Road deaths and serious injuries amongst young novice drivers and passengers remain unacceptably high and represent a serious public health issue. They are among the most vulnerable road users in Australia and New Zealand, as in most developed countries world-wide: the crash rate for novice drivers far exceeds crash and fatality rates of older (middle aged) drivers, being up to ten times higher than for the safest age group (Mayhew, Simpson & Pak, 2003; McCartt, Shabanova & Leaf, 2003; Williams, 1999; Braitman, Kirley, McCartt & Chaudhary, 2008). More importantly, a consistent finding worldwide is the extremely high crash and fatality rate during the first year of driving, most pronounced in the first few months of driving, related to the disproportionately high risk in the time period after licensure. During this critical first year of independent driving it has been estimated that novice drivers are 33 times more likely to be involved in a casualty crash compared with learner drivers (Gregersen, Nyberg & Berg, 2003; Mayhew et al., 2003). In New Zealand during 2012 alone, young drivers aged 15-24 years were involved in 73 fatal crashes, 439 serious injury crashes and 2,626, minor injury crashes (Ministry of Transport, 2013). The total social cost of the crashes in which 15—24 year-old drivers had the primary responsibility was $755 million, accounting for 24 percent of the social cost associated with all injury crashes. This personal and community cost injury crash is unacceptable and there is an urgent need to identify and implement effective solutions to reduce this toll in line with the New Zealand 2010-2020 road safety strategy, ‘Safer Journeys’, that identifies the need to increase the safety of young drivers as an ‘area of high concern’ (Ministry of Transport, 2010). Extensive research has focused on identifying crash characteristics and the situations that lead to novice drivers’ crashes, especially fatal crashes. Young driver crashes tend to occur under high risk situations and include single-vehicle and run-off-road crashes, high speed, suicides, and drugs and alcohol (Gonzales, Dickinson, DiGuiseppi, & Lowenstein, 2005; Williams, Preusser, & Ferguson, 1998; Whelan et al., 2009). Driving at night and carrying teenage passengers further elevate the risk of both fatal and serious injury crashes (Rice, Peek— Asa, & Kraus, 2003; Chen, Baker, Braver, & Li, 2000; Williams, Ferguson, &Wells, 2005). Evidence from crash reports and driver surveys also suggests that there are numerous persistent characteristics evident in young novice driver crashes, fatalities and offences in New Zealand and elsewhere, including variables relating to the young driver themselves, broader social influences which include their passengers, the car they drive, and when and how they drive, and their risky driving behaviour in particular (Ministry of Transport, 2010; Begg et al., 2012, 2014; Williams et al., 2005; OECD, 2006; BITRE, 2013; Scott-Parker et al., 2012). Moreover, there are a range of psychosocial factors influencing the behaviour of young novice drivers, including the social influences of parents and peers, and person-related factors such as age-related factors, attitudes and motivations, and sensation seeking. Reasons for young driver vulnerability are likely to be complex and multi-faceted, and there is much that remains to be understood in order to eliminate the unacceptable injury and loss of life in this road user group. Adolescence is associated with heightened exploratory behaviour and establishing independence to become young adults. Some of this exploration is healthy, such as exploring new career roles and school or extra curricula programs. Some is not — e.g. binge drinking; risky driving. It is the engagement in less healthy behaviour that can place young people at risk, and contribute to the over-representation of death and serious injury by young drivers on our roads (Senserrick, 2006). One of the major debates regarding the novice driver problem is the distinction between unintentional and intentional risky driving. A body of research suggests that, for the most part, the problem is a result of inexperience, younger age, immaturity, etc. Others, in contrast, argue that the main problem is that of intentional risky driving such as deliberate speeding, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, aggressive driving. It is most likely a combination of both and possibly related to stage of licensure: newly licensed drivers are necessarily inexperienced and require a period of time to learn how to drive safely and this group can be considered the ‘inexperienced’ group. On the other hand, there are the young drivers at a later stage of licensure who are more likely to drive in a more risky fashion. While much progress has been made to address young driver crash risk, current knowledge about the risks to young drivers is limited, and in-depth research on their propensity for excessive speeding, distraction, aggressive driving and risky manoeuvres is scant. Indeed, current evidence on the risk of this group has been assembled from self-report, simulation studies and analysis of crash data, while little is known about the real-world driving experience of young drivers. * A major gap in our knowledge, then, is: the proportion of young drivers who drive, how often they drive, and their propensity to engage in a deliberately risky manner – is their driving punctuated by spontaneous risk taking episodes? Is there a subgroup of drivers who always drive in a risky manner that ‘‘pushes the envelope’’, and what are the contributing factors to the propensity to engage in risky driving behaviours? The complex interacting factors underpinning young driver risk pose a considerable challenge for the development of effective countermeasures. Notwithstanding these difficulties, there have been numerous initiatives that have been implemented to manage the safety of young drivers, including: * GDL models * Parental involvement: - Agreements to comply with GDL restrictions - Behaviour role model - Vehicle purchase and use - Awareness and adoption of safe driving practices * Education and training: appropriate hazard perception training programs and programs that address higher order attentional and motivational attributes * Promotion of safer driving practices (e.g. eco driving) * Purchase and use of safety vehicles, including new technologies and insurance schemes * Enforcement of risky driving (including laws, sanctions, and compliance with GDL restrictions) Within each of these areas, there are still unanswered questions relating to compliance with GDL restrictions and the effectiveness of the measures, particularly in the NZ context, and how they may be enhanced in order to make further gains in reducing young driver fatal and serious injury crashes in New Zealand. Providing answers to most of these questions and gaps in our knowledge, requires an in-depth understanding of young novice drivers’ driving patterns, behaviour and motivations that lead them to engage in risky driving behaviours. (Author/publisher)
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