The Effect of Family Climate on the Self-Reported Risky Driving Behavior of Young Novice Drivers

The aim of the study was to examine the relative importance of a young novice driver’s family climate on their driving behavior. Young novice drivers between the age of 17 and 24, who held their temporary (or permanent) driver’s license for no longer than one year, participated. The participants completed a survey in which their family climate was questioned together with 3 socio-cognitive determinants (i.e. attitude, locus of control and peer compliance). The results showed that family climate indeed is a significant predictor of risky driving behavior, even though the impact mainly originated from one factor. In addition, the results confirmed the importance of other external and internal determinants, to the degree that the socio-cognitive determinants significantly predicted the risky driving behavior of the young novice drivers.