Traffic injuries are an important public health problem allower the world. In the year 2006 there were about three times more fatalities in traffic per 1000000 inhabitants in Estonia (152) compared to Northern Countries, Finland, Sweden and Denmark (55, 49, and 58 respectively) and about twice as many in the European Union on average (86) (Estonian Road Administration, 2007). Novice drivers are an important risk-group in traffic. In the studies of drivers who were in hospital after a traffic accident it has been shown that most of them were novice drivers or had a little driving experience (McEvoy et al., 2007). A study on novice drivers shows that there were more traffic violations and more negative attitudes towards safe driving in the year 2001 compared to year 1978 (Laapotti et al., 2003). The studies of risky behaviour in drivers have brought upon two important personality features: excitement seeking and impulsivity. These traits are related to risky traffic behaviour like drunk driving, speed limit exceeding and not using safety-belt. (Author/publisher) This publication may be accessed by Internet users at: http://www.ictct.org/workshop.php?workshop_nr=26
Samenvatting