Young people aged 17–24 years are at high risk of being killed in road crashes around the world. Road safety interventions consider some influences upon young driver behaviour; for example, imposing passenger restrictions on young novice drivers indirectly minimises the potential negative social influences of peers as passengers. To change young driver risky behaviour, the multitude of psychosocial influences upon its initiation and maintenance must be identified. A study questionnaire was developed to investigate the relationships between risky driving and Akers’ social learning theory, social identity theory, and thrill seeking variables. The questionnaire was completed by 165 participants (105 women, 60 men) residing in south-east Queensland, Australia. The sociodemographic variables of age, gender, and exposure explained 19% of the variance in self-reported risky driving behaviour, whilst Akers’ social learning variables explained an additional 42%. Thrill seeking and social identity variables did not explain any significant additional variance. Significant predictors of risky driving included imitation of the driving behaviours of, and anticipated rewards and punishments administered by, parents and peers. Road safety policy that directly considers and incorporates these factors in their design, implementation, and enforcement of young driver road safety interventions should prove more efficacious than current approaches.
The overrepresentation of young drivers in motor vehicle crashes is a persistent global road safety problem (Doherty, Andrey, & MacGregor, 1998) that was recognised more than half a century ago (Chliaoutakis, Darviri, & Demakakos, 1999). Car crashes are the leading cause of death for persons aged 15–24, who constituted 10% of the population in OECD countries in 2004, but represented 27% of all crash fatalities (OECD, 2006). Young drivers also tend to engage in risky behaviours (Durkin, 1995), for example young males report that speeding is a normal non-serious behaviour (Rothe, 1987b, as cited in Harre, Field, & Kirkwood, 1996). Whilst gaining a driver’s licence is generally seen as a developmental rite of passage (Freund & Martin, 2002), safety concerns have led to 1 in 5 parents reporting attempts to delay their children obtaining a learner’s permit (Sherman, Lapidus, Gelven, & Banco, 2004).
Epidemiological studies (e.g., ATSB, 2004a) from around the world have repeatedly demonstrated that crash risks are highest for the youngest drivers who are twice as likely to be killed as older drivers (OECD, 2006). Young passengers contribute half of all vehicle occupant deaths amongst this age group (Williams & Wells, 1995). A number of factors consistently emerge in the international literature as contributors to young driver crashes. Driver characteristics contributing to young driver crashes include age (e.g., TAC, 2007), gender (e.g., ATSB, 2004a), licence status (e.g., Lam, 2003), driving experience (e.g., Berg, Eliasson, Palmkvist, & Gregersen, 1999), consumption of alcohol (e.g., Isaac, Kennedy, & Graham, 1995), fatigue (e.g., Queensland Transport., 2005), inattention (e.g., Zhang, Fraser, Lindsay, Clarke, & Mao, 1998), and not wearing seat belts (e.g., Begg & Langley, 2000). Influential passenger variables are the age (e.g., Miller, Spicer, & Lestina, 1998), gender (e.g., Williams & Wells, 1995), and the number of passengers (e.g., Miller et al., 1998).
