Young drivers suffer from over confidence
25 January 2009
Over-confidence is breeding a “it won’t happen to me” culture among young Western Australian drivers, according to a new RAC survey.
The survey revealed that 79 per cent of young drivers think their driving skills are better than other drivers in their own age group. This is despite young people making up more than one third of road deaths in WA.
The RAC’s Head of Member Advocacy Matt Brown said the survey results showed a disconnect in the thinking of young drivers about road safety.
“The survey shows that 66 per cent of young drivers recognise that young people are responsible for the most accidents on Western Australian roads,” Mr Brown said.
“Yet many young people also display all the signs of being over confident on our roads and this is often a precursor to being involved in a crash.”
“Many recognise the risk of becoming road crash victims, but think it won’t happen to them because they’re better drivers than their mates.
”Young people aren’t making the connection that their own inexperience puts them at greater danger of having a serious, perhaps fatal, road accident.”
Mr Brown said the findings were reinforced by further analysis of responses showing risk-taking behaviour.
“An extraordinary 86 per cent admitted that they don’t always adhere to the speed limit while driving,” Mr Brown said.
“Two out of every three young drivers admitted to sending or reading text messages while driving. Almost half of the respondents had made a mobile phone call while driving.
“One in five male drivers had driven while under the influence of alcohol and one in every four respondents had been the passenger in a car driven by someone they thought was under the influence of alcohol.
“And yet this same group thinks their approach to driving is better than their peers.
“The survey findings confirm we still have a major job ahead of us to curb young road deaths and that job includes trying to address the over-confidence of young drivers.”
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