Here are some key issues, by Dr. Terry C. Lansdown (Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK), Prof. Rebecca Ivers (The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia) and Stephen Stradling (Napier University, Edinburgh, UK).
- 79% of all accidents, have a distraction component
- Pre-driver attitudes about road safety are maintained as a driver
- Young drivers have been identified as twice the risk of other drivers
- Causes of young driver crashes:
- Inexperience of vehicle control skills
- Poor identification and anticipation of hazards
- Low resistance to peer pressure and risk taking
- Poor grasp of skill demand shortfall (McGehee, 2010)
- Top 3 distracting behaviours:
- Writing text messages
- Reading text messages
- Using telephone hand held
- Most common distraction factor: using in-car entertainment system. Interaction with adult passengers comes second. Drinking comes third.
- Percentage self-Reported Accidents (& Near Misses):
- Interacting with children 2.1% (7.5%)
- Using an MP3 Player 2.0% (3.9%)
- Sat. Nav. destinaion entry 2.0% (2.8%)
- Interacting with adults 1.5.% (11.4%)
