Improving safety of teenage and young adult drivers in Kansas.

Details

• Creators:
  Dissanayake, Sunanda ; Asmarasingha, Niranga
• Corporate Creators:
  Kansas State University. Transportation Center
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Teenage drivers
  • Graduated licensing
  • Traffic safety
  • Traffic accidents
  • Statistics
  • Accident data
  • Accident causes
  • Injury severity
  • Young adults
• Publication/ Report Number:
  K-TRAN: KSU-10-6
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Kansas
• Corporate Publisher:
  Kansas. Dept. of Transportation. Bureau of Materials & Research
• Abstract:
  Statistics show that young drivers have higher motor vehicle crash rates compared to other age groups. This study investigated ; characteristics, contributory causes, and factors which increase injury severity of young driver crashes in Kansas by comparing ; young drivers with more experienced drivers. Crash data were obtained from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Young ; drivers were divided into two groups: 15–19 years (teen) and 20–24 years (young adult) for a detailed investigation. ; Using data from 2006 to 2009, frequencies, percentages, and crash rates were calculated for each characteristic and ; contributory cause. Contingency table analysis and odds ratios (OR) analysis were carried out to identify overly represented factors ; of young-driver crashes as compared to experienced drivers. Young drivers were more likely to be involved in crashes due to ; failure to yield right-of-way, disregarding traffic signs/signals, turning, or lane changing when compared to experienced drivers. ; Ordered logistic regression models were developed to identify severity-affecting factors in young driver crashes. According to ; model results, factors that decreased injury severity of the driver were seat belt use, driving at low speeds, driving newer vehicles, ; and driving with an adult passenger. The models also showed that alcohol involvement, driving on high-posted-speed-limit ; roadways, ejection at the time of crash, and entrapment at the time of crash can increase young drivers’ injury severity. ; Based on identified critical factors, countermeasure ideas were suggested to improve the safety of young drivers. It is ; important for teen drivers and parents/guardians to gain better understanding of critical factors that are helpful in preventing ; crashes and minimizing driving risk. Parents/guardians should consider high-risk conditions such as driving during dark, during ; weekends, on rural roads, on wet road surfaces, and on roadways with high speed limits when planning teen driving. Protective ; devices, crash-worthy cars, and safe road infrastructures such as rumble strips and forgiving roadsides, particularly reduce young ; drivers’ risk. Predictable traffic situations and low complexity resulting from improved road infrastructure are beneficial to young ; drivers. The effectiveness of Kansas Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system needs to be investigated in the future.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  C1861
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26820/dot_26820_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.70 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:848b72b826b4d7511230fd7d09c2e866a3d740d39a7a68e21646784c5d1fea9d