Driver's age and rear-end crashes associated with distraction

Background and Objectives: Distraction is one of the affective factors in the occurrence of traffic accidents, which, in its turn, is the second leading cause of death and the main cause of years of life lost due to premature death and disability in Iran. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distracting behaviors of male drivers in rear-end crashes. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on male drivers who had experienced a rear-end crash in Tabriz in 2018. In total, 395 samples (whose main reason for the crashes was inattention to the forward field of view) were selected through the information and files available at the traffic police, and after contacting the subjects, the required information was entered in the checklist. Nine distraction factors were classified and ranked into three age groups of young, middle-aged, and older drivers. Results: Findings showed that distractions caused by mobile phone use and passengers were ranked first to third in all three age groups and distracting factors such as eating or drinking while driving, alcohol consumption, and sleepiness were in the last ranks. In addition, older drivers were ranked first in not identifying the distraction factors, and in the middle-aged group, the distraction caused by billboards was the leading cause of crashes. Conclusions: Adopting appropriate policies, such as law enforcement and cultural interventions to prevent driver distractions, and to control the in-car conversation, and cell phone use while driving can be considered as effective interventions to prevent rear-end crashes.