Young driver risk-taking research: Technical report of experimental study

Abstract

This report follows an earlier volume entitled Young Driver Risk-Taking Research: The State of the Art by Jonathan Hodgdon, Barry W. E. Bragg, Ph.D., and Peter Finn (Abt Associates Inc., March 1981, DOT HS-805-967). The present volume presents the results of an experiment conducted to determine if young drivers (males aged 18-24) perceive the risk of accident involvement differently from experienced drivers (males aged 38-50). Subjects rated the risk of accident involvement for driving situations in general and for specific driving situations depicted in photographs and on videotape, and they rated the risk of accident involvement while driving and riding as a passenger in 15 real-world traffic situations. The effect of seat belt use on perceived risk of accident involvement was also assessed. The results show that young drivers do perceive the risk of accident involvement differently than do experienced drivers. Specifically, young drivers see speeding as less risky than do experienced drivers, while driving on snow-covered roads is seen as more risky by young drivers. As young drivers became more familiar with a driving location (e.g., an intersection) they reduced their rating of the risk of an accident, while experienced drivers did not. Requiring a young driver to wear a seat belt maintained a higher perceived risk of an accident without significantly altering their objective risk. Young drivers saw themselves as significantly less likely to be involved in an accident than their peers, while experienced drivers saw their own chances of accident involvement as comparable to those of their peers. The results of this study suggest that increasing the perception of risk of an accident for younger drivers would be helpful in reducing risk taking behavior.