In the last decade, nearly every state in the U.S. has introduced a Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) program to limit the exposure of teenage drivers to high-risk conditions during the first years after licensure. This book evaluates the effectiveness of GDL programs in reducing teen traffic fatalities over the period between 1992 and 2006. This book also investigates the psychological functions of driving and risky driving as perceived by adolescents and the factors underlying psychological functions of driving and risky driving. Furthermore, the impact of accident duration on traffic congestion is also analyzed, as well as the multiple factors that may affect driving performance. Other chapters in this book examine the injury risks experienced by vulnerable road users and challenges in obtaining accurate information on the magnitude and circumstances of their crashes, studies where human factors related to occupational accidents are analyzed, and an evaluation of the factors that are associated with the risk perception to have night-time car crashes in young drivers, as well as the strategies most commonly used to counteract sleepiness at the wheels. Implications of the study on road safety and recommendations for future research are also discussed. Table of Contents: Chapter 1. Reducing Teen Fatalities: Do Graduated Licensing Programs Help Solve the Problem?, pp. 1-23 (Carlo Giacomo Prato, Ran Naor Road Safety Research Center, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Technion Campus, Haifa, Israel); Chapter 2. Psychological Functions of Driving and Risky Driving and Involvement in Risky Driving in Adolescence, pp. 25-47 (Manuela Bina, Federica Graziano, Emanuela Calandri, Giovanni Vecchio, Elena Cattelino, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy, and others); Chapter 3. The Role of Parents and Friends in Adolescent Risky Driving: How They Drive and What They Think about Risky Driving, pp. 49-66 (Federica Graziano, Manuela Bina, Tatiana Begotti, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy); Chapter 4. Characteristics and Crash Related Behaviour of Vulnerable Road Users Presented to Emergency Departments, pp. 67-86 (Andy H. Lee, Lynn B. Meuleners, Michelle L. Fraser, Centre for Population Health Research, School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia); Chapter 5. Human Factors Related To Occupational Accidents (Simo Salminen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Helsinki, Finland) pp. 87-103; Chapter 6. Sleep-Related Car Crashes: Risk Perception and Coping with Sleepiness at the Wheel, pp. 105-113 (Cristiano Violani, Fabio Lucidi, Luca Mallia, Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy); Chapter 7. Feature Analysis of Highway Accident Duration in Taiwan, pp. 115-123 (Ying Lee, Chien-Hung Wei, Department of Hospitality Management, Ming Dao University, Taiwan, and others); Chapter 8. Information Processing, Personality, and Demographic Variables as Predictors of Crashes and Moving Violations, pp. 125-148 (Winfred Arthur, Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, TX, Eric Anthony Day, Department of Psychology, The University of Oklahoma, OK); and Chapter 9. The Role of Situation Awareness in Accident Prevention, pp. 149-164 (Steven J. Kass, Shauna Legan, University of West Florida, Kerstan Cole, Texas Tech University). (Author/publisher)
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