Passengers add to car crash risk

New research by Australian scientists appearing in the international Accident Analysis and Prevention journal has shown that drivers carrying two or more passengers are twice as likely to crash as unaccompanied drivers.

The George Institute for International Health study was designed to determine the risk of a crash associated with passenger carriage compared with that of using a mobile phone while driving.

Both the carrying of passengers, and having a larger number of passengers in the car, are associated with an increased likelihood of a crash, though not to the same extent as mobile phone use.

Earlier studies at The George Institute found that a driver’s use of a mobile phone was associated with a four-fold increase in the likelihood of crashing.

The study’s lead investigator, Dr Suzanne McEvoy, says that “carrying passengers in the car has a number of potentially distracting effects that also occur with mobile phone use while driving. Moreover, carrying passengers may have additional effects on the driver,
including peer influence”.

“Drivers with passengers were almost 60% more likely to have a motor vehicle crash resulting in hospital attendance, irrespective of their age group. The likelihood of a crash was more than doubled in the presence of two or more passengers,” noted Dr McEvoy.