Vehicle safety and crash risk factors relating to newly licensed drivers in Queensland

Graduated Licensing Systems (GLS) are an important aspect of the safe systems approach. GLS aim to reduce road trauma among one of the most vulnerable road user groups – young novice drivers. As part of a larger evaluation of Queensland’s GLS, 5,000 Queensland P1 drivers were invited to complete an anonymous 15-minute self-report survey. All participants were aged between 17 and 25 years and had held their P1 licence between 4 and 8 months. The survey comprised questions relating to driving exposure, vehicle ownership, and participants’ attitudes towards major GLS initiatives that were introduced from 1 July 2007 (e.g. requirement to record 100 hours of supervised driving experience in a logbook, restriction on carrying peer passengers, ban on mobile phone use, and restriction on driving high-powered vehicles). Participants’ de-identified driving history and demographics were obtained from the Department of Transport and Main Roads prior to data collection (i.e. date and number of attempts to obtain Learner and P1 licence, number and type of driving infringements, gender, and postcode of residence). The final sample comprised 1,407 P1 drivers, an overall response rate of 28%. The analysis compares the invited and final samples on driving history and demographics and presents participants’ attitudes towards Queensland’s GLS.