ABSTRACT

The extent to which various interventions to deal with the young driver crash problem have worked are discussed, and promising interventions that should be tried are identified. Traditional forms of driver licensing and driver education have not worked. Graduated licensing reduces the problem and existing laws need to be strengthened. Programs involving parents and police have shown some potential to increase compliance with graduated licensing restrictions. Insurer discount programs also have potential. In other public health areas, comprehensive programs have worked better than those based on single components. There are continuing efforts to develop new driver education and training programs and methods of delivery that can combine with graduated licensing and contribute to reductions in the young driver problem. The most promising intervention strategy is likely to be a coordinated community based program in states with strong graduated licensing laws as a foundation, involving modern education and training techniques, insurance discount programs, and well publicized enforcement and education programs featuring parents and police in combination, with as much input and participation as possible from the target group of young drivers.

ABSTRACT

Every year, drivers throughout the world are killed or injured in road traffic. Young drivers run a greater risk everywhere, and this problem is still largely unsolved. Better understanding of the underlying processes could, however, be a useful tool in preventive endeavours. To change a young driver’s goals behind driving and the context in which it is done, a variety of different methods of persuasion should be tested. Both “soft” and “hard” methods should be used. For example, communication and increased enforcement may be used simultaneously. Communication campaigns should highlight the dangers of unsafe behaviour and in particular target young males. Communication campaigns that employ persuasive, emotional messages are most effective where young drivers are concerned. Research shows that attitudes about safety are formed at an early age, long before legal driving, and therefore it would also be important to target young adolescents. Laws need enforcement to be effective and should target areas of particular risk to young drivers. Driver education or communication campaigns cannot be expected to radically change a young person’s life goals. For that purpose, active learning methods that make use of the learner’s own experiences have to be applied. Special courses for young drivers designed to make individuals conscious of their personal tendencies and the type of social context that affects their driving behaviour could be helpful, whether offered via the ordinary school system or at driving schools.

ABSTRACT

Young inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in road traffic crashes than drivers who are older and more experienced. This paper argues that neither age nor inexperience are, in and of themselves, sufficient explanations of the association between age, experience, and casualty rates. The aim here is to consider what it is about inexperienced young drivers in particular that may increase crash risk. Evidence is reviewed showing differential sleep loss among different teenage groups, which may relate to recently presented evidence that young teenagers are more crash involved than drivers in their early twenties. Potential acute and chronic effects of sleep loss among teenagers and young adults are described.

ABSTRACT

This paper highlights lessons from each of the Expert Panel papers in the present supplement that provide guidance for future research and initiatives. Although some shortfalls still remain in our understanding, it is argued that much has been learned and we are ready for more translation, implementation, and evaluation of multilevel interventions to help reduce young driver road trauma. Non-use of restraints, speeding, driving at night and with passengers, and fatigue are highlighted as key risk factors to address. “Best practice” intervention is proposed as implementing and strengthening graduated driver licensing systems and complementary candidate programs and research, such as hazard perception training programs. A schematic cognitive-perceptual model to explain the crash sequence process is explored. There is optimism that meaningful impacts can be made, especially coupled with the advances in vehicle technologies, but caution is necessary in the absence of targeted “real world” evaluations and broader implementation and diffusion strategies.