THE POTENTIAL FOR COLLABORATIVE, PREVENTATIVE APPROACHES TO REDUCE ROAD TRAUMA AMONG YOUTH

This paper details findings of an exploratory research project that has focused on a complementary avenue of considering road trauma within a broader framework of health determinants and outcomes. To date, road safety and health promotion initiatives both in research, programs, and interventions are largely focused on describing single behaviours and single solutions (eg. drink driving, drug and alcohol use, crime prevention), rather than working on common causes and common synergistic responses. However, there is evidence to show that upstream factors that may influence many individuals are in fact common across a number of health outcomes. Using information obtained from studies and programs that have addressed some of these issues as well as information from workshops with health and road safety professionals, it appears that a co-operative approach to protecting young people from common risk factors could have great benefits across many areas. It also appears that working at an ?upstream? level may have the potential to reduce road trauma among young people and warrants further investigation and development.