Parents crash, and their teens follow suit
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 1999-09-01
It's often been said that teenagers pick up their parents' driving habits. Now a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety proves it. The study by the U.S. Institute, found that teenage sons or daughters of parents who have crashed their cars are likely to have crashed also. And the more crashes the parent has had, the greater the likelihood that the teen will have crashed, the study showed.
Researchers from the IIHS used data from state driver records in North Carolina, USA to match the crash and violation records of teens and their parents over a 5-year period. Records of 155,000 young drivers (83,000 sons and 72,000 daughters) were checked against those of their parents, and the results were dramatic. Young drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 whose parents had accumulated three or more violations over the previous five year period were 38% more likely to have violations on their own driving records than teenagers whose parents had no violations. Crash records for parents were an even more accurate indicator of teen crashes. For each crash on the parent's record there was a seven percent increase in the likelihood of the teen having a crash. The relationship between crashes and violations amongst parents and their teens was evident over the first few years of licensed driving, and it seemed to be independent of whether the teens lived in households with one or both parents.
Study results indicated that if the parent's driving record showed three crashes during the previous 5-year period, a teenage driver in the family had a 26% greater likelihood having at least one crash on his or her driving record. Teenagers whose parents had three violations in the previous 5-year period had a 20% greater chance of having traffic violations on their record. The likelihood of teens having violations on their driving record was 13% greater for each additional violation on the parents' record. Each additional crash on the parent's record was associated with a 3% increase in the likelihood of the teen having a crash.
Are Parents Good Teachers?
The results of the IIHS study are particularly interesting at this time, since many U.S. states are moving towards graduated driver licensing systems that place heavy emphasis on parents as role models and coaches. One of the principles behind graduated licensing is to allow young drivers to accumulate low-risk driving experience while accompanied by qualified co-drivers such as parents. In California, for example, there is a requirement that teens accumulate 50 hours of accompanied time before being allowed to drive solo.
However, IIHS vice president Susan Ferguson, who led the study, cautions that the study doesn't mean that graduated licensing won't work. Even parents with bad driving records will be concerned about their teens' safety, she says, and their supervision is still likely to keep their offspring out of trouble during early driving experiences.
The IIHS study is available from the Institute at: Publications, IIHS, 1005 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22201. This article was compiled from Status Reports, a newsletter available free from the IIHS and available on their web site at www.highwaysafety.org/pubs.htm
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