Preventing Teen Motor Crashes Contributions from the Behavioral and Social Sciences: Workshop Report (2007) / Chapter Skim
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4 Strategies to Improve Safety
4 Strategies to Improve Safety
Pages 25-39
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From page 25... ...
This chapter first describes strategies already in place and then explores additional strategies, such as greater parental engagement in supervising teen drivers, that offer potential to significantly increase safe driving behaviors among teens. CURRENT STRATEGIES At present, two key tools are used to improve the safety of teen drivers: driver education and the legal structure of testing and licensure.
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From page 26... ...
Recognizing that no differences emerged in the crash records of driver education graduates and those of equivalent groups of beginning drivers who learned to drive without formal education, many states scaled back funding for these programs. From a peak in 1976, when 3,200,000 students in 17,000 public schools took driver education courses, the number has steadily declined.
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From page 27... ...
On the other hand, experience with certain types of hazards may be of real benefit to many teens. Continued use of similar programs to train police officers and other adults who need these skills suggests that some aspects of these programs merit further exploration to determine their potential benefits for teen drivers.
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From page 28... ...
The tests generally do not assess the capacity to handle more complex scenarios, nor do they require students to identify potential hazards or to address unexpected circumstances, distractions, or peer pressures that are common features of normal driving conditions. Recognizing the high risks teens face in their first months on the road and the important opportunity that testing and licensure offer to shape 2 Law enforcement, parental influence, and social marketing messages are all strategies for addressing teens' access to alcohol (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004)
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From page 29... ...
Many states have adopted specific practice requirements for the first phase, such as 30 or 40 hours of supervised driving, to supplement any driver education classes teens might take. The provisional license stage includes restrictions on teen exposure to circumstances that are known risk factors.
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From page 30... ...
Several participants mentioned the broader role of law enforcement policies, the potential impact of teens' perception that laws are being enforced, and the role of the insurance industry as areas that deserved further attention in the development of prevention strategies to reduce teen crashes.
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From page 31... ...
STRATEGIES WITH POTENTIAL While GDL and minimum drinking age laws have led to reductions in risky driving and crashes, teen crash rates remain unacceptably high. Persistent concern about the issue is now stimulating a search to identify existing strategies that are not being exploited to their full potential.
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From page 32... ...
Developing driving proficiency requires experience, so the key is to allow learning drivers to gain that experience in circumstances that are relatively safe. Figure 4-1 compares crash rates for novice drivers who do and do not learn under supervised circumstances.
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From page 33... ...
Although initial results for Checkpoints are positive, Simons-Morton noted, additional research on changes in novice driving performance over the first 18 months of driving, on the nature and effects of supervised driving, on other ways to deliver support and improve parental management, and on ways to incorporate findings about the process of learning to drive into driver education and testing and licensure programs would be of great benefit. Richard Catalano provided an additional perspective on the role of family influences with a framework that is part of a larger social development approach to risk prevention.
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From page 34... ...
BOX 4-1 Risk and Protective Factors Risk Factors · School Low commitment to school Academic failure · Family Poor family management Family conflict Favorable parental attitudes and involvement in the problem behavior · Individual and Peer Early antisocial behavior Favorable attitudes Early initiation Friends who engage in problem behaviors Constitutional factors Protective Factors · In the socializing units of family, school, and peers: Opportunities Skills Recognition Bonding Healthy beliefs and clear standards
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From page 35... ...
parents and teens implement a family driving contract; and (4) parents and teens apply a "guidelines, monitoring, and consequences" approach to driving-related difficulties and conflict (demonstrate knowledge and use of effective consequences, identify ideas for recognizing teens' positive driving behavior)
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From page 36... ...
Yet patients with other health risk factors, such as those for cardiovascular disease, are routinely identified and patients are counseled on ways to minimize negative outcomes. Guidelines for health care providers, innovative ways of delivering counseling to youth and their families, and additional research that encompasses a broader health agenda for adolescents were all mentioned as viable ways to encourage providers to address teen driving risks.
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From page 37... ...
When seat belts were first introduced in large numbers of cars in the 1960s, for example, they were used less than 25 percent of the time, and they were generally used by the lowest risk drivers. State laws requiring the use of seat belts helped to boost implementation rates, but large proportions of the driving population who were at higher risk of crash involvement did not tend to use the safety restraints until enforcement provisions were legally mandated.
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From page 38... ...
Eagerness to reduce teen driver crashes can too easily encourage the adoption of new devices based on a perception of potential benefits rather than a rigorous assessment of their actual effects and risks. Although some technical innovations may offer superior ways to teach driving skills and prevent some impaired drivers from operating their vehicles, the overall effects of technology on changing attitudes among the youth population about risk and responsible driving may be very small.
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From page 39... ...
As it does in other contexts, computer-based instruction allows novice drivers to practice handling hazardous situations without risking their lives. Students can experience roadway and traffic hazards, even crashes, in real time and practice situational awareness (awareness of the surrounding situation and potential risks)
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