Auditing learner driver information about floodwaters: An environmental scan of government issued resources in Australia

Abstract

Introduction: Vehicles driving, or being swept, into floodwaters is a leading cause of flood-related death. Establishing safe behaviors among learner drivers may reduce risk throughout their driving lifetime. Methods: An environmental scan of publicly available government issued learner and driver handbooks across the eight Australian jurisdictions was conducted to identify information provided regarding floodwaters. Search terms included ‘flood,’ ‘rain,’ ‘water,’ and ‘wet.’ A visual audit of flood-related signage was also conducted. Results: Twelve documents, across eight jurisdictions, were analyzed. Four jurisdictions’ documents provided no information on flooding. Of the four jurisdictions that provided information, content varied. This included highlighting risks and discouraging entering floodwaters in a vehicle, including penalties associated with travel on closed roads, to advising depth and current checks if crossing a flooded roadway, with recommendations based on vehicle size (preference given to bigger vehicles, i.e., 4wds). Information on flood-related signage was found in one jurisdiction. Discussion: Learner and driver handbooks represent a missed opportunity to provide flood safety information. Currently, information is not provided in all jurisdictions, despite flood-related vehicle drowning deaths of drivers and passengers being a national issue. Where information is presented, it is limited, often lacks practical guidance on how to assess water depth, current, and road base stability, and could better use evidence regarding the psychological factors underpinning, and behavioral prompts for performing, or avoiding, risky driving behavior during floods. Conclusions: The provision and content of information in learner driver and driver handbooks must be improved, particularly within the context of increasing flooding and extreme weather associated with the effects of climate change. Practical applications: We encourage all jurisdictions to provide practical information that draws on evidence-based risk factors and empirically established psychological factors for behavioral change to help establish safe driver behaviors around floods in the formative years of learning to drive.