The relationship between thinking and driving styles and their contribution to young driver road safety

This thesis explores the relationship between thinking and driving styles and their contribution to young driver road safety. Although the majority of literature on traffic safety concentrates on crashes, crash risk, and aberrant driving behaviour, this research concentrates on people and safe driving styles. Young drivers are overrepresented in traffic fatalities, and they have been at the centre of many crash focused studies. It seems that past research, the majority of which is negatively focused on crashes and aberrant driving behaviour, has not yet led to a satisfactory improvement of young driver road safety. This study, therefore, focuses on young drivers' safety from a positive perspective. Mixed methodology is used to find an answer to the main research question Can knowledge of thinking and driving styles contribute to young driver road safety?, using self-report questionnaires and group interviews with young drivers. The thesis examines the relationship between young drivers' thinking and driving styles, emphasising patient and careful driving. The traffic safety literature and the parallel literature on thinking styles is used to get a better understanding of the construct of driving style, and what driving style means to young drivers themselves. It argues that thinking and driving styles can both be regarded as intellectual styles and a model for the development of driving styles is proposed. The findings from this research have implications for driver training content as well as for driver training execution.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/items/6fea884a-e120-ca62-f732-419e3ae802ca/1/
• Supplemental Notes:
  • PhD thesis
• Authors:
  • Kleisen, L
• Publication Date: 2011-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 1 file

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Behavior; Driver training; Drivers; Education; Psychology; Questionnaires; Risk taking
• Uncontrolled Terms: Interviews; Safe systems (road users); Young driver
• ATRI Terms: Driver behaviour
• ITRD Terms: 2267: Attitude (psychol)
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01362551
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 16 2012 7:26AM