The behavioral contributors to highway crashes of youthful drivers

The per-mile crash rate of drivers under age 20 is over five times that of the adult population in general, while that of 16-year-old novices is approximately ten times that of adults. Reports of over 2,000 non-fatal crashes involving young drivers were analyzed for behavioral crash contributors as a step in orienting preventive efforts. The great majority of non-fatal crashes resulted from errors in attention, visual search, speed relative to conditions, hazard recognition, and emergency maneuvers, with high speeds and patently risky behavior accounting from but a small minority. The pattern of errors for novices did not differ significantly from that of more experienced youth.