Rowe, R. orcid.org/0000-0001-5556-3650, Stride, C. orcid.org/0000-0001-9960-2869, Day, M. orcid.org/0000-0003-2962-3124 et al. (3 more authors) (2022) Why are newly qualified motorists at high crash risk? Modelling driving behaviours across the first six months of driving. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 177. 106832. ISSN 0001-4575
Abstract
Objective
Novice driver crash risk diminishes steeply over the first few months of driving. We explore the characteristics of driving over this period to identify behaviours that might underlie this change in risk.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1456 UK drivers aged 17–21 within six months of gaining their licence. We examined how various forms of driving exposure, such as weekly mileage and driving at night, were related to duration of licencing. We explored the factor structure of the Early Driving Development Questionnaire (EDD-Q); a new instrument designed to measure safety relevant attitudes and behaviours in recently qualified drivers. We examined the relationship of the derived factors to licence duration.
Results
There was little evidence that greater exposure to risky driving situations was more common in those with shorter licence durations. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses identified EDD-Q factors measuring risky style (12 items), skill deficiencies (8 items) and driving confidence (4 items). Licence duration was positively correlated with both risky style and confidence, with these relationships stronger for older novices. Licence duration was also negatively related to skill deficiencies (i.e., positively correlated with perceived driving skill development): this relationship was stronger in younger novices.
Conclusions
The negative correlation between license duration and skill deficiencies is consistent with the observation of decreasing novice crash involvement as experience is gained. The EDD-Q offers a new brief measure of aberrant driving that is specifically tailored for newly qualified drivers.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Automobile driving; Risk-taking; Young adults; Novice drivers |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL MR/N011198/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Sep 2022 11:32 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:05 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106832 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:190844 |