The University of Adelaide CENTRE FOR AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY RESEARCH

home   /   centre for automotive safety research   /   Publications   /   List   /   Details

Publication Details

TitleIdentifying young driver subtypes: Relationship to risky drinking and crash involvement
AuthorsWundersitz LN, Burns NR
Year2005
TypeBook Chapter
AbstractIn order to guide the development of road safety intervention strategies, we studied the characteristics which define young driver subtypes. A total of 270 young drivers aged 17 to 21 years completed a self-report questionnaire measuring a number of personality characteristics, driving-related attitudes and behaviours, driving style, self-reported crash and offence history, and driving exposure. Cluster analyses identified four young driver subtypes. External validation of the clusters showed that the four young driver subtypes differed in terms of driving style, social deviance, specific driving-related attitudes and traffic offence record. One high-risk cluster was identified. It was characterised by high levels of driving-related aggression, competitive speed, driving to reduce tension, sensation seeking, assertiveness, assaultiveness, indirect hostility and verbal hostility. Although this cluster reported the most traffic offences, the difference between it and the other clusters was not statistically significant after driving exposure was taken into account. The profile of this high-risk cluster shared some characteristics with high-risk young driver subtypes identified in previous research. Driver training, post licensing interventions and public education initiatives may become more effective when matched to the particular motivational needs of the young driver subtypes identified in this study.
Book DetailsDriver Behaviour and Training - vol II, L. Dorn (ed)
ISBN754644308
Page Range155-168
Page Count14
NotesAvailable from CASR library on request

Reference
Wundersitz LN, Burns NR (2005). Identifying young driver subtypes: Relationship to risky drinking and crash involvement. In Driver Behaviour and Training - vol II, L. Dorn (ed) (pp. 155-168).