title: Driving behavior among medical students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the driving behavior of medical students, comparing current patterns with those found in a study previously conducted at the same school of medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  We administered standardized questionnaires to a sample of students enrolled at the medicine major of the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), in order to collect demographic and socioeconomic data, as well as information on their driving behavior and involvement in traffic accidents. Our findings were compared with those found in a similar study conducted in 1997.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 354 students in the present study conducted in 2008. The sample of the study conducted in 1997 included 377 students. Of the total number of participants, 431 (59%) had driven after drinking alcohol, and of these, 21.5% had consumed large amounts of alcohol. Participation in illegal street racing was reported by 10.5% of the participants, with significant difference between sexes (12.5% of men and 3.4% of women). Involvement in accidents with fatal or non-fatal casualties was reported by 19.2% of the participants. These percentages reached 31.1% among those who have already driven while being heavily intoxicated and 42.9% among those who participated in illegal street racing. The 2008 study showed higher use of helmets and seat belts in urban areas and reduced use of alcohol before driving. On the other hand, the same study showed an increased disrespect for traffic lights.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Driving risk behaviors were always highly frequent among the participants, being directly related to involvement in accidents with casualties. Since this sample includes a privileged portion of the population, which is aware of and has direct contact with the consequences of such accidents, we expected lower rates of high-risk behaviors. Our findings may lead the academic community to consider the implementation of educational programs that can effectively change students' behavior.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colicchio
authors.forename: Afonso Dinis Costa
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Passos
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality; D055815:Young Adult