Why are newly qualified motorists at high crash risk?

19 October 2022

Novice driver crash risk diminishes steeply over the first few months of driving. This study from Professor Richard Rowe, University of Sheffield now available on The Road Safety Knowledge Centre sets out to explore the characteristics of driving over this period to identify behaviours that might underlie this change in risk.

The full report is available from the Science Direct website:

The synthesised evidence available on The Road Safety Observatory highlights that:

• A survival analysis of the length of time to new drivers’ first accident found three factors were associated with longer ‘survival’ rates: increased age, driving experience (possibly driving in busy town centres and in the rain) and a selfreported driving style characterised as ‘attentive, careful, responsible and safe’.
• While driver age is a risk factor for collisions (with the youngest new drivers at most risk), the experience drivers gain in the first six months after passing their test plays a more significant role in reducing their collision rates.
• Nevertheless, the experience does not seem to be a key quality of a good driver in the view of young road users. Evidence from a range of studies suggests that they may overrate their driving ability and see driving as a matter of ‘natural talent’ which can be judged by how confident a driver feels. When asked to judge themselves, the vast majority of young drivers choose the term “safe driver”. These remarks have important implications for understanding young drivers’ attitudes in relation to road safety.