29 Sep 2011

New skills can improve young driver safety - study

1:25 pm on 29 September 2011

A New Zealand study has found young drivers can be much safer if taught certain skills.

The study, published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, involved teenagers being taught particular skills to see how their driving was affected.

One of the report's authors, Peter Sheppard, says teenagers who learned higher-order skills such as hazard perception and attitudes to risky driving improved greatly, without becoming over-confident.

They significantly reduced their crash risk, while others in the study who were taught more traditional skills did not.

Mr Sheppard says the findings demonstrate the need to focus the future of driving education more on reducing crash risk, hazard identification, decision-making and self evaluation.