A story from Australia, but obviously it is going to apply to the Western World generally.
Apparently, the younger generation is:
- more stressed when driving
- most likely to get lost
- more likely to make erratic decisions
- more likely to make impulsive decisions
One of the researchers says that younger drivers are less effective at absorbing and processing information, and blames it on information overload through social media and the internet.
Or, in other words, they are poorer drivers.
The research appears to be flawed. All it is doing is comparing young drivers with older ones. What it needs to do is compare young drivers with older ones from the same internet generation – something which is obviously a bit of an oxymoron.
You see, new drivers – who are mainly young – are always less experienced at all aspects of driving than older, more experienced people. The only thing they have going for them over older drivers is (allegedly) faster reflexes – which can be a double-edged sword when it comes to making a snap decision without any experience. That’s why the normal young person’s reaction to a car coming directly towards them – albeit 300 metres away – is often to fling themselves down an embankment or into a kerb. As I often point out on lessons when I grab the wheel to prevent this, we have this pedal in the middle called “a brake”, and it makes you go slower and stop…
I’m sure the research is identifying a real problem. But I think it’s a problem that’s always been there in one form or another, and the researchers are drawing the wrong conclusions (probably in order to support a premise).