Young Drivers: Do you believe the Statistics?

Research and casualty data from around the world identifies young drivers, particularly young male drivers at a much higher risk of crashing than older drivers.

In the UK only one in eight driver licence holders is aged 25 or under, yet one in three drivers who die is under 25.

Other data from the UK shows that:
- An 18-year-old driver is more than three times as likely to be involved in a crash as a 48 year-old.
- One in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing their test.

Young male drivers
Young male drivers have much higher crash rates than young female drivers due to higher risk taking. In the UK, young male drivers aged 17-20 are seven times more at risk than all male drivers - but between the hours of 2am and 5am their risk is 17 times higher.

Speed
Young drivers are more likely to seek thrills from driving fast and cornering at high speed than older drivers. Even sticking to the speed limit can be too fast in the wrong conditions - such as on bendy country roads - but young driver, particularly male drivers, may be reluctant to drive under the speed limit for fear of ‘losing face’ in front of friends.