Disconnect Between Driver Behavior/Performance Studies and Crash Experience: Lessons from the Study of Young/Inexperienced Drivers

The quantitative measurement of driver behavior has been central to much of the systematic research underlying highway safety issues during the past forty years. It has contributed to the way in which we design roads, vehicles, training programs, signs and markings, and intelligent transportation systems. Yet the methods we use to conduct driver behavior experiments may result in a disconnect with the circumstances under which crash events occur. This is particularly evident in problems related to young, inexperienced drivers. This paper discusses some of the systematic biases that characterize the quantitative driver behavior research base regarding youthful drivers. Some broader implications for the general study of driver behavior and performance are then considered.