Research In Action

We just published a paper in Pediatrics that shows driving skills measured on a virtual driving assessment at the time of the licensing exam in Ohio help predict young new driver crash risk in the first year of licensure. This is a period of time when young driver crash risk is highest, and these findings open up new avenues to intervene to improve safety before they drive on their own.

This paper is one more in a series of papers we have published on young drivers in Ohio. Findings from these papers show a pattern among 18-year-old drivers that suggest a larger story for the field of young driver safety.

Our first paper, published in Jama Network Open, described licensing and crash outcomes in license applicants from across the state of Ohio. We found that 18-year-old newly licensed drivers had the highest crash rates in the first year of licensure than any other age group under 25. We also found that 16- and 17-year-old license applicants had lower crash rates than 18- year-old applicants.

Our second paper, published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, went a step further to look at those young license applicants in Ohio who also took a virtual driving assessment at the licensing center, immediately before the on-road licensing examination. We were able to classify drivers into different virtual driving skill groups and to see that these groups were related to how they performed on the on-road exam; for example, drivers in the two “Major Issues” groups were more likely to fail the on-road exam that day. We also found that the 18- year-olds were more likely to be in the two “Major Issues” groups and less likely to be in the “Minor Issues” or “No Issues” groups than those under age 18.

In our newest paper, the one released today in Pediatrics, we followed up with those same drivers who took a virtual driving assessment at the licensing centers and who passed their license exam that day to see who crashed, and when, in the first year of licensure (when crash risk is highest). The results show:

• Performance on a virtual driving assessment on the day they got licensed helped predict crash risk in the first year of licensure:
  • Specifically, the "Minor Issues" group had a crash risk 10% lower than average, and the "Major Issues with Dangerous Behavior" group had a crash risk 11% higher than average.
  • We also saw an interesting result with the 18-year-olds: Although the "Minor Issues" group did not have a crash risk different than average, the 18-year-olds stood out within this group because they had a crash risk that was 16% higher than average (with no other age group being different from average). 

Reevaluation of Driver Training Needed

So, what do these results in 18-year-old drivers tell us? Taken together, we know that people who get a license at age 18 are more likely to do poorly on their first license exam, generally have the highest crash rates in their first year of licensure and are more likely to have major issues on a virtual driving assessment at the time of the license exam.

We also know that in Ohio license applicants who are younger than age 18 are required to complete driver education and professional driver training at a driving school before being allowed to take the license examination, and once licensed, must also follow Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) restrictions. However, license applicants age 18 and older do not have to follow GDL and do not need to complete driver education and training before taking the license exam and gaining a license.

Our findings suggest that it may be useful to reevaluate comprehensive driver licensing policies, including driver training, as a strategy to reduce crashes in young novice drivers. Virtual driving assessment may be a useful tool for screening crash risk and targeting interventions to those who need them most -- not just in Ohio but in every state.

Watch a video about the new study findings: