How well do parents manage young driver crash risks?

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are extremely high among young drivers during at least the first year of licensure. Crash risks decline with increased experience, but the more newly licensed teenagers drive, the greater their risk exposure. Hence, the dilemma facing policy makers and parents is how to provide young drivers with driving experience without unduly increasing their crash risk. Graduated driver licensing policies serve to delay licensure and then limit exposure to the highest risk conditions after licensure, allowing young drivers to gain experience only under less risky driving conditions. A similar strategy is needed to guide parents. Parents do not appear to appreciate just how risky driving is for novice drivers and tend to exert less control over their teenage children's driving than might be expected. Recent research has demonstrated that simple motivational strategies can persuade parents to adopt driving agreements and impose greater restrictions on early teen driving.

Introduction

Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 years are more likely to die or be injured as a result of motor vehicle crashes than for any other cause Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999, Cvijanovich et al., 2001, Ulmer et al., 1997. Crash rates among young drivers are disproportionately high on weekends, with teen passengers, and at nighttime Chen et al., 2000, Cvijanovich et al., 2001, Doherty et al., 1998, Farrow, 1987, Preusser et al., 1998, Ulmer et al., 1997, Williams, 1985. Oddly, driving skill is a less important factor in driving risk (Vernick et al., 1999) than driving judgment, which depends more on age and driving experience than on skill in managing the vehicle. Moreover, while risky driving behavior is common enough among teen drivers to be a contributing factor to teen crash risk (Jonah & Dawson, 1987), risk taking appears to be less important than young age and inexperience.

Recognition of the elevated crash risk of teenage driving, particularly under high-risk conditions such as at night and with teen passengers Doherty et al., 1998, Williams & Preusser, 1997, has stimulated many states to adopt graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs. Research indicates that certain components of GDL programs, including delayed ages at permit and provisional license, increased supervised driving, and nighttime driving restrictions, have resulted in reduced rates of teen risky driving behaviors, crashes, violations, and overall amount of driving Ferguson et al., 1996, Foss et al., 2001, McCartt et al., 2001, Preusser et al., 1993, Shope et al., 2001. However, the characteristics of GDL programs vary from state to state and few jurisdictions have all the elements of an optimal program, as identified by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (1999). Presumably, states with more of the specified provisions would be most effective in reducing teen crashes. As an added benefit, GDL programs may enhance and support parents' efforts to moderate teen driving (McCartt et al., 2001).

Parents are ambivalent about teen driving—concerned about the risks, but interested in reducing the time they spend transporting teens. Most parents experienced a considerably simpler driver licensing process when they were teenagers, before knowledge about the risk of teen crashes and the benefits of restrictions on newly licensed drivers were fully understood. Also, many parents perceive their teenage children to be generally responsible and want to give them what they want—and what teens want is to drive. Driving is a veritable right of passage for American teens, conferring adult status of sorts on teens and presenting new opportunities for independence from adult supervision (Arnett, 2002). Hence, parents and youth may share a common motivation for teens to become independent drivers and parents must balance the convenience that early teen licensure provides with concerns about safety.

With or without GDL, parents have the potential to reduce teen driving risks by carefully managing their teens' early driving experience. Parents are involved in their teenagers' driving from the beginning and they have the opportunities to teach teens to drive, determine when they can apply for a permit or license, govern their access to vehicles, and limit exposure. Unfortunately, involvement for most parents does not extend much beyond supervising practice driving. The modest initial restrictions many parents place on their newly licensed children are generally not restrictive enough to be consistent with safety (Hartos, Eitel, Haynie, & Simons-Morton, 2000). In this paper, we examine the role of parents in the management of young drivers. First, we discuss parent attitudes and practices related to teen driving, with particular attention to the potential effects of GDL on parenting behavior. Then, we present findings of recent intervention studies designed to increase parental management of teen driving.