The Road User Behaviours of Chinese Adolescents: Data From China and a Comparison With Adolescents in Other Countries

Abstract

Objectives: Adolescents experience high rates of road traffic injuries and deaths as pedestrians and cyclists. One likely reason for adolescents’ elevated traffic injury risk is their risky behaviour on the road. This study examined Chinese adolescents’ road behaviour using a nationwide survey. Methods: Across 7 Chinese provinces, 4,794 adolescents completed the Chinese version of the Adolescent Road User Behaviour Questionnaire (ARBQ). Results from t-tests and ANOVAs described the road behaviours of Chinese adolescent subgroups, and meta-analytic techniques and Kendall’s correlation analysis compared adolescent road behaviours between China and other countries (Iran and a high-income country composite). Results: Replicating previous reports from other countries, male adolescents in China generally reported more risk-taking on the road than females, and adolescents aged 15 years and over behaved in a riskier manner than younger ones. Adolescents in rural China reported more risky road behaviours than those who lived in cities, and adolescents who lived only with grandparents behaved more riskily than those who lived with parents only or with parents and grandparents. Adolescents previously involved in a traffic injury also reported riskier road behaviours. In cross-national comparisons, Chinese adolescents’ scores on unsafe road behaviours were lower, and scores on safe road behaviours were higher, than those in other nations. However, there were also several commonalities in how adolescents across countries ranked the frequency of engaging in specific risky road behaviours. Conclusions: Gender, age, living environment, and traffic injury experience affect adolescents’ reports of their risky road behaviour. Chinese adolescents reported more cautious behaviour than those in high-income countries and in Iran. Traffic injury interventions for adolescents should consider adolescent development as part of pedestrian safety training; results also have implications for guiding parents on how to supervise adolescents near traffic and on what infrastructure development strategies might best protect adolescents in traffic situations.