classes per school were randomly selected at the second stage. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 10 699 learners in 207 schools. The respondents consisted of 54% females and 46% males with an average age of 17 years. Preliminary findings demonstrated a low usage of seatbelts (21.4% [19.6-2 3.1]); 35% reported being in a car driven by an intoxicated driver and 8% had driven after drinking alcohol. More males than females reported being in a car driven by an intoxicated driver (35% vs 32%) and driving a car after drinking alcohol (7.8% vs 5.5%). Over 10% of learners reported walking alongside a road after drinking alcohol with the highest rate (19.6%) occurring in Western Cape. In conclusion, pedestrians and passengers make up the majority of road casualties in South Africa. Despite these data, road safety campaigns, such as Arrive Alive, focus almost exclusively on driver and occasionally passenger targeted initiatives. More collaborative multi-sectorial partnerships are required between research disciplines to explore road safety beyond surveillance data and start incorporating theoretically based behaviour change interventions for all road users. Language: en