Urban-Rural and Poverty-Related Differences in Young Driver Licensing Pathways in Ohio

The impact of young drivers’ lifestyle on their road traffic accident risk in greater Athens area

The disproportionately high crash rates among young drivers in the U.S. stem from a complex interaction of individual maturity, driving skills, vehicle dynamics, social and financial backgrounds, and environmental factors. Research has found that some of these factors disproportionately affect economically disadvantaged groups in various rural/urban settings. Driver education and training have been employed in many states as mandatory for under-18-years-old drivers to secure junior licenses to equip them with safe driving skills. However, there is a gap in understanding how driver training, economic factors, and urbanicity correlate with developing specific driving skills among young drivers. This study leverages a unique dataset from Ohio, comprising Virtual Driving Assessment (VDA)-measured skills, driver licensing data, and home Census tract characteristics from 2017 to 2019 to analyze 22,490 young drivers aged under 25 years. We analyzed the data using visualization tools and inferential statistics to understand the differences in young drivers’ new skills by three separate variables: their completion of driver training and young driver licensure (DTYL) (licensed before 18 years old), urbanicity of residence, and home neighborhood income level. Results indicated that formal DTYL correlated with better adherence to traffic regulations, consistent braking, and lane position control. Young drivers from lower-income neighborhoods exhibited skill deficiencies in traffic rule compliance, throttle control, and lane management, potentially because of limited access to quality training and vehicle safety features. Conversely, rural young drivers excelled in consistent speed management and traffic rule adherence. These insights underscore the necessity to reevaluate driver education curricula and roadway design to align more closely with comprehensive safety outcomes, and to enhance young drivers’ safety awareness and skill proficiency.

Driving styles among young novice drivers—The contribution of parental driving styles and personal characteristics

This paper examines the experiences of young novice drivers and their parents who frequently drive across jurisdictional borders. Young novice drivers are overrepresented in vehicle crashes and resulting fatality statistics. Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) schemes are countermeasures used in several international jurisdictions designed to reduce these crashes by incrementally increasing new drivers to more risky driving conditions as they gain experience. GDL schemes operate in all Australian states and territories; however, restrictions vary across jurisdictions. Regular road policing enforces GDL restrictions and is underpinned by the principles of deterrence theory, which proposes that individuals will be deterred from breaking rules and regulations due to the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment. Two studies were conducted in Australian border towns to explore this issue. The first study interviewed 16 parents of young drivers and 11 young drivers in the Australian Capital Territory. The second study conducted a small focus group, paired interviews or an interview with eight young drivers from a regional town on the Victorian/New South Wales border. The study found that accessing information regarding GDL restrictions, particularly outside of the state of licensure, poses major problems for young drivers and their parents. As a result, young drivers were not aware they were breaking cross-jurisdictional road rules, and deterrence theory was not as effective, suggesting that interventions based on alternative theoretical approaches, such as third-party policing, may have value.

Age and road safety performance: Focusing on elderly and young drivers

Perception of the risk of an accident by young and older drivers

Objective: In 2019, road traffic injuries were the second leading cause of death in Saudi Arabia, affecting people of all ages. While multiple factors contribute to crashes, studies highlight the role of risky driving in increasing the chances of car crashes occurring. This study examined the one-year frequency of car crashes and risky driving behaviors among young drivers of both sexes in the Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, as well as the possible related factors and predictors that contribute toward high car crash rates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2021 and February 2022 at AlAsala Colleges among young drivers aged 18 years and above. A total of 424 students were selected using stratified random sampling and answered an anonymous, self-administered, structured web-based questionnaire and the Arabic version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). Results: Car crashes were reported by 26.4% of young male and 19.3% of young female drivers. Male drivers were more aggressive and exhibited more speeding-related behaviors than female drivers, regardless of slight sex differences in unsafe driving behavior. Driving experience, along with other driving characteristics and DBQ items, was found to be significantly associated with road crashes. Furthermore, the type of car, traffic violations, using a phone while driving via headphones, and a distraction-related factor, were all predictive of crash involvement. Conclusions: Young Saudi male drivers were slightly more likely to have car crashes and engage in risky driving practices than young female drivers. Various factors that are related with and predict crashes should be addressed by a collaborative multi-layered strategic plan, with interventions at several levels.

Objectives: In 1987, to address an increasing problem of injury among young drivers, New Zealand chose a graduated driver licensing system (GDLS), in preference to raising the minimum car driver licensing age. Since 1987 the GDLS has contributed to a significant reduction in young driver injury, but a recent spate of high-profile crashes has raised public concern about young drivers and road safety. In response to this concern, a bill has been introduced into the parliament to increase the minimum driver licensing age from 15 to 16 years. In this article we critically examine some of the arguments against raising the licensing age. Our motivation for doing this is that many of the arguments against raising the driver's license age, though they have high face validity, are often presented without any supporting evidence. Method : Our sources for argument include Hansard (New Zealand parliament's official record), various public media, various agencies Web sites, census data, and published papers. The arguments examined against raising the age were the impact on the mobility of 15- and 16-year-olds, disadvantage to the rural sector, alternative transport options, increasing the age shifts the problem, changing the law will not change young driver behaviors, changing the law will not fix the problem, and education is the answer. Results: For each of the topics available, data were examined to quantify the extent to which these factors would affect young drivers if the minimum driver licensing age was raised to 16 years. Conclusion : The evidence demonstrates that young age, independent of experience, is a major determinant of risk; therefore, raising the minimum licensing age would have safety benefits. We also show that many of the arguments against raising the age are based on either no evidence or misinformation. Though raising the licensing age would to some extent disadvantage the rural sector, it may also be in the rural sector where the greatest gains in crash reduction are made.

ABSTRACTObjectives: Current methods of estimating compliance with graduated driver licensing (GDL) restrictions among young drivers with intermediate driver's licenses—which include surveys, direct observations, and naturalistic studies—cannot sufficiently answer many critical foundational questions: What is the extent of noncompliance among the population of young intermediate drivers? How does compliance change over the course of licensure? How does compliance differ by driver subgroup and in certain driving environments? This article proposes an alternative and complementary approach to estimating population-level compliance with GDL nighttime and passenger restrictions via application of the quasi-induced exposure (QIE) method.Methods: The article summarizes the main limitations of previous methods employed to estimate compliance. It then introduces the proposed method of borrowing the fundamental assumption of the QIE method—that young intermediate drivers who are nonresponsible in clean (i.e., one and only one responsible driver) multivehicle crashes are reasonably representative of young intermediate drivers on the road—to estimate population-based compliance. I describe formative work that has been done to ensure this method can be validly applied among young intermediate drivers and provide a practical application of this method: an estimate of compliance with New Jersey's passenger restrictions among 8,006 nonresponsible 17- to 20-year-old intermediate drivers involved in clean 2-vehicle crashes from July 2010 through June 2012.Results: Over the study period, an estimated 8.4% (95% confidence interval, 7.8%, 9.0%) of intermediate drivers' trips were not in compliance with New Jersey's GDL passenger restriction. These findings were remarkably similar to previous estimates from more resource-intensive naturalistic studies (Goodwin et al. 2006; Klauer et al. 2011).Conclusion: Studies can practically apply proposed methods to estimate population-level compliance with GDL passenger and night restrictions; examine how compliance varies by relevant driver, vehicle, and environmental factors; and evaluate the implementation of a GDL provision or other intervention aimed at increasing compliance with these restrictions. Important considerations and potential limitations and challenges are discussed.

Young drivers’ takeover time in a conditional automated vehicle: The effects of hand-held mobile phone use and future intentions to use automated vehicles

Risky driving among young Australian drivers: Trends, precursors and correlates

This study examines the impact of the provision of feedback and guidance about parental monitoring on the safety performance of young male drivers during their first year of driving. The research used an in-vehicle data recorder (IVDR), which documented events of extreme gravitational forces measured in the vehicles that participated in the experiment. Two hundred forty-two families of young male drivers participated in the research. Participants were randomly allocated into four groups: (a) family feedback, no guidance, in which all members of a family were exposed to feedback on their own driving and on that of other family members; (b) family feedback, parental guidance, in which, in addition to the family feedback, parents received personal guidance on ways to enhance their involvement with and monitor their sons' driving; (c) individual feedback, no guidance, in which family members received feedback only on their own driving behavior and not that of other family members; and (d) a control group, which received no feedback at all. IVDRs were installed in family cars for 12 months, starting from the time that the young driver received his driver's license. This period included the initial 3 months of the accompanied driving phase and 9 months of independent driving. The driving exposure of young drivers increased significantly during the solo period compared with that during the accompanied period. The results indicate substantial differences in behavior between young drivers in the control group and the group that received both feedback and guidance on parental involvement.

The effect of family climate on risky driving of young novices: The moderating role of attitude and locus of control

Young drivers’ perception of hazards: Variation with experience and day versus night

Effectiveness of implementing a Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law among young Serbian drivers