Young drivers most at risk of fatal crash within first 12 months of licence

With a shockingly high number of Queensland’s road fatalities in the 17-to-25 age group, some young drivers have an “it won’t happen to me” attitude, police warn.

Young and inexperienced drivers are most at risk of being involved in a fatal crash within the first 12 months of obtaining their licence, new research has revealed.

Queensland recorded 284 road deaths between July 2021 and July 2022, with 54 fatalities attributed to the 17-to-25 age group, according to the Australian Road Deaths Database.

The highest number of road deaths were attributed to the 40 to 64 age group (91 fatalities) followed by the 26 to 39 age group (69 fatalities).

But a Queensland Police Services spokeswoman said “at any time”, the 17-to-25-year age group was “over-represented” in road-crash statistics.

“The first 12 months of holding a driver’s licence is the period of greatest risk of being involved in a fatal traffic crash,” she said.

“Males in this age category are further over-represented as the drivers of vehicles involved in fatal crashes and females are over-represented as passengers of vehicles involved in fatal crashes.

The first 12 months of holding a driver’s licence is the period of greatest risk of being involved in a fatal traffic crash, says a Queensland Police Services spokeswoman.

“This is due to many factors, including, but not limited to, a combination of inexperience and reduced capacity to accurately assess risks and hazards.

“This means that some 17-to-25-year-olds drive in a manner that is dangerous to themselves, their passengers and other road users.”

The spokeswoman said “insurance premiums for drivers in the age group 17 to 25 are indicative of the increased representation of drivers in that age group of crashes”.

Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) Professor Teresa Senserrick said young drivers tended to be less than 10 per cent of the licensed population but were involved in up to 30 per cent of crashes.

“For quite some time, we have seen a decline/delay in young people getting their licence at the minimum age … but (17-to-25-year-olds) are represented in other categories,” she said.

Ms Senserrick said 100 hours of supervised driving was recommended for learner drivers to allow them to build up their “mental filing cabinet of scenarios”.

“The passenger category seems to be tracking lower than previously, and again during Covid, people are more likely to drive on their own,” she said.

Ms Senserrick said it could be difficult to infer a particular cohort was “more at risk than the other” but that a “a young person compared to an adult, with the same level of exposure, is far more likely to have a crash.”

At any time, the 17-to-25-year age group is “over-represented” in Queensland road-crash statistics, a Queensland Police Services spokeswoman says.

She said there was a higher risk of young people being involved in a crash at night, when 17-to-25-year-olds were “more likely” to be driving.

The QPS spokeswoman said for some young drivers, there was a “failure to recognise risk, to not understand the mechanics and physics of motion and stopping, coupled with an over-estimate of their driving abilities and a ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude”.

She said some “inexperienced drivers” failed to understand that driving behaviours needed to be “modified” to suit driving conditions such as weather, road surface, hazards and traffic.

“Some (17-to-25-year olds) think it is ‘fun’ to speed, or just don’t pay close enough attention to their speed or have a genuine failure to recognise that the speed they are doing is excessive for the circumstances,” she said.