Journal of Safety Research

Journal of Safety Research

Volume 34, Issue 1, 30 January 2003, Pages 71-77
Journal of Safety Research

Other high-risk factors for young drivers—how graduated licensing does, doesn't, or could address them

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4375(02)00082-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Problem: Young drivers, particularly those who are newly licensed, have a very high crash risk. This paper examines the risk factors underlying their high crash rates and assesses the extent to which existing graduated licensing programs address these risks and whether improvements to these programs should be considered. Method: Review and synthesis of the literature. Results: The elevated risk among young drivers of being in an injury crash is the result of a number of factors found alone or in combination, such as risky driving, alcohol use, seat belt nonuse, driver distraction, fatigue, and vehicle choice. Nighttime and passenger restrictions, adopted widely in the United States, work by keeping drivers out of hazardous situations rather than by addressing risk factors directly. However, the risk factors remain in play in driving situations not specifically restricted by law. Although other graduated licensing components adopted around the world—more stringent exit tests (i.e., you need to pass a test to move to the next stage), hazard perception tests, and restrictions on speed, vehicle power, and roadway access—make sense based on the identified risk factors, they are not yet supported by research. Should research findings warrant it, consideration should be given to providing guidance to parents about how to keep their beginning drivers safe, including information on vehicle choice. Impact on research, practice, and policy: Researchers should continue to monitor and to evaluate innovative approaches to reduce the crash risk of young drivers. The effectiveness of new approaches should be established before adoption on a wider scale takes place.

Introduction

The rationale for graduated driver licensing (GDL) is to keep newly licensed young drivers out of harm's way by restricting driving to times and situations demonstrated to be of lower risk. Some well-known high-risk scenarios include nighttime driving and driving with teenage passengers. Consequently, many GDL programs restrict new drivers from driving at night and from driving with teenage passengers in the car.

It is widely recognized that the elevated crash rates of young drivers result from both inexperience and immaturity. GDL addresses both these factors by requiring an extended period of supervised driving and by delaying access to a full, unrestricted license until experience has been gained. With these provisions, drivers are more experienced when they are first allowed to drive unsupervised, and they are also older and hopefully more mature by the time they can obtain a full, unrestricted license.

The Williams paper presents data on two situations that represent high risks to teenagers: nighttime driving and transporting teenage passengers. As Williams points out, the increased risks associated with nighttime driving are the result of a number of different specific factors (e.g., visibility often is limited at night, drivers may be tired and may have been drinking, and nighttime driving is more likely to be recreational in nature so teenagers may take more risks). Lower belt use rates at night also can increase the risk of injury. Restrictions on nighttime driving work not so much by addressing these individual risk factors as by keeping drivers out of risky situations. The same case can be made for passenger restrictions.

The focus of this paper is to examine other risk factors for teenage drivers and to assess whether they are adequately addressed by GDL or whether additional components should be adopted. The additional risk factors to be discussed include risky driving, risk perception and evaluation, hazard perception, driver distraction, seat belt use, fatigue, and vehicle choice. This paper also will consider the ways in which the individual risk factors currently are dealt with, either directly or indirectly, in existing graduated licensing systems in the United States; whether these factors are addressed outside of the GDL system; or whether there are additional ways to address them within GDL. This will include a discussion of novice driver licensing requirements in other countries. The risks associated with driving after drinking alcohol are addressed by Williams, so they will not be discussed here. Furthermore, the increased risks associated with drinking and driving are dealt with separately from GDL laws in the United States through the enactment of minimum purchase age and zero tolerance laws.

How an individual drives is based on a complex combination of factors. Obviously, driving skill plays an important role, with younger and more inexperienced drivers exhibiting less skill when first licensed. Skill aside, unsafe driving may arise from different sources. Drivers may have different attitudes about driving, including their perceptions about the likelihood of being in a crash (“risk perception”). They may also differ in their beliefs about what constitutes safe driving, including beliefs about their own driving ability. There are studies that document differences in risk perception among young drivers, as well as studies that point to their riskier driving. Moreover, younger drivers tend to rate hazardous situations as less risky than older drivers. With regard to rating personal driving abilities, while it is clear that young novice drivers are less skilled in driving, there is some evidence that their perception of their skill is not commensurate with these limited abilities.

Section snippets

Risky driving

Elander, West, and French (1993) describe driving as a self-paced task in that drivers can make the task more or less difficult depending on their chosen margins of error. This is manifested as driving in a more or less risky manner (i.e., driving faster, following more closely, and so on). While this may or may not be a choice that drivers make consciously, in the case of young beginning drivers, the margins of error assumed also may have to do with driving inexperience (i.e., they do not know

Risk perception, hazard perception, and driving skill evaluation

As Brown and Groeger (1988) point out, risk perception involves not only an assessment of the potential hazards in the traffic environment but also an assessment of the abilities of the driver and the vehicle to prevent potential hazards from becoming actual crashes. Only a small fraction of potential hazards represents any real danger for a driver in any given situation, but a more experienced driver will be better able to quantify the degree of a given danger and respond appropriately. There

Effects of fatigue

With evidence accumulating that teenagers often do not get enough sleep, the issue of fatigue as a risk factor is growing in prominence (National Sleep Foundation, 2000). There is evidence that adolescents' sleep patterns undergo a shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking. This shift is counter to the very early high school starting times in many jurisdictions (Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998). The result is an increase in daytime sleepiness among adolescents and an even greater

Seat belt use

Seat belts are a very effective means of reducing the risk of injury or death in the event of a crash Evans, 1986, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1984. However, there is abundant evidence from observations and crash data that teenage drivers and passengers use belts less often than older occupants McCartt et al., in press, Wells et al., 1989, Williams et al., in press, Williams et al., 1995, Williams & Shabanova, 2002, Williams et al., 1983, Womack et al., 1997. Observational

Vehicle choice

A few studies indicate that teenagers are more likely than the overall driving population to drive older and smaller vehicles, a factor that can increase their chance of injury in the event of a crash Cammisa et al., 1999, Williams et al., 1987. Smaller vehicles provide less protection than larger ones, and older vehicles do not have the latest crash protection features such as front and side impact airbags. For example, among 16- to 19-year-old drivers, the risk of dying in a crash (Fatality

In-vehicle distractions

With the proliferation of cell phone ownership and the growing evidence of an increased crash risk when people use cell phones while driving, more emphasis is being put on the issue of in-vehicle distraction. Many devices already in vehicles such as radios and CD players have the potential to distract drivers. Furthermore, manufacturers are incorporating additional technologies that may require interaction while driving, such as navigation devices. As a result, manufacturers, government

Conclusions

Young beginning drivers have an elevated risk of being involved in a crash and being injured or killed because of a host of different factors working either independently or in combination. These include risky driving, alcohol use, seat belt use, driver distraction, fatigue, and vehicle choice. GDL typically deals with these by keeping young drivers out of situations that are known to be especially hazardous, such as driving at night or with teenage passengers, rather than trying to address

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