Authors
American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety
Publisher
American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety
Website Section
Driver Types
Method
Naturalistic study
Abstract
This factsheet contains the results of a naturalistic study exploring teen driver behavior during the supervised driving stage. In-vehicle cameras were installed in vehicles driven by teens to observe parental supervision. Following a year of supervised driving during the learner’s stage, parents in the study indicated they felt uncomfortable letting their teen drive in relation to at least one of the conditions, although approximately one-third of parents permitted their teen to obtain a driving license within one month of their eligibility. Only a few families continued to impose restrictions under specific conditions.
Families indicated the amount of time spent driving with their teen in an average week varied from 20 minutes to five hours, with the averge amount of time being one and a half hours. Most of the driving experience was reported to be routine routes and trips, and two-thirds of families reported scheduling conflicts as a barrier. As such, the driving experience gained by teens during this period was quite limited. Even with a year of supervised driving experience, one-third of parents reported their teen was not ready for unsupervised driving on busy highways and 20% were concerned about their teen driving in heavy rain.
Research indicates strategies to help parents increase experience gained by teens during the supervised stage of GDL include: sufficient practice under various driving conditions such as nighttime and bad weather; experience on busy streets and highways; helping teens develop hazard perception skills; and sharing parental experience driving using “I” statements which are more memorable to teens.
Reference
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (2010) Teens Not Exposed to Diverse Driving Experience Prior to Licensing, Finds AAA Foundation Study. Washington, D.C.: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Related Topics
License, licensing, unlicensed, testing, license testing, knowledge test, skills test, driver’s license manual
Teens Not Exposed to Diverse Driving Experience Prior to Licensing
