Young Drivers: What You Don’t Know May Kill Your Child

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Our youth are dying needlessly

“ Conrad sped up, but it was

so dark, he didn't see the

pothole. Next thing I knew,

we were flying through the

air. ...My heart is broken and

shattered.”

Danielle Lee, 17 years old,

sole survivor, only occupant

using a seat belt

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Objectives

1. Why do young drivers crash?

2. How can we prevent young driver crashes?

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Newly Licensed Teens Highest Lifetime Crash Rate

US Crash Rate by Age (per 100k Licensed Drivers, 2009)

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23

20 19

15 15 14 14

17

11 9 8 7

5 4 4

38

33

42

39 41 41

35 34

30

24

20 20 18 18

28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to

35 to

45 to

55 to

65 to

75 & over

Cra

sh

R

ate

Driver Age (yr) All Fatal

But…

Lowest lifetime risk when

they are Learner Drivers

Not just teen driver problem… Everyone’s problem

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Teen driver

39% of injured

Occupants of other vehicles

35% of injured

Teens, peers, driving The perfect storm

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Brain: Work in progress

Developing executive function…

Over-rationalize decisions

Emotional

Impulses get in the way

Difficulty handling peers

Inexperience

Distracting environment

Several thousand kilos of steel at 90 km/h

While they learn to be an adult.. They are learning to drive. Learning to drive is a PROCESS

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Pre-learner Learner Driver

Early Independent

Driver

Experienced Driver

What causes most fatal teen crashes?

US Crash Rate by Age (per 100k Licensed Drivers, 2009)

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0.77

0.7

0.5

0.35 0.34

0.24

0.49 0.48

0.42

0.29 0.24

0.17 0.14

0.26

0.47

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

16 17 to 19 20 to 49

Driver error Speeding

Single vehicle 3+ occupants

Drivers killed with 0.08+ BAC

Driver error due to inexperience

Source: Williams et al Journal of Public Health Policy, 16: 3 (1995) Updated 2007 by IIHS, Units: % of fatal cases with factor present

The BIG THREE “New Driver” Mistakes Inexperience, Poor Attention, Distraction

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Major Categories of Teen Driver Critical Errors

Total Wght %

Males Wght %

Females Wght %

Recognition 46.3 47.5 44.9

Decision 40.1 39.9 40.3

Performance 8.0 8.9 7.0

Non-Performance 2.9 2.1 3.9

Other/Unknown 2.7 1.7 4.0

How to avoid a crash

SCAN

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How to avoid a crash

SCAN

Detect Hazard

SECONDS

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How to avoid a crash

Recognize Hazard

SCAN

SECONDS

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SCAN

SECONDS

How to avoid a crash

Decide to Respond

CHOOSE

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How to avoid a crash

ACT

SCAN

SECONDS

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How to avoid a crash

AVOID CRASH

SCAN

SECONDS

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Why teens die?

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What we need to focus on: Detect hazards

Improve planning

Improve scanning

Teach

Demonstrate mastery

Reduce distractions

Prohibit impairment

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SCAN & DETECT

What we need to focus on: Avoid hazards/crashes

Reduce speed and increase following distance

Increase practice driving

Wide variety of conditions

Demonstrate mastery

Don’t put teens in risky situations

Privileges should match ability/maturity level

Prohibit impairment

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CHOOSE & ACT

What is GDL?

GDL = Graduated Driver Licensing

Proven effective in reducing crashes

Key concept –

Experienced-based method for beginning drivers

Gain experience in low risk conditions before advancing to

high risk conditions

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Key objectives of GDL

1. Improve driving skills

2. Motivate for safety

3. Increase practice quality,

quantity and diversity

4. Reduce risk for newly licensed

teens by gradually increasing

exposure to risk

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What teens told us

Teens want to be good drivers

20% of 11th graders: driver in a crash

Teens recognize risks

Teens do not recognize inexperience

Getting a license = experienced

Teens do not recognize speeding risk

Parents matter

What are the roles for parents?

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Empowered parents

Role model

Practice safe driving

“Driving coach”

Put in the time

Practice in varied settings

Authoritative parent

Set and monitor driving rules

Gradually introduce new

privileges, as deserved

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Family’s timeline for safety

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Time Zero Independent driving

Prepare Assess Model Teach Set rules

Coach Monitor Assess Supervise Teach Remediate

Parents can use GDL as a guide

Use GDL to develop a set of

appropriate driving limits for new

teen drivers

Create and monitor rules that will

keep teens safe

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Parents really do matter

According to the National Young Driver Survey of over 5,600

U.S. teens…

Teens with authoritative parents are:

Half as likely to speed or crash

71 percent less likely to drive while drunk

Twice as likely to wear seat belts

30 percent less likely to use a cell phone while driving

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Summary: What we need to focus on

Increase seat belt use

Ensure teens get quantity, quality, diverse practice

Delay driving under risky conditions

With peer passengers

At night

On weekends

Prohibit risky behavior

Breaking driving laws

Aggressive or reckless driving

Impaired driving – drunk, drugged, drowsy

Distracted driving (e.g., cell phones)

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