Study says young drivers need to learn how to avoid crashes

A REPORT by the UK’s leading road safety charity IAM RoadSmart and TRL into crashes involving young drivers has concluded that they need to learn quicker how to avoid crashes with the most vulnerable users on our roads.

The report found that while they learn much quicker than expected to avoid single vehicle loss of control collisions, they learn a lot slower how to deal with vulnerable road users, be safe on the motorway and safely complete low speed manoeuvres.

IAM RoadSmart said these findings proved a surprise, as the classic young driver crash usually involves going too fast on a country road. It would seem that new drivers themselves soon pick up the skills to stay safe on our highest risk roads.

The report, titled Young Novice Driver Collision Types, makes several key recommendations to improve new driver training particularly in hazard perception around vulnerable road users and around other vehicles.

The report underlines the critical importance of gaining driving experience in a wide variety of traffic situations. In their first year on the road experts suggest an average 17-year-old driver can expect their risk of being involved in a crash to reduce by 36 per cent as a result of driving experience, but only by six per cent owing to ageing and maturity.

This report set out to try and identify which aspects of driving are learned quickest and which take more time. Targeting those skills that they struggle to take in could bring the largest benefits to road safety for new drivers.

Some positive news is that analysis of collision trends suggests a substantial reduction in crashes overall for the two youngest age groups between 2002 and 2015. The accident rate for 17 to 20-year-old car drivers reduced by 49 per cent in this time, while the rate for 21 to 29-year-olds reduced by 33 per cent.

Sarah Sillars, IAM RoadSmart chief executive officer, said: “It is really useful to learn more about how young drivers are gaining the experience they need to have a safe driving career.

“However, analysing the results, it is vital that government, road safety bodies and the driver instruction industry work together to generate new strategies to target those skills that are not being learned at the fastest rate.

“It also shows that in the formative years of driving, there is clearly a need for post-test training to continue, to build experience that can reduce the number of needless tragedies on our roads.”