The OECD and ECMT have published a joint report on young drivers entitled Young Drivers: the road to safety. The report finds that road crashes are the single greatest killer of 15–24 year-olds in OECD countries. Young drivers account for about 27% of driver fatalities across OECD countries, although people in the same age group represent only about 10% of the population.
The report is the result of ongoing work by a group of experts from OECD and ECMT member countries which was carried out in order to build up a picture of the main challenges facing young drivers and the most effective countermeasures.
Among the key findings of the report is the great overrepresentation of young drivers in crashes and road fatalities globally. The death rates for 18-24 year-olds are typically around double those of older drivers. Moreover, young male drivers’ crash fatality rates are as much as three those of young female drivers, even when the figures are adjusted to take account of male drivers’ higher rates of exposure.
Young drivers’ lifestyles and social activities are found to have a key impact on their injury and fatality rates. Young drivers, for instance, have high numbers of crashes when driving at night, when carrying passengers around the same age and as a result of speeding. Other key factors in young driver crashes are alcohol and driving without a seat belt. At the root of the young driver problem are the combined factors of inexperience, age and gender.
Having assessed the risks faced by young drivers the report goes on to make recommendations on how to make young drivers safer. These include:
An extended period of driver training spent with an experienced driver. Experience in one country showed that where the number of hours of pre-licensing practice was extended from 50 to around 120 hours, crashes in the two years following licensing reduced by about 40%.
Impose a maximum blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.2 g/l on novice drivers since the effects of alcohol on them is shown to be greater than on older drivers.
A requirement for novice drivers to complete a probationary period, during which time penalties for failing to comply with the rules of the road or licensing conditions could include loss of license or having to undergo additional training.
Greater research in to new technologies, particular where they may be of benefit in addressing problems specific to young and novice drivers.
Enforce the rules of the road more vigorously for all drivers, particularly when they relate to non use of seat belts, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and breaking the speed limit.
In compiling their report the expert group took note of the FIA Foundation’s publication At Risk on the Road – Young and Novice Drivers which was produced following the Foundation’s International Policy Forum in Budapest in 2005 which focused on young drivers. John White, head of the joint OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre also participated in the Forum.
For more information on the joint OECD/ECMT report see:
http://www.cemt.org/JTRC/WorkingGroups/YoungDrivers/index.htm