Sociological and psychological aspects of young drivers are examined as they pertain to driver safety. It is found that: low educational level and a history of poor occupational achievement are related to the tendency to seek danger on the road; certain social habits characteristic of youth increase their risk exposure (e.g., night driving and alcohol consumption); social values of young men are oriented toward competition and masculinity; young drivers have the mental, sensory and psychomotor pre-requisites for safe driving; then- knowledge of traffic rules is comparatively good; correlations between young drivers' traffic accident and violation behaviour and clinical personality test variables are weak; and, the validity and application of the concept of accident proneness is problematic. It is concluded that the use of attitudinal questionnaires and personality tests in selecting drivers seems not to be useful from a licensing point of view, but psychological tests may be useful in very individualized training or for diagnostic-remedial purposes.
Abstract