Risky driving among young Australian drivers: Trends, precursors and correlates

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Abstract

Young drivers are significantly over-represented among those injured or killed in road traffic accidents. Young adults’ greater tendency to engage in risky driving behaviours has been implicated in their high crash involvement rate. While considerable research has examined the driving patterns of young adults and situational factors associated with their involvement in crashes, less is known about the characteristics or circumstances in young drivers’ earlier lives that may have contributed to their current driving behaviour. This issue was explored using data from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP), a large longitudinal community-based study, which commenced in 1983 with 2443 families and has followed children's psychosocial development from infancy to early adulthood. During the most recent survey wave when participants were aged 19–20 years, information was collected from young adults about their driving experiences and behaviour. A series of analyses indicated that it was possible to distinguish a group of young adults who engaged in high risky driving behaviour (high group) from a group who engaged in low levels of risky driving behaviour (low group) from mid childhood. Young drivers with a tendency towards risky driving differed from others on aspects of temperament style, behaviour problems, social competence, school adjustment and interpersonal relationships. The implications of these findings for initiatives to reduce risky driving behaviour are discussed.

Introduction

Young drivers are significantly over-represented among those injured or killed in road traffic accidents (Begg and Langley, 2000, Clarke et al., 2002, Engström et al., 2003, Palamara et al., 2001). For example, over a quarter (28%) of those killed in road traffic accidents in the State of Victoria, Australia, in 2002, were aged between 18 and 25 years, despite the fact that drivers in this age range only accounted for 14% of licence holders (Transport Accident Commission of Victoria, 2003).

Young adults’ greater tendency to engage in high-risk driving behaviours appears to be an important contributor to their high crash involvement rate (Harré, 2000, Williams, 1998). They are particularly over-represented in crashes involving excessive speed, driver fatigue and/or alcohol use (Clarke et al., 2002, Dobbie, 2002, Dunsire and Baldwin, 1999, Engström et al., 2003, Palamara et al., 2001). They also tend to wear seatbelts less frequently than older drivers (Begg and Langley, 2000, Engström et al., 2003, Triggs and Smith, 1996), thereby increasing the chances of injury following crash involvement (Norris et al., 2000).

While the driving behaviours and crash characteristics of young novice drivers have been the focus of much research (see Crettenden and Drummond, 1994, Engström et al., 2003 for detailed reviews), particular attention has been given to a small sub-group who frequently engage in risky driving behaviour. Such drivers are seen to be at heightened risk of crash involvement and consequently, are a clear target for intervention initiatives (Crettenden and Drummond, 1994, Williams, 1998).

This group can be distinguished from other young drivers on a range of characteristics. These include: high aggression or hostility, attentional problems, alcohol and drug use, a sensation-seeking personality style, attitudes favourable to norm-defying behaviours, low parental supervision, limited parental control of driving, and involvement with peers who misuse drugs and alcohol (Barkley et al., 2002, Beck et al., 2001, Begg et al., 2003, Hartos et al., 2000, Jonah, 1997, Norris et al., 2000, Shope et al., 1997, Shope et al., 2001, Ulleberg and Rundmo, 2003, Woodward et al., 2000).

There is also evidence that young people who take risks in driving are more likely to engage in other risky or problem behaviours (Beirness and Simpson, 1988, Bingham and Shope, 2004, Caspi et al., 1997, Williams, 1998), leading to the suggestion that high-risk driving behaviour is part of a broader underlying problem behaviour syndrome (see Jessor and Jessor, 1977, Jessor, 1987).

However, while the concurrent characteristics of young “problem” drivers have been well documented, less is known about the earlier circumstances or factors in their lives that may have contributed to their current driving behaviour. Longitudinal studies provide an opportunity to better understand how differing driving styles may develop, thereby informing prevention and early intervention efforts (Williams, 1998).

Some promising longitudinal research has been conducted into the development of problematic driving behaviour. Caspi et al. (1997), for example, showed that characteristics at 18 years such as aggression and negative emotionality, lower conventionality and social closeness, poorer harm avoidance, and lower control and constraint, were associated with risky driving at 21 years. A four wave longitudinal study by Beirness et al. (1993) found that crash involvement at age 18 was predicted by a range of personal characteristics measured during the previous 3 years, including lower attachment to traditional values, greater peer influence, lower self-confidence, higher sensation seeking, more tolerant attitudes towards deviant behaviour, more liberal attitudes concerning alcohol use, and greater engagement in health risk behaviours such as drinking. Fergusson and Horwood (2001), and Shope et al. (1997) reported that earlier substance use was related to risky driving. Furthermore, Shope et al. (1997) found that poor school performance was a risk factor for subsequent high-risk driving among male and female adolescents, while peer substance use was a unique risk factor for females, and parental disapproval of alcohol use and living in an ‘intact’ family were protective for males. Nevertheless, longitudinal research in this area clearly remains limited.

Additionally, given the variations in licensing systems across countries, the generalisability of findings emerging from different countries and cultures may be uncertain. For example, the age at which young people are permitted to learn to drive ranges from 14 to 16 years in the US and Canada, with the minimum age for obtaining a restricted licence commonly 16 years. In the State of Victoria, Australia (the setting for the present study), young people are able to commence learning to drive under supervision at age 16. The minimum licensing age is 18 years, with novice drivers spending the first 3 years of licensure on a probationary licence before graduating to a full licence. Thus, these young novice drivers are on the threshold of adulthood and may be more mature than novice drivers in other countries who have often been driving from the mid-adolescent stage of development. Research from a range of countries and licensing systems may help to identify the unique and common precursors of risky driving.

The context for the present study is the longitudinal Australian Temperament Project (ATP), which provides an opportunity to examine the precursors and correlates of risky driving behaviour from the earliest years of life. This study has followed the development of a cohort of Australian children from infancy into early adulthood using data collected via mail surveys from several types of respondents (parents, nurses, elementary teachers, and the young people themselves). While the study has focused on children's psychosocial adjustment and well-being, information on a range of other personal, familial and environmental factors has been collected (see Prior et al., 2000). This includes an exploration of road safety issues at the most recent data collection wave in 2002, at a participant age of 19–20 years.

The study aims to (1) identify the nature and extent of risky driving behaviour among young Australians, and (2) identify longitudinal precursors and concurrent correlates of high risky driving behaviour. Due to the scant longitudinal research that exists at present, an inclusive approach is adopted, with a broad set of measures assessed at various ages used to investigate the longitudinal predictors and concurrent correlates of risky driving. These include: the child's temperament style, behavioural and emotional adjustment, social skills, health, academic progress, relationships with parents and peers, and the family's structure and demographic profile. These measures were selected on the basis of prior research, which suggested that these characteristics were associated with problematic driving behaviour or other problem behaviours closely associated with risky driving (e.g. substance use or antisocial behaviour).

Section snippets

Participants

The Australian Temperament Project (ATP) is a longitudinal study following the psychosocial development of a large cohort of children born in the State of Victoria, Australia, between September 1982 and January 1983 (see Prior et al., 2000 for more information). Upon commencement, the sample comprised 2443 infants aged between 4 and 8 months and their parents who were recruited via selected Maternal and Child Health Centres during a specified 2-week period in 1983. The participants were

Rates of risky driving in early adulthood

Table 1 shows the proportion of participants who reported engaging in each unsafe driving behaviour at least once during their past 10 trips. Results are presented for the whole sample and by gender.

As Table 1 shows, risky driving behaviours, such as speeding and driving when fatigued, were quite commonly reported by the ATP sample. For example, over 80% reported speeding by up to 10 km/h at least once during their past 10 trips and approximately two-thirds reported that they had driven when

Discussion

This study examined patterns, precursors and correlates of risky driving behaviour among a large sample of Australian drivers aged 19 or 20 years participating in a 21-year longitudinal study. While acknowledging the important influence of situational, structural and legal factors, the study focused primarily on individual and social factors in young drivers’ earlier and present lives that may have contributed to their current level of risky driving behaviour.

Consistent with previous research (

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper would like to thank the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria for their support, and acknowledge the contribution of other investigators in the Australian Temperament Project—Professor Margot Prior (Departments of Psychology and Paediatrics, University of Melbourne), Professor Frank Oberklaid (Centre for Community Child Health, Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital) and Associate Professor John W. Toumbourou (Centre for

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    The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and may not reflect those of the collaborating organisations involved in this research—the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Australian Government, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria and the Victorian Government.

    1

    Present address: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.

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