In fact for many young drivers, this mantra does not exist only in the festive season. For many it may be just another time where they raise a glass for everyone, for us to believe it may be hard, but when they’re having fun, there may be a world outside their windscreen…however quite often that world will hold no dread and fear. Instead their world will be one of sensation and thrill. Their motives and motivations borne of a need for social acceptance and fueled by their characteristics.
In their world of plenty, there is no need to be afraid.
The frontal lobe of their teenage brain is yet to develop, they are far more likely to head into imminent danger spreading a smile of joy, rather than considering the potential chimes of doom, since their brain development is still at stage that allows them to experiment and experience. Young drivers are more likely to take risks due to a mixture of biological, psychological, and social factors during adolescence. A key driver of young people’s behavior comes as a result of a lack of brain development, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, which governs decision-making and impulse control. This area matures slower than the brain’s reward system, which is highly active during their teens and early 20’s. As a result, young drivers are more driven by peers, situations, and excitement than by the potential consequences of their actions. Hormonal changes also influence risk-taking behaviors. The surge in dopamine, linked to pleasure and reward, makes teenagers more prone to thrill-seeking experiences. The Social influence of their group of peers plays a significant role too. Young drivers are especially sensitive to peer approval, and the presence of friends can amplify risky behaviors as they strive to fit in with the crowd. When you put four young people of the same age demographic together in a vehicle they become 4 times as likely to be involved in a serious collision. Statistics bear out the reality. We need to give them the skills to under theirs (Esko Keskinen)
Additionally, teenagers are in a developmental phase where exploring boundaries and asserting independence are crucial. Taking risks becomes a way to test limits and learn from mistakes, essential for building identity and resilience. But not a good mixture for creating safe drivers since experimentation can sometimes lead to dangerous choices. Understanding these influences is vital for guiding teenagers toward safer ways to navigate the roads through this critical period, and the festive period.
Yet another affliction of the human brain that is particularly prevalent in younger adults is the phenomenon known as ‘Optimism bias’ a cognitive tendency where people believe they are less likely to experience negative events and more likely to encounter positive outcomes compared to others. This bias arises from a mix of emotional resilience and brain activity associated with the prefrontal cortex once again, which skews how risks and rewards are perceived. While optimism bias can motivate people to pursue goals and maintain hope, it can also lead to underestimating risks. It can make young drivers, fueled with adrenaline and who knows what else, to believe they are invincible.
Social pressure is known to be a key predictor in behavioural intentions, and adolescence is a time when youngsters begin to establish their own identity and independence. Their friends and social groups become central influences as they seek to fit in, gain status, and form a sense of belonging. Fear of rejection or exclusion can motivate their willingness to conform to group norms, even when those norms encourage risky or undesirable behaviors. If the general attitude to speed is positive within the group, and the driver believes the outcome will be positive (optimism bias) then that is the road they will most likely travel…potentially fatally.
Therefore focusing on skills development and creating ‘highly skilled’ drivers who believe they have ‘advanced driving skills’ is most likely to have negative outcomes. Research in Norway during the 1980s and 1990s examined the impact of skid pan training, a form of driver education that teaches drivers how to control a car in slippery conditions. The training was originally intended to improve safety by equipping drivers with skills to handle dangerous situations, such as skidding on icy roads. However, studies revealed an unexpected outcome: drivers who underwent skid pan training were involved in more collisions than those who had not. This finding is attributed to changes in driver behavior after the training. The skills gained from skid pan exercises gave drivers a heightened sense of confidence, often leading them to take greater risks on the road, such as driving faster or underestimating hazardous conditions. The research highlighted that improving technical skills alone is not enough to reduce accidents; addressing attitudes and risk perception is equally crucial. As a result, Norway reformed its driver education program to emphasize hazard awareness, risk evaluation, and safe decision-making over technical maneuvering skills, leading to more effective accident prevention strategies. All the way back in 2005 a research project called MERIT encouraged UK driving instructors to do the same…
In the following proposal, the approach has thus been to turn driving instructor training upside-down. As such, GDE level 4 is used as a basis for the training of instructors with individual goals for life and skills for living, followed by level 3 (trip-related goals and context of driving), level 2 with more situation-related driving in traffic and finally level 1 with – from a mobility point of view – the most basic vehicle control. This strategy is based on a vast amount of safety research and has been chosen in order to prioritise the safety aspect of driving before the mobility aspect.
Whether or not young drivers know it, the greatest gift they will get this year is life. If we are to have an impact on life’s continued existence then we will need to push beyond skills development, since we are aware of the increase in risk-taking and collision involvements associated with ‘highly skilled drivers’. If we are to reduce road deaths in our aim towards vision zero in this industry then raising self-awareness, as well as raising our glasses this Christmas time, and pushing the benefits of safer choices, rather than the boundaries, may enable young adults to understand themselves as drivers better and prevent more families from enduring the bitter sting of tears.
Collisions are audibly the clanging chimes of doom, well tonight thank god it’s them instead of you and yours, that have suffered an experience, and the injuries, that they would never have predicted or expected.
Such injuries that endure….such injuries that end lives…such injuries that cannot be healed with a band aid.
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