Traffic offenses, court charges, and repeated citations among teen drivers with traffic violations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/jwot3323Keywords:
recidivism, speeding, teen drivers, traffic offensesAbstract
Teen drivers with traffic violations are at high-risk for motor vehicle collisions (MVCs), yet this group is understudied. This study described traffic offenses, court charges (or dispositions), and repeated citations among teen drivers cited for traffic offenses, and examined factors associated with repeated citations. Deidentified traffic citation records for teen drivers ages 15–17, between January 2018 and May 2022, were obtained from Ohio's Franklin County Juvenile Traffic Court in the United States. Frequencies for demographics, traffic offenses, court charges, and repeated citations (e.g., citation tickets) were generated and compared using Chi-square tests and linear mixed models. The final sample included 5 364 unique teen drivers (62.2% were male) with 6232 unique traffic citation tickets (13.9% were repeated citations). The most common traffic offense was speeding (28.5%), while the most frequent court charge was being an adjudicated juvenile traffic offender (38.2%). The likelihood of repeated citations increased by 3.61 (95% CI: 2.76–4.73) per additional year of driver’s age. Males (OR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.43–2.21) and speeding offenses (OR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.77–2.96) had higher odds of receiving a repeated citation than their respective counterparts. Males were more likely to be traffic offenders and receive repeated citations compared to females, consistent with established research on sex-related differences in driving behaviors. Speeding, a known risk factor for MVC-related fatalities, was associated with greater odds of repeated citations. Understanding the characteristics of traffic violations is crucial for developing targeted interventions, especially for males and speeding offenders, to promote safe driving and mitigate MVC risk.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Priyanka Sridharan, Rebecca J. McAdams, Saroj Bista, Dominique Rose, Corinne Peek-Asa, Jingzhen Yang

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