Employing refined licensing conditions to reduce the serious crashes of young drivers

Abstract

Young driver overrepresentation in road crash deaths and injuries is observed worldwide including Qatar. Multiple independent factors contribute to this high risk including age, brain development and inexperience. These factors also explain young drivers' high level deliberate risk taking behaviors including speeding. A Graduate licensing scheme (GLS) which requires new drivers to pass through multiple licensing stages (each with specific restrictions) before obtaining a full license is utilized in many countries to manage the risks of these drivers coming out of constrained learner license conditions (e.g. Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom). For example, in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, drivers are required to go through three licensing stages?Learner license for at least 12 months, provisional P1 license for at least 12 months, and provisional P2 license for at least 24 months. Specific restrictions apply at each license stage (e.g. Learners to observe a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h; P1 a maximum of 90km/h; P2 a maximum of 100km/h) in addition to the NSW Road Rules which apply for all license holders. The successes of GLS in reducing crash risks have been demonstrated in multiple evaluations. In July 2007 NSW introduced additional license conditions for P1 drivers including automatic license suspension if caught for any level of speeding. This tougher penalty for speeding is intended to increase deterrence for speeding and for novice drivers based on evidence of young driver over-representation in serious speed related crashes. This change brought about a 34% reduction in deaths involving novice drivers. It is recommended that GLS be implemented in Qatar with tightened license conditions for novice drivers to address the young driver serious crashes in Qatar.