Risk Perception in Young Male Drivers: What Makes Them Different?

Abstract

Younger drivers, particularly males, are greatly overrepresented in collisions and differ from adults in their evaluation of risks. Risky driving may relate to many points along a sequence of operations that includes hazard recognition/evaluation, assessed accident likelihood, judged ability to control emerging events, perceived vulnerability, global assessment of the level of risk, motives and influences, risk acceptability, and behavioral decisions. This experiment investigated the points in the sequence at which young males were most discrepant from other drivers. Participants viewed driver's-eye video of scenes that included numerous hazard types. For each scenario, they made a series of ratings and open-ended responses corresponding to various points along the risk behavior sequence. The results highlighted the perceived ability to control emerging hazard events through vehicle control skills as a key factor distinguishing young male drivers. This and other aspects of the findings suggest strategies for focusing driver training and safety countermeasure development.