Young Drivers - adult responsibility

There are some reckless young tearaways on our roads for whom there is no excuse. Many of them cast their mayhem wider into a criminal lifestyle.

Fortunately they are few, and most young drivers are not like that. The vast majority of them want to be safe. But even these youngsters still crash far more than the rest of us. Sometimes they make tragic headlines of multiple deaths. Mainly these are young male drivers, but by no means always.

As adults, it is tempting to seek in every crash a way to just 'blame the kids', and perhaps begin to wonder whether they should be allowed to drive at all. But there are specific ways in which, without meaning to, we increase their crash risk and contribute to the carnage that disturbs us.

This is not to say we should find excuses for the novices who crash - they need to... take more responsibility for themselves, not less. But... we should not be blind to the underlying causes...

.. constrain children's experience of risk in their most formative years ..

.. filling them with fear is more about the adult's own peace of mind ..

.. fictitious stereotypes of adults, males and drivers ..

.. a lot of young people's behaviour is guided by what they believe an adult is ..

.. We withhold the most critical safety skills... we have been keeping big secrets ..

.. More than anything else, the present training ensures high risk ..

.. young drivers need to become far safer than their test performance ..

.. Car control is a poor illusion of being in real control of driving situations ..

.. reveal the full scope of driving skill, and show how it really works ..

see more... download the full pdf article