Higher risk for young drivers when peers ride along
Young, male drivers have a greater risk of accidents when men of the same age are passengers. This is shown by a new bfu study. It is not equally dangerous to carry passengers at every age. For young drivers, the presence of older adults can have a positive effect.
Anyone involved in a serious traffic accident in Switzerland is alone in the vehicle in three-quarters of all cases. In 18 percent of accidents, however, there is a passenger in the car; more passengers are involved in 8 percent - this is what the accident figures have shown since 2011.
When car drivers and passengers interact while driving, it can be dangerous. This is shown by a new study of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) on the influence of passengers on motorists. However, the risk varies depending on the age and gender of the vehicle occupants.
Riskier driving style among peers
It is mainly young, male drivers who have a higher risk of accidents with passengers - and that is when the other people in the car are also young men. One reason for the increased risk is that some young drivers tend to drive more dangerously when their peers are around. The same effect, albeit somewhat weaker, is measurable in young female drivers as soon as their peers are present. In contrast, female passengers have a positive influence on young men at the wheel - they then tend to drive more carefully.
Elders have good influence
The same applies when young drivers are accompanied by older adults: These influence the driving behavior of young drivers in a positive way. The ability of passengers to influence driving also tends to decrease with increasing driving routine.
It is true that drivers who have passengers with them are less likely to be distracted by cell phones. However, conversations with passengers are also risky. The reaction time can be longer, the speed driven higher. A conversation partner in the car can at least also recognize critical situations and support the driver, for example by interrupting the conversation. A conversation partner on the phone cannot take the traffic situation into account.
Sensitize learner drivers
Because young drivers in particular can be influenced by passengers, the bfu recommends that this problem be increasingly addressed in driver training. New drivers are probably less aware of the danger of being influenced by passengers than they are of the danger of being distracted by cell phones.
bfu press release
