high-risk driving and its associated observable driving behaviors, police records, and car condition: a case-control study

Background: the incidence of traffic accidents in iran is significantly higher than the global average (more than 17000 deaths a year, mostly young adults). the aim of this study was to determine the risk factors of high-risk drivers based on their observable driving behaviors, police records, and car condition in fars province (iran). methods: in this case-control study, an interviewer interviewed a random sample (about 1 in 5 of the drivers) of all drivers who were referred to shiraz traffic accident court from march 21, 2021, to june 21, 2021, due to being involved in a traffic accident. based on the police report, we interviewed at-fault drivers who caused injurious or fatal traffic accidents as the case group (200 at-fault drivers) and those not-at-fault drivers as the control group (200 not-at-fault drivers). no matching was done. data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire filled out through face-to-face interviews with the drivers. using univariate and multivariate logistic regression, the statistical analyses were conducted in r 4.0.2 software. results: in this study, a total of 400 drivers were interviewed, of whom 367 (91.8%) were male. the mean ages of the case and control groups were 32.35 years (sd=9.84) and 31.75 (sd=10.33) years, respectively (p>0.05). in addition, 102 (51.0%) and 95 (47.5%) drivers were married in the case and control groups, respectively. based on the results of a multiple logistic regression model, statistically significant associations were observed between the risk of being the at-fault driver in an injurious or fatal traffic accident and receiving a traffic ticket due to speeding overtaking (or speeding-overtaking/no ticket=3.38, 95%ci: 1.75, 6.49, p<0.001), self-reported high-speed driving (or yes/no=2.41, 95%ci: 1.25, 4.63, p=0.008), and having a history of car accident within the recent two years (or yes/no=1.87, 95%ci: 1.11, 3.14, p=0.017). conclusion: our study suggested that among several potential factors, recently receiving traffic tickets due to speeding or overtaking, self-reported speed driving, and recent car accidents may effectively be used to screen out high-risk drivers who will probably cause injurious or fatal car accidents in the future. intervention measures for the defined high-risk drivers including closer supervision and training programs may reduce the risk of fatal accidents in iran.