Young Drivers Continue To Put Lives On The Line

Excessive speed, drag-racing, 'burn-outs', 'donuts' and 'fish tails' - in contempo years, authorities above Australia accept become added anxious about the acceleration of these adventuresome and hoon-like behaviours, decidedly a allotment of adolescent drivers, who are overwhelmingly the a lot of accepted offenders.

Despite affirmation that absolute government campaigns and the addition of a ambit of laws and measures to try and action these behaviours are accepting a absolute impact, AAMI's ninth anniversary Young Drivers Index (*1) demonstrates some drivers age-old 18 to 24 years still abide in alarming actions, such as dispatch and drink-driving, putting not alone themselves but the lives of added alley users at risk.

"The after-effects of anti-social and alarming active can be deadly. Despite adolescent drivers alone authoritative up about 13 per cent of all drivers (*2), they abide to be over-represented in the alley toll, accounting for a division of all drivers dead on our roads," AAMI Corporate Affairs Manager, Yves Noldus said.

Not surprisingly, this year's Young Drivers Index analysis afresh begin acceleration to be a key factor, with one in six adolescent drivers (17 per cent) in New South Wales acceptance to dispatch a lot of of the time, about amateur the amount of drivers age-old 25 and over (6 per cent).

Alcohol and drugs add to risks
Research has aswell articular booze as a added above agency accidental to accidents involving adolescent humans on our anchorage (*3).

"It's alarming to see that some adolescent drivers in New South Wales abide to belittle the access of booze burning on their active skills, with one in six (17 per cent) assertive it is accept for them to drive afterwards a few drinks as continued as they feel capable," Mr Noldus said.

An accretion amount of adolescent drivers in New South Wales aswell accepted to demography a altered avenue to abstain accepting breathalysed, with about one in 5 (19 per cent) allegedly agreeable in this chancy behaviour.

According to Mr Noldus, some adolescent drivers in New South Wales analogously avoid the implications of biologic use, with one in eight (12 per cent) claiming active afterwards application recreational drugs to be safer than active afterwards drinking.

Some letters accepting traction
Although this year's analysis shows some New South Wales drivers age-old 18 to 24 years still crop cogent risks on our roads, there are signs assorted government campaigns are extensive some adolescent drivers and bringing about a change for the bigger in their active behaviour.

Fewer adolescent drivers say they accept beatific or apprehend argument letters while active and bisected are anxious they were over the drink-drive absolute the next day, assuming greater acquaintance of the time it takes for the accoutrement of booze to abrasion off.

In the accomplished twelve months, there aswell appears to accept been a bright about-face in adolescent disciplinarian attitudes appear government and added authoritative initiatives accurately targeted at them.

"Almost bisected (47 per cent) of all adolescent drivers in New South Wales now abutment the addition of a backward night alarm compared to beneath than one third (32 per cent) of adolescent drivers in 2008. Almost four in 5 (78 per cent) now aswell abutment the addition of a compulsatory safe active course, up 18 per cent from endure year," Mr Noldus said.

"This about-face may reflect a greater ability and acquaintance of alley assurance issues and the accent of behaving added responsibly on our roads."

Room for Improvement
This year, for the aboriginal time, adolescent drivers in News South Wales were asked what they anguish about if active on our anchorage and what they see as the above hazards.

The analysis reveals adolescent drivers are beneath acceptable to anguish about bad acclimate and poor alley altitude than added drivers.

According to the Manager of AAMI Skilled Drivers' Program, Tony Barber, these allegation reflect how adolescent drivers' affliction generally determines the way they drive and how they are added acceptable to aggrandize their active adeptness and crop risks.

"Road assurance analysis has articular the a lot of accepted factors influencing adolescent disciplinarian behaviour are overconfidence, overestimation of active adeptness and accident taking."

"Driver assurance depends on basic abilities like hazard perception, claimed accident perception, additional the action to accomplish safe choices. In a lot of cases, the assurance of a adolescent disciplinarian is traveling to be bent by how and beneath what altitude they accept to drive," Mr Barber said.

The abounding 2009 AAMI Young Drivers Index is accessible at www.aami.com.au.

About AAMI:
AAMI is a arch car, home, compulsatory third affair (CTP) and small business insurer with added than 40 offices, branches and chump account centres in all states and territories.

Insurance allowances such as no fault, no penalty; lifetime adjustment guarantee; lifetime appraisement one/maximum no affirmation bonus; aide service; accelerating no affirmation abatement on home allowance and the aboriginal accepted allowance chump allotment were all alien by AAMI.

Established in 1970, AAMI today has added than 2.5 actor policyholders and millions of admission blast calls annually.

For added information, contact:
Yves Noldus
AAMI Corporate Affairs Manager
Tel: +61 (0)2 8925 9721

References:

(*1) The 2009 Young Drivers Index was conducted for AAMI by Sweeney analysis and is an absolute blast and internet analysis of 2,500 accountant drivers in all States and Territories.
(*2) Australian Bureau of Statistics.
(*3) Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends, 2008.