Young Drivers' Views On Other Road Users

In a recent report by Brake – the road safety charity, we were given an insight into what the modern young driver thinks about their own driving ability and the driving ability of others.

Young drivers are among the most confident, with 58% of 17-24 year olds saying they drive ‘safer’ than most other drivers. They are also the least complimentary, with 80% of 17-24 year olds regarding other road users as ‘dangerous’.

The report also revealed that 24% of young drivers felt unsafe ‘most the time’ on the road. This is an interesting perspective as young drivers are usually the ones targeted as the biggest road risk. It therefore begs the question: are young drivers the biggest road risk or simply the most publicly slated as a risk?

Accident statistics would suggest the former to be true, as they do have the most accidents and make the most insurance claims. However, according to a recent article from the Association For Psychological Science, the reason young drivers may end up in the more accidents is because they are expected to have them. By constantly being regarded as a road risk, young drivers may start self monitoring their driving ability. The article suggests this lowers their working mental capacity and can cause them to forget certain procedures when driving or take their attention off the road.

Brake’s report does, however, suggest a worrying theme of over-confidence among young drivers. Confidence is good, but overconfidence can be hazardous, as it can prompt incorrect or rash decisions.

In 2013, the British taxpayer paid out a staggering £15.1 billion on road incidents. This included: health and emergency services, criminal costs and insurance payouts. So whilst we highly support a confident young driver, we wouldn’t advocate a cocky one.

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