Driver training interests of a Spanish sample of young drivers and its relationship with their self-assessment skills concerning risky driving behavior

摘要

This paper explores what competences are considered by the Spanish young drivers as more relevant to improve their current training as drivers as well as the relationship of these interests with their current risky driving self- assessment skills. For this purpose, a survey research design was planned with the Spanish young drivers (age between 18 and 24 years; no more than 4 years driving experience) as target population. From the initial near 1300 people sample invited to participate, we finally obtained complete data from 321 subjects. Measurement was based on participants self-report of interests about contents to improve their driving, self-report of their risky driving behaviour, and self¿assessment about their likelihood of being involved in a risky driving situation. Two main results arose from our data analysis: (1) novice drivers showed as their main interest to improve competences related to recognize their strengths and weaknesses as drivers (i.e., self-assessment skills); (2) a significant relationship between novice drivers interests and their current risky driving self-assessment skills was found, more especifically, general interest about post-license training was higher for the under confident self-assessors than for the over confident ones. These results provide a relevant input to be taken into account in the design of driver training programs for novice drivers; moreover, the relationship between their training interests and their current risky driving self-assessment skills introduces an additional factor to be considered in the implementation of these training programs