Parents potentially play an important role in influencing adolescent driving experiences, given that the young driver may still live at home and parents are generally involved in the driving process from the beginning. For example, parents often teach adolescents how to drive and manage early driving experience by limiting vehicle access, placing restrictions on when, where, and with whom, driving may occur, and by the driving behaviours they model.

For the Parent Study, which is part of the New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) 1200 young drivers (aged 15-17 years at learner licence stage) and their parents were interviewed at the restricted licence stage. Data on young driver crashes, convictions, and infringements during their first 12 months of unsupervised driving will be obtained from national traffic crash and injury databases.

Aims: To examine the influence of parents’ driving related attitudes and experiences on driving experiences and the negative traffic-related outcomes of adolescents as newly licensed drivers.

Specifically this study aims:
– To describe parents’ knowledge, opinions, and experience with licensure;
– To explore the relationship between parents’ and young drivers’ attitudes and behaviours relating to driving related issues; and
– To examine the influence of parental driving related attitudes and behaviours on subsequent negative driving related outcomes of young drivers (such as traffic violations and crashes).

Project Team: Rebecca Brookland, Dorothy Begg, John Langley, Shanthi Ameratunga

Funding: Health Research Council of New Zealand, Accident Compensation Corporation, Road Safety Trust