Young Drivers and Highway Design and Operations: Findings and Recommended Research

NHTSA · 2001 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research, Development, and Technology

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Summary

This document summarizes findings from a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project titled “Preliminary Investigations of Highway Design Countermeasures to Aid Drivers With Limited Experience.” The research addresses the disproportionate safety risks faced by young drivers, defined as individuals aged 16 to 24. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that drivers under 21 are approximately 2.5 times more likely to be killed in a crash than those aged 25 to 69. Specifically, 16-year-old drivers exhibit a crash fatality rate per million miles driven that is an order of magnitude higher than that of 40-year-olds. While existing safety interventions focus on graduated licensing, driver education, and enforcement, there is limited understanding of how highway design and operations interact with the specific capabilities and limitations of young drivers. The study aims to bridge this gap to support the development of targeted traffic engineering countermeasures. The project, conducted by Westat under Contract No. DTFH61-98-C-00063, relied on a comprehensive literature review to identify characteristics of young drivers relevant to traffic engineering. The review highlighted significant differences between young and mature drivers in several key areas. Young drivers tend to engage in more vehicle-centered visual search rather than looking up the road, and they lack the automaticity required for fluid task switching under stress. They detect hazards less reliably and slowly, perceive less risk associated with those hazards, and are more easily distracted by non-driving events such as passenger conversations. Additionally, young drivers often overestimate their emergency control abilities, demonstrate less skill in emergency maneuvers, show reduced ability to anticipate hazards, and may not fully comprehend or utilize traffic control devices effectively. Based on these findings, the report outlines six recommended research projects to develop a robust knowledge base for traffic engineering applications. These projects are categorized into general problem definition, cross-cutting driving problems, and specific geometric features. The first phase involves analyzing crash data and travel exposure to identify circumstances where young driver problems occur, alongside studying the relationship between roadway variables and search/attention deficits. The second phase focuses on determinants of speed selection and the effectiveness of warning and regulatory traffic control devices. The final phase targets specific problematic design features, including horizontal curves and signalized intersections. The goal is to develop and field-evaluate guidelines and countermeasures to mitigate these identified risks. The significance of this work lies in its shift toward human-centered highway design. By linking specific cognitive and behavioral limitations of young drivers to roadway design elements, the FHWA aims to create engineering solutions that complement existing educational and enforcement strategies. The recommended research sequence provides a structured approach to identifying, assessing, and addressing the unique safety challenges faced by inexperienced drivers, ultimately aiming to reduce the high fatality rates associated with this demographic.

Key finding

Drivers under age 21 are approximately 2.5 times more likely to be killed in a crash than drivers aged 25 to 69.

Methodology

review

Provenance

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Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• novice drivers
• rail grade crossings
• passenger effects
• learner drivers

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, crash risk outcomes
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource