Young Driver Rule Compliance: Predictors of and Comparisons between Speeding, Phone

Use While Driving and Graduated Driver Licensing Violations

Verity Truelove, A/Prof James Freeman, Prof Jeremy Davey & DrSherrie-Anne Kaye

9th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, Orlando, Florida, 21-25th July,

Overview• Focus groups utilised to explore factors that influence

young driver rule compliance with speeding, phone use while driving and graduated driver licensing restrictions

• Effectiveness of legal sanctions differed between behaviours and depended on a number of factors

• Non-legal sanction of fear of injury/death was a stronger deterrent among many participants

• Technology utilised to further promote road rule violations

Young Drivers• Worldwide, injuries as a result of road crashes are the

leading cause of death among young people

• Young drivers (aged 17-25 years) are significantly over represented in crash rates compared to all other age groups

• In Australia, young drivers represent 20% of road crashes yet make up 12.8% of the population

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Contributors to Young Driver Road Crashes

• Speeding– Most common cause of

young driver road deaths– Most prevalent in young

drivers

• Phone use while driving– Technology is constantly

evolving– Behaviour is increasing

among young drivers

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL)Queensland, Australia

Image acknowledgments:https://www.citrusaustralia.com.au/growers-industry/queensland

Population of Australia: 24.13 million

Queensland Population: 4.96 million

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL)Queensland, Australia Restrictions

• Learner and Provisional 1 (P1) licence drivers– Restriction on all phone functions– Passenger phone restriction– Night time passenger restriction– Zero alcohol limit– Must display correct plate

• Provisional 2 (P2) licence drivers– Zero alcohol limit– Must display correct plate

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1 Year

1 Year

2 Years

Research Question

What are young drivers’ perceptions of deterrence associated with the Queensland, Australia graduated driver licensing restriction violations, speeding and using a hand-held-phone while driving?

Method• 11 Focus Groups (60 participants)• Participants: aged between 17 and 25 years

– M age = 20.5 years (SD = 2.69)– 40 Females

• Site: Australian University campus• 40-90 minutes• Procedure

– Perceptions around graduated driver licensing, speeding, illegal phone use while driving

– Recorded, transcribed– Inductive thematic analysis

Results: All Behaviours• Compliance consistent with perceptions of enforcement

certainty

• Punishment avoidance linked with further noncompliance

• Punishments widely unknown, many participants stated they were more likely to comply with the restrictions when they found out the punishment severity

• Effective non-legal sanctions- Fear of injury or death of self or others

Graduated Driver Licensing Results

• Graduated driver licensing restrictions widely unknown, perceived as not well enforced

• Enforcement linked to displaying P plates (decals) but this rule was reportedly often violated

• Compliance with these restrictions was linked with perceptions of enforcement certainty and severity, social acceptance, legitimacy and perceived danger

Graduated Driver Licensing Results

• Phone restriction and passenger phone restriction least complied with

• Alcohol restriction was most complied with

F: It’s hard to prove that you’re using it though. Like if they pull you over and you’ve got your phone.

M: And being caught for drink driving sounds a lot worse than having two passengers with you or

speeding

Speeding ResultsLegal Deterrents Non-legal Deterrents

Speed cameras- Visual, point-to-point, ‘smiley face’

Social acceptability (mixed)

Fear of injury or death

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M: I would just say having friends in the car, that’s just, you’re more inclined to speed

M: Speeding is like a badge of honor,

basically

F: They’re going to do it when the camera’s there but then they’re going to speed when

there’s no cameras

Mobile Phone Use While Driving Results

Legal Deterrents Non-legal Deterrents

Visual cameras Fear of injury or death

Police Social acceptability

Social media campaigns

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M: I don’t think I’ve ever been inclined, to be driving along and go, oh I don’t think I’m going to check that message because I’m going to get a $200 fine, instead you’ll go,

you know, I don’t want to get distracted.

Phone Use and Speeding

• Technology utilised to further promote road rule violations among young drivers- Snapchat and speeding

Image acknowledgments:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkgn7FS2M5c

Implications

• Deterrence mechanisms are ineffective if drivers are unaware of the rules – programs need to be implemented which address this

• Legal countermeasures need a stronger focus on increasing perceptions of enforcement certainty

• Raise awareness of dangers associated with each road rule violation

• Decrease social acceptance of road rule violations among young drivers

Take Home Messages

• Effectiveness of deterrence mechanisms differ for each road rule

• Compliance linked with perceptions of enforcement certainty, punishment avoidance and fear of injury or death

Thank you

Questions?

Contact Details:Verity Trueloveverity.truelove@hdr.qut.edu.au