One in five male drivers aged under 25 years have raced another driver on a public road at some point in the past, a survey conducted by an NUI Galway lecturer has revealed.
The study carried out by Dr Kiran Sarma, a chartered psychologist and lecturer in psychology at the university, also indicated that young male drivers reported more frequent speeding, reckless driving , and use of mobile phones while driving.
The results of the research, which were presented earlier this week at the Road Safety Authority’s annual lecture, found that the frequency of speeding among young male drivers was associated with positive attitudes towards speeding and a higher prevalence of personality traits such as impulsiveness and excitement seeking.
Dr Sarma’s survey of 1,500 drivers on the relationship between psychology and risky driving behaviour also revealed that this behaviour was linked with pro-speeding attitudes among friends and family, a greater tendency to become angry in response to other drivers’ actions and a belief that the driver could control his or her car, even in challenging driving conditions.
Some young male drivers also saw their car as being a core part of who they were – this was related to more extreme driving behaviour.
Speaking at the lecture, Dr Sarma said this research helps understand the psychology of young male drivers and can inform the way we respond to risky and reckless driving.
“The research would suggest that addressing speeding attitudes is important but that deeper psychological factors are also linked to dangerous driving on our roads.”
Noel Brett, the chief executive of the Road Safety Authority said 17 to 24-year-olds are among the highest risk road-users on the roads.
“Research tells us that this group of road-users are three times more likely to be killed on the roads than any other road-user. In fact, 5,678 young road-users with their lives ahead of them were killed or seriously injured on Irish roads in the period 1997 to 2009. This is roughly the same as the population of Westport in Co Mayo. When you think of it in those terms we are reminded of how needless this loss of life is.
“But it’s also important to say that not all young drivers are risky or dangerous drivers. This lecture has shown how important it is to support our younger road-users in forming positive attitudes to road safety as early as possible.”
A total of 1,352 17 to 24-year-olds were killed on Irish roads between 1997 and 2009, representing 28 per cent of all road deaths in that period. Over one third (35 per cent ) of these fatalities took place between midnight and 4:59am. The research also found that 17 to 24-year-old car drivers are five times more likely to be killed on Irish roads than any other driver. In collisions where excessive speed was cited as a contributory factor half of the drivers responsible were males aged 17 to 24 years old. Furthermore, two in five of all passengers in this age group who were killed on the road were in a car being driven by a male driver from the same age group.
