Experimental Intercomparisons of Younger and Older Driver Perceptions

Abstract

Drivers over sixty-five years of age and drivers under twenty-one years of age have the highest relative frequency of crashes resulting in injury and death. Attitudes of these two groups were investigated using questionnaires. One hundred twenty-seven (127) younger and one hundred eight (108) older drivers who had voluntarily registered in driving education courses satisfactorily completed questionnaires about attitudes and behaviors pertinent to safe driving. Half of each sample rated the average driver in their age group and the average driver in the opposite age group as regarded thirty-three attitudes promoting safe driving, twenty courteous safe driving behaviors and eleven discourteous, unsafe driving behaviors. Data shows that younger drivers viewed older drivers as overly cautious, too slow to act and apt to cause accidents, and rated their peers as overly aggressive and discourteous. Older drivers characterized younger drivers as deficient in courtesy and safe driving practices, and they rated their peers as cautious, courteous, and aware of age-related limitations. The findings indicate that each group was aware that safety hazards are created by drivers in their age group. It also shows that both groups had a positive impression of some driving practices of their age group, and that the other group was depreciated. The outcome confirms and expands upon conclusions derived from less formal studies about how drivers perceive other roadway users. It also specifies the extent to which particular attitudes and driving practices are attributed to the peer group and to the opposite age group.