This book considers how driver training needs to be adapted in order to raise awareness of how human factors contribute to unsafe driving behaviour. It promotes the development of driver education that considers all the skills that are essential for road safety.

Research on driver behaviour over the past two decades has clearly demonstrated that the goals and motivations a driver brings to the driving task are important determinants for driver behaviour. The importance of this work is underlined by statistics: WHO figures show that road accidents are predicted to be the number three cause of death and injury by 2020 (currently more than 20 million deaths and injuries p.a.). The objective of this second edition, and of the conference on which it is based, is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of driving behaviour and driver training. It bridges the gap between practitioners in road safety, and theoreticians investigating driving behaviour, from a number of different perspectives and related disciplines. A major focus is to consider how driver training needs to be adapted, to take into account driver characteristics, goals and motivations, in order to raise awareness of how these may contribute to unsafe driving behaviour, and to go on to promote the development of driver training courses that considers all the skills that are essential for road safety. As well as setting out new approaches to driver training methodology based on many years of empirical research on driver behaviour, the contributing road safety researchers and professionals consider the impact of human factors in the design of driver training as well as the traditional skills-based approach. Readership includes road safety researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in the field of driver training from regulatory authorities and professional driver training organizations such as the police service, and private and public sector personnel who are concerned with improving road safety.

Research on driver behaviour has clearly demonstrated that the goals and motivations a driver brings to the driving task are important determinants for driver behaviour. The objective of the book, and of the conference on which it is based, is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of driving behaviour and driver training. It bridges the gap between practitioners in road safety, and theoreticians investigating driving behaviour, from a number of different perspectives and related disciplines. The book is timely in its aim of defining new approaches to driver training methodology based on decades of empirical research on driver behaviour. The contributing road safety researchers and professionals consider the kinds of methods that are effective in teaching drivers the higher-level skills needed to be a safe competent driver. The readership includes road safety researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in the field from regulatory authorities and professional driver training organisations such as the police service, and private and public sector personnel who are concerned with improving road safety.

This title was first published in 2003. Research on driver behaviour over the past two decades has demonstrated that driver characteristics, goals and motivations are important determinants of driving behaviour. We are now in a position to apply this knowledge to driver training programs and evaluate their effectiveness in improving safety. The main objective for the First International Conference on Driver Behaviour and Training and this book, is to describe and discuss recent advances in this field. The book bridges the gap between practitioners in road safety, and theoreticians investigating driving behaviour from a number of different perspectives and related disciplines. It will encourage research in driver training to combat erroneous or deviant driving behaviour and/or reduce the effects of human error at source. This book will be of interest to road safety researchers and road safety practitioners in the private and public sector.

Today’s society must confront major land transport problems. The human and financial costs of vehicle accidents are increasing, with road traffic accidents predicted to become the third largest cause of death and injury across the world by 2020. Several social trends pose threats to safety, including increasing car ownership and traffic congestion, the increased complexity of the human-vehicle interface, the ageing of populations in the developed world, and a possible influx of young vehicle operators in the developing world. The Human Factors in Road and Rail Transport series aims to make a timely contribution to these issues by focusing on the driver as a contributing causal agent in road and rail accidents. The series seeks to reflect the increasing demand for safe, efficient and economical land-based transport by reporting on the state-of-the-art science that may be applied to reduce vehicle collisions, improve the usability of vehicles and enhance the operator’s wellbeing and satisfaction. It will do so by disseminating new theoretical and empirical research from specialists in the behavioural and allied disciplines, including traffic psychology, human factors and ergonomics. The series captures topics such as driver behaviour, driver training, in-vehicle technology, driver health and driver assessment. Specially commissioned works from internationally recognised experts in the field will provide authoritative accounts of the leading approaches to this significant real-world problem.

Despite a growing body of research and targeted remediation, teenage and novice drivers continue to be six to nine times more likely to die in a crash than they are when they are just a few years older. The World Health Organization reports that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death globally among 15 to 19 year olds. In light of these crash statistics, understanding the teen driver problem remains of paramount public health importance around the world. The Handbook of Teen and Novice Drivers: Research, Practice, Policy, and Directions provides critical knowledge for a broad range of potential readers, including students, teachers, researchers in academics, industry and the federal government, public policy makers at all levels, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers, driving instructors, and parents and their teens.