Why are newly qualified motorists at high crash risk? Modelling driving behaviours across the first six months of driving

Rowe, Richard, Stride, Christopher B., Day, Marianne R., Thompson, Andrew R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6788-7222, McKenna, Frank P. and Poulter, Damian R. 2022. Why are newly qualified motorists at high crash risk? Modelling driving behaviours across the first six months of driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention 177 , 106832. 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106832

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Abstract

Objective Novice driver crash risk diminishes steeply over the first few months of driving. We explore the characteristics of driving over this period to identify behaviours that might underlie this change in risk. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1456 UK drivers aged 17–21 within six months of gaining their licence. We examined how various forms of driving exposure, such as weekly mileage and driving at night, were related to duration of licencing. We explored the factor structure of the Early Driving Development Questionnaire (EDD-Q); a new instrument designed to measure safety relevant attitudes and behaviours in recently qualified drivers. We examined the relationship of the derived factors to licence duration. Results There was little evidence that greater exposure to risky driving situations was more common in those with shorter licence durations. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses identified EDD-Q factors measuring risky style (12 items), skill deficiencies (8 items) and driving confidence (4 items). Licence duration was positively correlated with both risky style and confidence, with these relationships stronger for older novices. Licence duration was also negatively related to skill deficiencies (i.e., positively correlated with perceived driving skill development): this relationship was stronger in younger novices. Conclusions The negative correlation between license duration and skill deficiencies is consistent with the observation of decreasing novice crash involvement as experience is gained. The EDD-Q offers a new brief measure of aberrant driving that is specifically tailored for newly qualified drivers.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0001-4575
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 September 2022
Date of Acceptance:	7 September 2022
Last Modified:	07 Jun 2023 22:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/152919

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