Research report No. 17

Executive summary

In the Driver's Seat II: Beyond the Early Driving Years is the second report from the collaborative partnership between the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria. It further explores the driving experiences and practices of young Victorian drivers, drawing upon data collected as part of a unique Australian study - the Australian Temperament Project (ATP). The ATP is a longitudinal community study that has followed the development and wellbeing of a large group of Victorian children over the first 24 years of life. Starting in 1983, fourteen waves of information have been collected from parents, teachers and young people via mail surveys. Information on young people's driving histories and practices has been collected at 19-20 and 23-24 years of age. The first report, In the Driver's Seat: Understanding Young Adults' Driving Behaviour (Smart & Vassallo, 2005), focused on young people's experiences while learning to drive and their driving practices during their first years of licensure, as well as identifying child and adolescent antecedents of differing problematic driving behaviours, reported at age 19-20. This second report focuses on young people's driving behaviours at 23-24 years, as reported by 1,000 study members, with six main issues addressed:

• young people's driving behaviours, with comparisons of males and females, and of young people in differing occupations, with differing levels of educational attainment and from urban or rural areas;
• the consistency of driving behaviours from 19-20 to 23-24 years;
• links between drink-driving and other types of risky driving, and between risky driving and substance use;
• overlaps between crash involvement, high-level speeding and fatigued driving;
• the influence of parents on young people's car purchases; and
• links between young people's personal characteristics and their driving behaviours.

Driving behaviours of young people in their mid-20s

Overall trends

Almost all young people (97%) had obtained a driver's licence by 23-24 years of age, with the average length of licensure being almost 6 years. About 7% had experienced a licence cancellation or suspension since first gaining their licence. Approximately half had been detected speeding during their driving careers, and 60% had been involved in a crash while driving since gaining their licence. Crashes resulting in property damage were the most common, while crashes resulting in injury or death were very rare. Most driving took place during the daytime on weekdays, with the average time spent driving at these times being five hours per week. Young people spent less time driving at night or at weekends. Risky driving was relatively common. For example, on one or more of their ten most recent driving trips, close to half had exceeded the speed limit by 11-25 km/h, about two-thirds had driven when very tired, two-thirds had used a mobile phone function (such as receiving or sending an SMS), and around half had talked on a mobile phone. One in five 23-24 year-olds had driven when near or over the legal alcohol limit during the previous month. Over 40% had friends who engaged in drink-driving, and about one in eight had a partner who had driven when over the legal limit. Two-thirds of young people “always” made plans to avoid drink-driving, and about three-quarters of those who made plans did not subsequently engage in drink-driving. The most common strategies used to avoid drink-driving were to plan ahead and arrange alternate transport to their destination (e.g., have someone else drive, take a taxi or ride on public transport), or to alter their drinking habits (e.g., not drink at all, or reduce the amount of alcohol consumed).

Gender differences

Young men and women significantly differed on many aspects of driving. Young men had more often had their licence cancelled or suspended, and while there were no differences in the occurrence of crashes, young men had more often been apprehended for a driving-related offence. Additionally, they tended to engage more frequently in a range of unsafe driving practices (e.g., high-level speeding, driving when affected by alcohol). On the other hand, young women had more often driven when fatigued. Young men were also more likely to be among the small group who rarely made plans to avoid drink-driving, and to more often end up drink-driving if they had made such plans. There were also gender differences in the strategies used to avoid drink-driving, with young men being more likely to alter their drinking habits (drinking less, counting or spacing their drinks, or drinking low-alcohol beer), and young women more often abstaining from drinking altogether.

Occupational status

Young people were divided into groups according to their occupational status as classified on the ANU-4 Occupation Status scale (Jones & McMillan, 2001). Low, average and high status groups were formed (25%, 51% and 24% of the sample respectively). Very few differences were found in the three groups' driving histories and behaviours, for example in their licensing history, driving patterns, crash involvement or rate of apprehension for driving-related offences.

Educational attainment

Three groups were formed on the basis of the highest level of education that young people had completed: Year 12 or less (30%), post-secondary education but not university (26%), and university (44%). Most differences centred on the university-educated group. These young people had less often been detected speeding, were less likely to have had their licence cancelled or suspended, were less likely to have friends who were drink-drivers, more often used forward planning when making plans to avoid drink-driving, and were less likely to drink-drive after making these plans.

Residence locality

Young people living in metropolitan (68%) and non-metropolitan (31%) areas were compared using the Australian Bureau of Statistics “met” and “ex-met” categories (capital city statistical division vs the rest of the state). As a group, those from metropolitan areas had more often been involved in a crash, and had been involved in a higher number of crashes. Additionally, rates of hands-free mobile use when driving were higher among young people from metropolitan areas, whereas non-metropolitan drivers were more likely to have not worn a seatbelt when driving. While there were no significant differences in the occurrence of drink-driving, differences were found in the strategies used to avoid it. Whereas non-metropolitan drivers were more likely to leave their car behind and find an alternate way home (e.g., be driven home, take a taxi or public transport, find another way home), metropolitan drivers were more likely to alter their drinking habits (e.g., drink less, count or space drinks, or drink more water or soft drinks).

Consistency of driving behaviours from 19-20 to 23-24 years

Driving trends across the whole sample were examined to determine whether young people's driving tendencies remained similar or had changed as they gained more experience on the road. There was a slight decrease in high-level speeding and driving without a seatbelt from 19-20 to 23-24 years among the ATP sample; however, rates of other types of risky driving tended to increase or remain stable. Driving when fatigued remained very prevalent, and driving when affected by alcohol increased substantially. Thus, when 23-24 year olds did engage in risky driving, they did so almost as frequently as did 19-20 year olds. This suggests that (when present) risky driving is as serious an issue in the mid-20s as in the late teens, and points to the importance of sustaining road safety efforts into the twenties. Young people identified as showing high, moderate and low levels of risky driving at 19-20 years were followed forward to determine whether they would continue to show similar driving patterns at 23-24 years. High stability was found among those with low levels of risky driving, but less stability was found among those showing moderate and high levels, the majority of whom were less problematic at 23-24 years. The benefits of young people not engaging in risky driving in the early years of their driving careers were highlighted, since very few subsequently became high-level risky drivers. Encouragingly, the findings demonstrated that young problem drivers were not destined to continue posing a road safety risk as they grew older, with improvement found to be common.

Risky driving and substance use

Early adulthood can be a period of considerable risk-taking: the prevalence of substance use reaches a life-time high (Spooner, Hall, & Lynskey, 2001), while other forms of risk-taking common at this age include antisocial behaviour, gambling and risky driving. Little is known about the degree to which risk-taking co-occurs among young people in their mid-20s. Accordingly, the co-occurrence of risky driving and substance use was investigated. Two main questions were explored. First, we investigated whether young people who engaged in drink-driving were more likely to engage in other types of risky driving. This was found to be the case, with speeding, and driving without a seatbelt, when fatigued, under the influence of an illegal drug or when using a mobile phone, all being considerably more common among young drink-drivers than among other young drivers. Second, young people who showed high, moderate and low levels of risky driving were compared on their engagement in substance use. Binge drinking, and marijuana, ecstasy and amphetamine use were all significantly higher among high- and moderate-level risky drivers, with the strongest differences being found on binge drinking and marijuana use. Further, high- and moderate-level risky drivers were more likely to engage in multi-substance use, and did so more frequently than low-level risky drivers. Risky driving appeared to be one element of a risk-taking lifestyle for a number of young people. Thus, young risky drivers would likely benefit from interventions that not only target their behaviour on the road, but also other aspects of their lives, suggesting a role for more broad-based “common solutions” approaches in addition to targeted approaches to road safety.

Crash involvement, speeding, fatigue and other aspects of road safety

As well as looking at whether risky driving co-occurred with substance use, the overlap of differing types of road safety behaviours themselves was explored. Inter-connections between three problematic driving outcomes - crash involvement, high-level speeding and fatigued driving - were investigated. Considerable similarity was found in the driver histories and behaviours of young people who had been involved in multiple crashes as drivers, had recently engaged in high-level speeding (more than 25 km/h over the limit), or had recently driven when very tired. Thus, higher rates of apprehension for driving-related offences and engagement in a wide range of other risky driving practices were evident. Further, 57% of those who had experienced multiple crashes since starting to drive, 72% of high-level speeders, and 45% of fatigued young drivers had engaged in another of these three problematic driving outcomes. These findings suggest that problematic driving does not occur in isolation, and may reflect a risk-taking approach to driving among some young drivers.

Parents' influence on young people's car purchase

Parents can play an important role in the driving behaviour and attitudes of young people. One way in which this may occur is through the advice and support they provide when young people are purchasing a car. Approximately 80% of 23-24 year olds had purchased a car since gaining their licence, and close to two-thirds of their parents had helped with the choice of a vehicle. Of these parents, almost 90% thought they had influenced their son's/daughter's choice to some degree, with about 30% feeling they had had a large influence. Parents were more likely to have had an influence if the relationships between the young people and their parents were close. Parents are not often considered in road safety efforts targeted at young drivers. However, there may be scope to make greater use of their influence, most obviously in relation to young people's purchase of a vehicle, but also more generally in relation to young people's driving behaviour and attitudes.

Personal characteristics

Links were explored between young people's propensity for risky driving and their personal strengths (social skills, temperament style) and lifestyle factors (employment, relationships, “settling down”). Individuals who drove in a law-abiding manner tended to show greater empathy, responsibility and perspective-taking than other drivers, as well as closer connections to parents and more tolerant attitudes. These findings are a reminder that what an individual is like as a person impacts on his/her behaviour behind the wheel. They point to the value of helping young people gain an understanding of their personal style and how this might affect their approach to driving.

Conclusions

The findings of this second report build upon those from the first report to increase our understanding of the road safety behaviours of young Victorians at an age that has often been overlooked - the mid-20s. The report provides an examination of the degree to which young people engage in risky driving practices once they have become experienced drivers, as well as the continuity of risky driving beyond the novice driving years. The findings provide significant Victorian evidence that can inform intervention and prevention efforts aimed at reducing risky driving among young people.