Risk Factors for Young Drivers in Fatal and Non-Fatal Crashes

This report documents the results of analyses using data from young drivers (16 to 20 years old) from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 2013 to 2017 and the second Strategic Highway Research Program’s Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP2 NDS). The research team conducted quasi-induced exposure analyses by calculating crash involvement ratios (CIRs) at each young driver age using multi-vehicle crashes each with only one driver with a contributing factor. CIRs were examined with respect to risk factors relevant to graduated driver licensing (GDL) and driver education (DE). For FARS data, CIR values for young drivers were compared to a 35-year-old reference group using logistic regression. The SHRP2 NDS data also permitted a comparison of trends between age and amount of driving experience in 6-month increments for a similar range of variables. Although young driver risk appeared to decline with increasing age, young drivers of all ages (i.e., 16 to 20) were at higher risk than 35-year-olds for most factors. Some situations were particularly risky for young drivers relative to 35-year-old drivers and relative to other kinds of situations. The results from this study may be useful for developing DE content or supervised driving practices targeted at the riskiest situations for young drivers, given that many young drivers are novices. Additional descriptive analyses are available in the Supplementary Report.

• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/62382
• Corporate Authors:

  TransAnalytics, LLC

  336 West Broad Street
  Quakertown, PA  United States  18951

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina  United States  27514

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Mastromatto, Tia
  • Quinones, Tatiana
  • Lan, Bo
  • Srinivasan, Raghavan
  • Lococo, Kathy H
  • Watson, Christine E
  • Staplin, Loren
• Publication Date: 2022-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 47p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driver education; Fatalities; Risk; Traffic crashes; Young adults
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01849785
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT HS 813 303A
• Contract Numbers: DTNH2216D00010/ DTNH2217F00170
• Files: HSL, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 27 2022 8:59AM