Is distraction a problem for young drivers?

Answer

For young drivers, distraction by mobile phones or other in-car systems, but also distraction by peer passengers, increases crash risk. See SWOV fact sheet Distraction in traffic for more information about distraction in traffic in general.

Young people are inherently curious about new stimuli [19], they have trouble focusing on the traffic stimuli that are most opportune, and their ability to suppress impulsive reactions is not very well-developed yet (see the question Why is crash risk higher for young drivers?). Among other things, this is reflected by increased distraction by mobile phones and other media. Young American drivers (aged 16-29) are more often engaged in distracting activities such as texting behind the wheel (3.3 % of the driving time) than drivers aged 30 to 64 (1.1% of the driving time) [34]. A study that compared drivers of different age groups shows that operating a screen (e.g. for texting, searching the internet, or entering a phone number), or reaching for an object, will increase the risk of a crash for all drivers in all age groups [34] [35] [36]. Unlike older drivers, younger drivers also run a higher crash risk if they are accompanied by young passengers [16] [34] [37] [38] [39] or if they make a phone call while driving [34] [37]. Conversely, if they are accompanied by an adult passenger, the crash risk for young drivers is lower than when they are unaccompanied [39] [40].

Part of fact sheet

Young drivers

In 2009-2018, an annual average of 51 young drivers and passengers (aged 18-24) were killed in traffic. For young drivers, fatal crash risk… Meer

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