Young people and attitudes Andrew Howard MBE CMILT, Head of Road Safety, AA Public Affairs Everyone seems to accept the role of attitude….

Tomorrow’s Roads – Safer for Everyone (DfT 2000) 3.2 We are introducing measures to Instil in young people the right attitudes towards road safety and safe driving Tomorrow’s Roads – Safer for Everyone (DfT 2000)

“For a number of drivers it is not that they are incapable of driving safely – it is that they choose not to do so” Accident risk and behavioural patterns of younger drivers – The AA Motoring Trust 1991

Attitude – a definition 1 : the arrangement of the parts of the body 2 a : a mental position with regard to a fact or state b : a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state 3 : an organismic state of readiness to respond in a characteristic way to a stimulus (as an object, concept, or situation)

So where does attitude come from ? How attitude and behaviour changes as a child grows Based on work by Reading University for The AA Motoring Trust 2002 (Cradle attitudes, grave consequences) The role of parents in attitudes to driving. What I plan to do

Annual risk of transport accident by age Males dominate – from about as soon as there can be a difference

Average risk of education accident by age Oh, its boys again

Relative risk of home accident by age Surprise surprise – its boys. Note shorter scale

Cradle attitudes – grave consequences The development of gender differences in risky attitudes and behaviour in road use Lets start with this. It probably isn’t that unfair to say that we’d all be happy if we could make young men drive like young women. SO gender is important

Observation outside schools The younger child Two studies: Questionnaires Observation outside schools Put in bits about let out of reach and let out alone

Parents of pre and primary school children: How careful are children when crossing the road? (higher the score, the more careful)

Parents of pre- and primary- school children: How easy is it to teach road safety to children? (higher the score, the more difficult)

Observational Study Distance between child pedestrian and carer Socio economic differences

By age 11 Parents have treated their children much the same, regardless of gender Sons are less easy to educate about road safety and less careful about crossing the road than daughters Daughters stay closer to a carer than sons. Boys are getting different…..

The older child 11 to 16 years Questionnaires Can we measure characteristics associated with risky driving behaviour in those who are too young to drive?

Do you think you know how to drive? 0=definitely no, 3 definitely yes

Will learning to drive be easy? 0=very hard, 3 very easy

Will you drive the way your friends expect you to Will you drive the way your friends expect you to? 0 - never, 3 - all the time

Does driving make you popular 0 - never, 3 - all the time

Affinity for speed Higher the score – the more affinity 2 questions

Violations – is it ok for drivers to… Higher the score – the more “ok” (max 3) 2 questions

Individual characteristics

Sensation seeking 0-not like me, 3-like me 2 questions

Antisocial behaviour 0 – not at all likely, 4 - very likely 2 questions

Competitiveness 0 – not competitive, 4 - competitive 2 questions

Messages There are significant associations between sensation seeking, anti- social tendencies and competitiveness, and affinity for speed and violations.

Messages Boys were more positive about cycling ability than girls But both thought less of their ability as they aged. 11 Year olds thought they were best

Sport People who think they are good at sport are sensation seekers and more competitive. Sensation seekers think they are good cyclists, but good competitiveness is not linked to cycling skill Anti-social tendencies are also linked – but only for girls. Better sportsmen have higher affinity for speed.

Overall Boys have a greater affinity for speed than girls – and think learning to drive will be easier and will make them popular

Getting older

Observed speeds by age, sex and passenger type – drivers 17-25

Observed speeds by age, sex and passenger type – drivers 30-55

Observed following distance by age, sex and passenger type – drivers 17-25

Observed following distance by age, sex and passenger type – drivers 30-55

Why do things seem to get worse?

Why do things seem to get worse? Lack of road safety education Television, computer games Parents “Show off” sports/pastimes

Parents Is there a conflict between what children are taught and what children see their parents do? If so it probably affects transport and the environment as well as road safety.

Finland parents’ aggressive violations significantly predicted their children's aggressive driving habits and risky attitudes toward driving.

USA “Nearly 60 percent of high school students say their parents are the biggest influence on their driving, and 69 percent of middle school students say parents will be the biggest influence when they do drive,”

USA Children of parents with more than three driving violations were almost 40% more likely to have one violation themselves, compared with the children of parents with clean driving records. The study also found that the children of parents who had been involved in three or more crashes were over 20% more likely to be involved in at least one crash themselves, compared with the children of parents who had never crashed.

Israel a strong correlation between the driving behaviour of fathers and sons and between mothers and daughters, regardless of whether parents were reckless or careful

Parents So perhaps we need to consider the parent as much as a target as an ally. And not confine ourselves to the parents giving driving lessons or practice – by then their influence has been there for 17 years……

Hypotheses The introduction of longer driving tests, the theoretical test and the hazard perception test have made new, young drivers less safe. These introductions have led to more people driving without getting a licence Either the tests or social change mean that only the less safe drivers now take the test as teenagers Those who pass the test have to drive more to transport those who haven’t. You can’t share the driving if no-one else drives.

In a nutshell Attitudes have been developing for years We need to tackle them as children grow not as they learn to drive. Parents hold two keys – teacher and example. This is not a simple issue to resolve

Young people and attitudes Andrew Howard MBE CMILT, Head of Road Safety, Everyone seems to accept the role of attitude….