Although there is a large body of literature on the young novice driver problem, traditional approaches to driver training have proven to be ineffective. More recently, several techniques for training critical driving skills have shown a great deal of promise. Furthermore, it is argued that young novice drivers are not a homogeneous group and that training might be most effective when tailored to the needs of specific driver subtypes. Two separate but related studies are reported. The aim of Study 1 was to obtain empirical support for the presence of driver subtypes in the young novice driver population. The aim of Study 2 was to examine whether or not the young novice driver subtypes differed in terms of their simulated driving performance. A subset of participants from Study 1 drove several scenarios in a driving simulator. Differences were observed in the way that the novice driver subtypes responded both to an emergency situation and to several potential traffic hazards in the simulator. Differences were also evident in the proficiency with which they could control their attention among concurrent tasks while driving. Most of the statistically significant differences were related to skill decrements for the two highest risk novice driver subtypes. Several training techniques are described that seem to be particularly appropriate for the highest risk young novice driver subtypes. Recommendations are also made for further research and development. (A)
Samenvatting