Vehicle Access and Crash/Near-Crashes Risks of Novice Teenage Drivers During the First Year of Independent Driving

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause for mortality and morbidity among teenage drivers between the ages of 15 – 20 years old. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are over represented in the fatal crashes statistics and apart from the most elderly drivers, teen drivers have the highest crash risk per mile driven compared to other drivers age groups (NHTSA, 2016). Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws were adopted by nearly all U.S. states to reduce teens’ crash risk. GDL restrictions limit the exposure of newly-licensed teen drivers to high-risk situations to encourage progressive driving exposure while teens gain experience and develop driving skills in less risky driving conditions. While GDL laws have proven beneficial in reducing teens’ crash risk, they do not address all known factors contributing to increased crash risk, including vehicle access (Garcia-Espana et al., 2009). There is a growing body of research indicating that vehicle ownership and primary vehicle access are major determinants of teens’ driving exposure, risky driving behavior, and crash risk (Gershon et al., 2017, 2018a; Scott- Parker et al., 2011; Williams et al., 2006). While providing high access to a vehicle might be convenient for both parents and teens, it can also result in more driving, possibly in more complex driving conditions, and greater crash risk among the most inexperienced drivers. A survey study conducted among teen drivers reported that teens with primary vehicle access had more than double the crash risk compared to teens who had shared access (Garcia-Espana et al., 2009). In previous analysis of naturalistic driving data, Gershon et al. (2018a) showed that primary access to a vehicle was associated with 65% increase in kinematic risky driving behaviors of novice teen drivers. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the associations between vehicle access and crash and near-crash risk of novice teenage drivers during their first year of independent driving.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB30 Standing Committee on Operator Education and Regulation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Gershon, Pnina
  • Sita, Kellienne R
  • Zhu, Chunming
  • Klauer, Sheila
  • Dingus, Tom
  • Simons-Morton, Bruce
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2019-1-13 to 2019-1-17
• Date: 2019

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 6p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile ownership; Crash causes; Fatalities; High risk drivers; Human factors in crashes; Risk assessment; Teenage drivers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01697704
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 19-02906
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 1 2019 3:51PM