Young drivers, once they start driving by themselves, have the highest crash rates when compared with any other age group. This is a massive change from when they are the safest group while learning under the supervision of an experienced driver. A whole range of factors contribute to this higher crash rate including age, personality, skills, experience, situational assessment, hazard perception skills, the presence of passengers, alcohol and drugs and mobile phone use amongst others. Young drivers are also more likely to drive at riskier times of the day and week.
Research suggests that there is an increase in offending on the road once drivers start driving by themselves. Road policing approaches are traditionally informed by deterrence theory and they have been very effective at changing driver behaviours such as drink driving or speeding. However, traditional road policing approaches appear less effective for young drivers. In fact, there is a suggestion that it may have the opposite effect and embolden drivers to continue offending after they have been caught by police. Additionally, young drivers perceive that police enforcement is not as effective as it could be.
Young drivers do appear to be more influenced by informal deterrence approaches. It appears that they feel ashamed when their parents find out about their offending on the roads which has an influence on their compliance with road rules.
A strong and effective licensing system is critical. We want to prevent young people from driving unlicensed – particularly as we know that this (as well as other high risk behaviours on the road such as high range speeding or impaired driving) is associated with criminal offending more broadly.
There are a number of strategies we can take to support safer driving among young people. Firstly, we know that graduated driver licensing systems – generally consisting of a learner, provisional and open licence phases – do reduce crash rates by approximately 20 to 40% for new drivers. These systems are designed to gradually expose new drivers to more risky situations. All Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions have a form of graduated driver licensing.
Secondly, it is important that police remain involved in enforcing the laws for young drivers. We know that young drivers who experience punishment avoidance are more likely to indicate that they will continue to offend on the road.
Thirdly, research suggests that police can be more proactive in their approaches with new drivers. When police officers in uniform deliver road safety programs to high school students, they have lower intentions to offend. The young people also have increased perceptions of police legitimacy when the training is delivered by uniformed police officers compared to those in plain clothes.
Finally, it is important that parents remain involved. Given that young drivers feel ashamed when their parents find out they have offended on the road, ongoing dialogue needs to continue. Parents may represent an opportunity to develop more formal third party policing interventions.
However, when implementing evidence based measures designed to improve safety for young drivers, it is critical that we consider the social justice aspects. It is expensive to obtain a driver’s licence – there are fees for the learner’s permit, driving test and provisional licence, costs associated with obtaining the required number of supervised driving hours on a learner’s permit as well as the expenses associated with vehicles such as petrol and servicing. Given that a licence is a key element for many people in obtaining education or employment opportunities, we need to ensure that we support young people to meet this milestone. One way of doing this is through Learner Driver Mentor Programs. These programs give disadvantaged people access to volunteer mentors and vehicles so they can meet the requirements of the learner licence.
As we move forward, we also need to recognise that most road traffic injuries occur in low and middle income countries. However, the vast majority of research (over 90%) is conducted in high income countries. Thus, there is a lack of evidence supporting interventions that are of key importance in low and middle income countries. This imbalance needs addressing.
You may also be interested in this recent publication from the author:
