Background Youngster injury is the leading cause of mortality, morbidity and permanent disability in adolescent in the developed world. The objective of this research is to study the joint effect of family and contextual socioeconomic characteristics of teenagers on their risk of road accidents, taking into account their mobility practices, their behaviour and their attitude to risk.

Methods A case-control study was conducted on a population of 601 young people aged 14–17, in 2013. Cases (208 subjects) were selected from the Rhône Road Trauma Registry. Controls (393 subjects) adjusted by age and sex were randomly selected by telephone. L’exposition à la circulation routière est mesurée pour chaque mode de transport utilisé par le budget-temps. The relationships between SES status, urban/periurban-rural location, mode of transport, mobility practice, and injury type were determined using conditional logistic regression. Exposure to road traffic is measured for each mode of transportation used by the weekly time budget.

Results The intensive use of motorised two-wheelers holds an essential role in the risk of road accidents between 14 and 17 years (OR = 4.1 [2.3–7.2]), followed by regular cycling (OR = 3.6 [2.0–6.5]) and skating (OR = 1.9 [1.1–3.1]). Socio-economic status of young people is highlighted: students in professional college or young apprentices are at higher risk (OR = 2.1 [1–4.3]). Compared with urban adolescents, adolescents living in rural areas suffer a 1.9 higher risk (1.9 [1.2–3.0]). The links between road risk behaviour and smoking are also underlined (OR = 4.4 [2–9.7]).

Conclusions These results show that adolescent road traffic injury in Rhône is a major health concern, especially among motorcyclist males (40% of the injuries) from rural area and from lower SES. But this study also shows the significant impact of behavioural factors (tobacco, cannabis) on the risk of accident.