Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

(2003) that especially for the youngest novice drivers it is not so much
deliberate risk taking, but rather poor risk assessment and poor hazard
anticipation that make novice drivers crash, was reconfirmed in a recent
study in which 5470 crash reports involving 15-18 year old drivers were
analysed (Curry et al., 2011).
Not all cars offer the same protection to the occupants of the car in case of a
crash. In older vehicles with less advanced passive safety features, such as
seat belt reminders, headrests, airbags, etc., drivers and passengers run a
greater risk to get injured or to die in a crash than drivers and passengers in
newer cars with more advanced safety features. Not only the safety features
and how old the car is determine the consequences of a crash, but also the
mass of the car. In a car-car crash, the occupants of the heavier car are better
protected than the occupants of the lighter car (Van Kampen, 2000).
Cammisa, Williams, & Leaf (1999) found that in the USA teenage drivers
were more likely to drive in older and smaller cars than drivers in other age
groups. Research by Williams et al. (2006) confirmed this result for the USA.
Ferguson (2003) found that the older and the smaller cars was in which
young novices drove, the higher the risk was of getting injured in a crash.
This study was conducted in the USA, but similar results have been found in
Germany and Australia (Schepers & Schmid, 1996; Watson & Newstead,
2009).
In Figure 2.11, the number of 18-24 years old car occupants that died in a car
crash in 2008 by day of the week and hour of the day in Europe is
represented.
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