title: The behavioral contributors to highway crashes of youthful drivers.
abstract: 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.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McKnight
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: McKnight
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000592:standards*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012309:Risk-Taking; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology