The fact that peers have an important influence on the driving behaviour of young drivers has been known for some time. A new study by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) can now prove how strong this influence actually is and how well young people assess the attitudes and behaviour of their friends.
The results of this study confirm the importance of peer group influence on the behaviour of young drivers in road traffic. They also confirm the need for road safety measures targeted at the peer group. By considering the role of the social collective, it comes much closer to the everyday reality of people and thus provides an optimised empirical basis for the future planning of target group-oriented communication strategies. The great affinity of young drivers for new media is an important basis for this; communication mainly takes place via texting and e-mails as well as social networks.
Overall, this study makes an innovative contribution to research into the target group of young drivers, which continues to be particularly important for road safety work.
Peer influences on young adults’ risk behavior in road traffic
Reports of the Federal Highway Research Institute, book M 292, 2019
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BASt's reports are almost entirely in German. Each report includes an english abstract. You can find the complete report by following the link to ELBA on the report's page.