YOUNG DRIVERS OVERESTIMATION OF THEIR OWN SKILL - AN EXPERIMENT ON THE RELATION BETWEEN TRAINING STRATEGY AND SKILL

Young drivers' accident involvement may be explained by a number of di fferent factors, one of which is that they tend to overestimate their skill in driving a car. This study is based upon the assumption that t he degree of overestimation is related to the type of training the dri ver has received. In an experiment, two different strategies for train ing have been compared with regard to their influence on estimated and actual driving skill, as well as the drivers' degree of overestimatio n of their own skill. One of the strategies, used in the ''skill'' gro up was to make the learner as skilled as possible in handling a brakin g and avoidance manoeuvre in a critical situation. The other strategy, used in the ''insight'' group was to make the driver aware of the fac t that his own skill in braking and avoidance in critical situations m ay be limited and unpredictable. The experiment was carried out at the Bromma driving practice area in Stockholm. Low friction has been simu lated by using ''Skid Car'' equipment. Fifty-three learner drivers wer e randomly divided into two groups. Each of the groups was taught on t he basis of one of the strategies. The training session was 30 minutes long. One week later, the drivers returned to take part in a test of their estimated and actual skill. The ''skill'' group estimated their skill higher than the ''insight'' group. No difference was found betwe en the groups regarding their actual skill. The results confirm the ma in hypothesis that the skill training strategy produces more false ove restimation than the insight training strategy.