Student motorcyclists’ mobile phone use while driving in Vientiane,Laos |
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Authors: | Sysavanh Phommachanh Shinji Nakahara Mayfong Mayxay Akio Kimura |
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Institution: | 1. Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Lao PDR;2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan;3. Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan |
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Abstract: | To investigate mobile phone use while driving among student motorcyclists in Laos, we conducted a school-based questionnaire survey in central Vientiane in May 2014. Of the 883 high school students who reported to drive motorcycles at least once a week, 40% have ever used phones while driving motorcycles in both sexes. Those phone users had longer driving exposures than non-users, with about half engaging in phone use while driving at least 2 days a week and 70% engaging for 1 min or longer on an average day. They reported not just talking on the phone while driving but operating the phone such as dialling and text-messaging. In some instances, phone use was reportedly involved in their past crash experiences. To formulate a sound policy on this emerging distracting behaviour among motorcyclists, its contribution to the occurrence of overall crashes among motorcyclists should be investigated. |
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Keywords: | mobile phones motorcycles distraction students Laos |
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