Peers could influence young person's decision to drink walk: Study

A new study has revealed that a person's friends are the strongest influence on their intentions to drink walk.

According to a QUT study, peers may be the key to stopping their mates drink walking, a risky behaviour that kills on average two Australians every week.

Researcher Dr Ioni Lewis, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, said that drink walking or walking while intoxicated in a public place, is linked to increased risk of injury and fatality.

The researchers found that more than 50 per cent of participants of the survey admitted to walking while being intoxicated in the previous six months together with evidence that some young people intended to drink walk in the future.

Lewis said that the risks associated with drink walking were seen to be less dangerous than drink driving, however, research shows that in Australia on average 100 alcohol-affected pedestrians are killed each year, which equates to more than 5 per cent of all road crash fatalities.

The scientists also identified young males as being most at risk, because they considered drink walking to be a low-risk activity.

The study was published in Transportation Research.