In this fact page we will cover:
- Why young drivers are at risk on the roads
- Key risk factors for young drivers
- Common risky behaviours
- What can be done to improve young driver safety
- Novice drivers and the law
Why young drivers are at risk on the roads
The high level of risk associated with young drivers is due to a combination of youth and inexperience. Their inexperience means they have less ability to spot hazards, and their youth means they are particularly likely to take risks like dangerous overtaking or speeding.
Brain development
Although the human brain has mostly stopped growing by the end of a person’s teenage years, it continues to go through a period of extensive remodelling. This strengthens connections between nerve cells and enables information to be processed more efficiently. This period is critical for the development of the pre-frontal cortex (part of the frontal lobe), which plays an important role in regulating impulsive behaviour, and the ability to anticipate the consequences of behaviour.
The pre-frontal cortex does not reach full maturity until people are at least in their mid-20s.
Meanwhile, the limbic region, which is associated with emotional responses, is over-active between the ages of 15 and 24. Increased limbic activity means that young people are more likely to be influenced by their peers and are more likely to indulge in thrill-seeking behaviour.
This period of development means young drivers are often more likely to take risks and less able to regulate their impulses or understand the consequences of their decisions.
Young people also underestimate certain high-risk behaviours. For
example, research has shown that young drivers are less likely than
older drivers to rate speeding as high-risk.
Over-confidence
As drivers gain experience on the road, they become less likely to crash and more likely to drive in a manner that is attentive, careful, responsible and safe. However, many young drivers are still overconfident in their ability to drive safely.
Over-confidence can lead to dangerous driving behaviours including:
- Overtaking
- Speeding
- Tailgating
- Harsh braking
- Racing
The practical skills of driving can be mastered
quickly, however, some (less obvious) skills such as hazard perception require
more experience. This means young drivers may think they are in
control when they are actually driving unsafely, and become more
likely to take risks as they believe their skills are improving.
Research has shown that young drivers who show overconfidence in self-assessment of their skills are more likely to crash in their first two years of driving than those who are insecure about their driving skills.
Poor assessment of hazards
Although some hazards on the road are easy to identify, there are some situations where hazards are not immediately obvious. It often takes experience to notice these hidden hazards, so inexperienced young drivers may not notice them and react in time. Research has shown young drivers show poorer attention, visual awareness, hazard recognition and avoidance, and are less able to judge appropriate speed for circumstances.
Driving requires constantly balancing the attention needed for practical tasks such as steering and changing gears, and more cognitively demanding tasks such as hazard identification. Because of their inexperience young drivers need to concentrate more on practical tasks, so are slower to switch between tasks and slower to react to hazards.
Listen to an episode of our Time to Zero In podcast which focuses on young driver safety.
Young driver statistics
Key risk factors for young drivers
Carrying passengers
Research shows that peer pressure can encourage bad driving and result in drivers ‘showing off’ to their passengers and taking more risks. Newly qualified drivers with a car full of passengers of similar age are four times more likely to be in a fatal crash, compared with when driving alone. However, when carrying older adult passengers, young drivers are less likely to crash, indicating it is peer pressure rather than simply the presence of passengers that raises the risk.
Driving at night
Young drivers have a higher proportion of crashes in the evenings and early mornings. Young drivers’ high risk at night is thought to be because they are most likely to be driving for recreational purposes, and more likely to be drunk or drugged, or taking risks such as speeding due to peer pressure. It may also be because drivers at night are more likely to be driving tired.
Driving at night also requires extreme care. Young drivers may be under the impression that because roads are quieter at night it is safer for them to speed or pay less attention. In fact, driving at night takes more care due to poorer visibility, and greater likelihood of drink drivers or drunk pedestrians on the roads.
Common risky behaviour of young drivers
Speeding
Young people often drive too fast because they underestimate the
risks associated with speeding, and crashes occur because they do not
have to react to a dangerous situation and control their vehicle to
avoid a collision. Excessive or inappropriate speed is a key contributor
towards crashes involving young drivers in the UK and elsewhere.
The younger the driver, the more likely they are to be involved in a crash caused by speed. This is particularly the case for young men, who are much more likely to be involved in a fatal crash caused by speeding than young female drivers.
Read more about the dangers of speeding
Speed, the factsDrink and drug driving
Drivers in their 20s self-report as having the highest rate of driving when over the drink-drive limit of all age groups.
When it comes to drug driving, the younger the driver, the more likely to report having driven when under the influence of illegal drugs.
Read more about the dangers of drink-driving
Drink drivingRead more about the dangers of drug-driving
Drug drivingMobile phones
Young drivers need to concentrate more on driving than more
experienced drivers, which makes them more susceptible to distraction,
for example from mobile phones. Despite this, evidence suggests
young drivers are more likely than older drivers to use their mobile
phones at the wheel: the RAC has found that around half of young people (aged 17-24) admit to using their mobile phone behind the wheel, the highest proportion of all age categories.
Read more about the dangers of phone use behind the wheel
Mobile phonesSeat belts
Young drivers and passengers are less likely to always wear seat belts, and may not belt up when in a car with friends due to peer pressure. Research from America found that seat belt use by young drivers decreases as the number of young passengers they carry increases.
Read more about seat belts and other vehicle safety features
Vehicle safety technologyWhat can be done to improve young driver safety
Improved licensing
With inexperience a key factor in the increased risk facing young drivers, a more stringent licensing system could significantly improve young driver safety.
Find out about GDL and how it can improve young driver safety
Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL)Providing better alternatives to driving
Because of young people’s propensity for risk-taking, the younger you are when you get a driving licence the greater the risk.
Encouraging young people to delay or avoid learning to drive can therefore have a significant impact on safety. Many young people learn to drive as soon as possible because they feel they have little other option for getting around.
Improving access to and
affordability of public transport, and walking and cycling routes to
workplaces and colleges, would provide alternatives to driving which can help keep young people safe.
Telematics and young driver behaviour
Many insurers offer ‘black box’ telematics technology to young drivers. These devices monitor speed, driving style and other factors and can also be used to set curfews so young drivers are not able to drive during high-risk hours, i.e. late at night. Young drivers abiding by these rules can be given discounts on their insurance, which has been shown to be an effective incentive to reduce young driver speeds.
Black boxes can also be used to allow parents to monitor young
drivers’ behaviour: as well as providing peace of mind for the parents
and guardians of young drivers, parental monitoring has been found to
reduce risky driving.
Novice drivers and the law
Penalty points and disqualification are slightly different for novice drivers, in acknowledgement of the increased risk they face on the roads.
Those whose licences are cancelled within two years have to apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both theory and practical parts of the driving or riding test again to get a full licence.
Points on provisional licenses
Any penalty points on provisional licences that have not expired are carried over to the full licence when someone has passed their test.
Penalty points and new drivers
www.gov.uk- Road traffic deaths, World Health Organisation
- Reported road casualties in Great Britain, Department for Transport
- Novice drivers, evidence review and evaluation, TRL, 2013
- Graduated Driver Licensing: A regional analysis of potential casualty savings in Great Britain, RAC foundation, 2014
- The modelled impact of a range of GDL schemes. An update of the 2014 TRL report, RAC Foundation, 2018