Citation

Fernandes R, Job RFS. Proc. Australas. Road Safety Res. Policing Educ. Conf. 2003; 7(1): 85-93.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, copyright holder varies, Publisher Monash University)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It has been shown repeatedly that adolescents are over-represented in crashes among all classes of road user, compared with other age groups. The present study begins the process of comparing factors involved in various problem behaviours in relation to attitudes across various risky driving behaviours. Study 1 examined a range of possible predictors of risky driving, and investigated the nature of attitudes to risk taking for young drivers. Results illustrated that different risky driving behaviours were predicted by different factors (e.g. speeding was predicted by authority rebellion, while drink driving was predicted by sensation seeking and optimism bias). Study 2 examined the generalizability of the results from a student sample to the general driving population. Overall, the results clearly illustrate that different factors predict different risky driving behaviours, and future research must now focus on a multi-factor framework for each specific risky driving behaviour, rather than assuming generalizability from one risky behaviour to another.