Young, novice motorists, their crash rates, and measures to reduce them; A literature study The crash rate of young novice motorists is relatively high worldwide. This study searched the literature to see if research had shown what the causes were of this high crash rate. There were two large clusters of causes: (1) age related factors; and (2) inadequate skills. The age related factors refer to the development phase in which young people find themselves. The moral, emotional, and cognitive developments of young women are slightly different from young men. Adolescents, and especially the male ones, often rebel against existing norms, do not want to appear 'soft' to their friends, enjoy sensation, underestimate risks, and have the feeling that they are more or less invulnerable. The lack of skills is not so much a matter of poor vehicle control, but is more a lack of: (i) being able to observe properly; (ii) adequately judging traffic situations; and (iii) of predicting accurately how a particular traffic situation will develop. These are generally referred to as higher order skills. A lack of these skills is mainly the result of a lack of driving experience. In general, the high crash rate of young novice motorists is probably slightly more determined by a lack of driving experience than by age related factors. For a long time now and in many countries, many measures have been used in attempts to reduce the high crash rate of young novice motorists. These measures can be subdivided according to a number of measure directions, among other things: (a) training and education; (b) special traffic rules for (young) novice motorists; (c) information especially aimed at novice motorists; and (d) gaining driving experience under protecting circumstances.
Abstract