Fifth of young men race on roads

One in five male drivers under the age of 25 have admitted to racing on a public road, according to new research.

Young men in general display a more cavalier attitude to speeding, obeying the rules of the road and to the risk of accidents, the research carried out on behalf of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has concluded.

NUI Galway psychology lecturer Dr Kiran Sarma surveyed 1,500 drivers who were leaving their cars in for their NCT.

He found that 21 per cent of male drivers under the age of 25 have raced on public roads. After the age of 25 that drops to just 10.2 per cent.

By contrast only 7.3 per cent of females drivers under the age of 25 admitted racing on public roads and 2 per cent of those over 25 did it.

The pattern was repeated when it came to issues such as speeding and rule violations. Young male drivers also had an exaggerated sense of their competency behind the wheel of a car.

He said it was a well established pattern internationally that young people took more risks.

He also maintained there was “pretty convincing evidence” that the pre-frontal cortex is still in development by the age of 25. It is the part of the brain that is involved in executive decision making.

He believed it may explain why young men, in particular, took such life-threatening risks in cars and why many of them were immune to road safety message.

He went on to explain that the underdeveloped cortex is only part of the reason why young men took such risks and other factors were at play such as peer pressure.

Dr Sarma delivered the annual RSA lecture at Dublin Castle today. Professor Andrew Tolmie from the Institute of Education at the University of London, said young people under the age of 24 account for 10 per cent of all drivers, but 20 per cent of all accidents.

He said attitudes to driving were often formed before young people had the chance to sit behind the wheels of a car.

“Watching how parents behave, talking about driving with friends and the images associated with driving all have an influence on how young drivers first act on the road,” he said.