Crashing Through The Generation Gap - AAMI

This is the eighth anniversary AAMI Young Drivers Index. It is appear to acquaint and brainwash the association about trends and issues accompanying to adolescent drivers. In contempo years, the Index has focussed on capacity including speeding, alcohol active and the role technology plays in accidental to adolescent drivers poor active habits. In 2008, the AAMI Young Drivers Index focuses on how generational differences can access disciplinarian behaviour. In this Index, the appellation 'young drivers' refers to drivers age-old 18-24 and the appellation 'other drivers' refers to those age-old 25 or older.

The Generation Gap
Since the AAMI Young Drivers Index began eight years ago, it has consistently apparent adolescent humans are added absorbed to experiment, crop added risks and advance the boundaries of able behavior on our roads, than added drivers. While adolescent drivers, attitudes to speed, alcohol active and drugs can abundantly be attributed to their affliction on our roads, the bearing to which they accord can aswell access how they behave and what they anticipate about these issues. The accepted accumulation of adolescent drivers is allotment of Generation Y ('Gen Y') and they are characterised as impatient, confident, tech-savvy and socially responsible. Many of these Gen Y attributes are reflected in the after-effects of this year's AAMI Young Drivers' Index.

Speed Limits Young Lives
Generation Y about doesn't like waiting; whether it's for coffee, a advance or a cartage light.
This year's AAMI Young Drivers Index analysis shows adolescent drivers are added abrupt than added drivers on our roads, with 35 per cent anecdotic themselves as absolutely abrupt drivers
compared with one in 5 added drivers (20 per cent). Speed charcoal one of the above factors causing adolescent drivers to be disproportionately represented in the alley toll, with adolescent humans 30 times added acceptable to die in carriage accidents than humans age-old 25 and over1. While 14 per cent of adolescent drivers say they never beat the acceleration limit, about bisected of all adolescent drivers say they acceleration some of the time (49 per cent) and added than bisected of all adolescent drivers (52 per cent) say they sometimes acceleration to get to plan or home sooner. Young drivers are aswell added acceptable than added drivers to breach acceleration banned by up to 10 km/h. One-third of adolescent drivers said traveling 5 or 10 km/h over the acceleration absolute wasn't absolutely dispatch compared to 28 per cent of drivers age-old 25 years and over. Almost four in 5 (79 per cent) drivers age-old 18 - 24 said they had been a commuter in a car area the disciplinarian collection alarmingly to appearance off, compared to beneath than two-thirds of added drivers (59 per cent).

Alcohol and Drugs - a Lethal Combination
The added above accidental agency to the top amount of adolescent disciplinarian deaths is alcohol; alcohol active charcoal one of the better killers on our roads. The AAMI Young Drivers Index shows Generation Y's assured attributes is reflected in their attitudes to how booze and drugs can appulse on their driving. More than one in 5 (21 per cent) adolescent drivers said they sometimes took a altered avenue to abstain accepting breathalysed if they had been bubbler (21 per cent) compared to 15 per cent of added drivers. More than bisected (56 per cent) of all adolescent drivers said they accept been anxious they were over the absolute if active the next day afterwards a abundant night of drinking, compared with 44 per cent of drivers age-old 25 years and over. And it’s bright some adolescent drivers abide blind of the dangers of active afterwards demography drugs. More than one in 10 adolescent drivers (12 per cent) accept a baby aggregate of recreational drugs doesn't absolutely affect their active and 16 per cent of drivers age-old 18 - 24 said active afterwards application recreational drugs was safer than active afterwards drinking. Only six per cent of added drivers accurate both these statements.

Driven to Distraction
Technology plays a big allotment in the lives of Generation Y. Mobile phones, MP3 players and computers are capital accoutrement acclimated by abounding every day. According to Social Researcher Mark McCrindle, about three abode of argument letters are beatific by Gen Ys, so it is assured some accept been beatific while driving. The AAMI Young Drivers Index shows 71 per cent of adolescent drivers said they accept beatific or apprehend a argument bulletin while driving. While hardly beneath than endure year (75 per cent), the amount of adolescent drivers agreeable in this alarming behaviour is still alarmingly high. Young drivers are aswell acceptable added absent by their MP3 players while driving, with 27 per cent accordant with this account compared with 20 per cent endure year.

Sweeney Research conducted a blast analysis of 2503 men and women drivers, age-old 18 years and older, in the afterward locations about Australia:

Adelaide, Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton, Batemans Bay, Bega and Ulladulla, Brisbane, Canberra, Central Queensland, Coffs, Harbour and Port Macquarie, Darwin, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hobart and Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle and Gosford, North Queensland, Perth, Regional South Australia, Regional Western Australia, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Tamworth, Toowoomba and Darling Downs, Wagga Wagga and Griffith, Wollongong and Nowra

This analysis is accurate by an all-embracing appraisal of car insurance claims lodged in 2007 by AAMI barter in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.