Vehicle Access of Novice Teen Drivers and The Risk for Crash/Near-Crash Events

Introduction: To develop safe driving skills, novice teens need to drive to accumulate experience, at the same time crash risk increases the more one drives, so to what extent should extensive driving early in licensure be encouraged? This study examines the association between vehicle access, driving exposure, and the subsequent crash/near-crash risk during teens' first year of independent driving. Methods: Real-world driving data were collected in a naturalistic cohort study of 82 newly-licensed teens (16.48 years-old, SD=0.33). Participants’ private vehicles were equipped with data acquisition systems that documented driving kinematics, miles driven, and video recordings of the driver and the driving environment. Vehicle access was determined by an objective evaluation of the primary vehicle user. A Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] for a crash/near-crash event according to vehicle access. Results: During the first year of licensure, teens with primary vehicle access (67%) drove about five times more miles and had four times more crash/near-crash events than teens with shared access. While crash/near-crash rates per miles driven between groups were similar, the cumulated risk for crash/near-crash involvement was more than double for teens with primary compared to teens with shared vehicle access (aHR: 2.02, 95%CI: 1.14-3.57).Discussion: Novice teens learn to drive mainly through experience over time. Concentrated exposure early after licensure, which characterizes teens with primary vehicle-access, is associated with elevated crash/near-crash risk. Parental involvement in titrating teens’ vehicle access at least during their first year of independent driving is recommended.

• Record URL:
  https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/OnlineProgram/Details/15695
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ACH60 Standing Committee on Vehicle User Education, Training, and Licensing.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Gershon, Pnina
  • Ehsani, Johnathon P
  • Sita, Kellienne R
  • Zhu, Chunming
  • Klauer, Sheila
  • Dingus, Tom
  • Simons-Morton, Bruce G
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2021-1-5 to 2021-1-29
• Date: 2021

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 14p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Automobile driving; Crash rates; Crash risk forecasting; Driver licensing; Recently qualified drivers; Teenage drivers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01764316
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-21-00800
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 4 2021 11:00AM