driving practice

The experiences of parents and other supervisors in a graduated driver licensing

program in Queensland, Australia

Lyndel Bates, Barry Watson, Mark King

Queensland Pre-July 2007 Queensland Post-July 2007Learner Theory Test Learner Theory Test

Minimum age 16.5 years Minimum age 16 years

Hold for a minimum of 6 months Hold for a minimum of 12 months

Zero alcohol limit (if < 25 years) Zero alcohol limit (if < 25 years *)

Must be supervised Must be supervised

Must display L plates Must display L plates

Can accumulate 3 demerit points Can accumulate 3 demerit points

Must carry licence Must carry licence

Record 100 hours in logbook

Must not use mobile in any way

Passenger(s) must not use mobile on loudspeaker function

Practical Driving Assessment Practical Driving Assessment

2

Driving Practice

3

CharacteristicOriginal-GDL

(n = 149)Hours (M, SD)

Enhanced-GDL (n = 183) Hours (M, SD)

Reported logbook hours 108.8 (12.7)

Reported driving practice 63.3 (48.0) 92.4 (24.8)

Driving practice with parents/ friends

52.8 (45.8) 83.3 (25.6)

Driving practice with professional instructor

11.5 (15.8) 9.8 (8.7)

Bold font indicates a statistically-significant difference.

Study Aims

Describe how parents and other private supervisors have responded to the changes made to the Queensland graduated driver licensing system in mid-2007

Examine differences in the experiences and perceptions of the parents and non-parents

Method

Combination of convenience and snowball sampling

Survey administered by the internet

Survey conducted between July 2009 and May 2010

Approximately 15-20 minutes to complete

$20 reimbursement for participation

Sample (1)

Sample 228 supervisors

− 116 (50.9%) parents− 112 (49.1%) non-parents

Age Parents (M = 44.1, sd = 8.6)

Non-parents (M = 36.2, sd = 13.1)

t (226) = 5.41, p = <.001

Sample (2)

Parent (%) Non-parent (%)

Total (%) Significance

GenderMaleFemale

42 (36.2)74 (63.8)

65 (58)47 (42)

107 (46.9)121 (53.1)

x2(1) = 10.90, p = .001

Marital statusSingleMarriedDe facto/ have a partnerPreviously married

12 (10.3)85 (73.3)10 (8.6)

9 (7.8)

50 (44.6)42 (37.5)13 (11.6)

7 (6.2)

62 (27.2)127 (55.7) 23 (10.1)

16 (7.0)

x2(3) = 38.43, p = < .001

Supervisor relationship

Relationship to the Learner:

− Parents

Mother: 34.2%

Father: 16.7%

– Non-parents

Stepmother: 3.1%

Stepfather: 2.2%

Other: 43.9%

Primary supervisor

Were you the primary supervisor for this person?

Total: Yes 63.2%, No 36.8%

– Parents: Yes 70.7%, No 29.3%

– Non-parents: Yes 55.4%, No 44.6%

Statistically significant difference:

– x2(1) = 5.76, p = .02

Number of Learners supervised

How many learners have you supervised while they were learning to drive in the past 12 months?

Total: M = 1.4– Parents: M = 1.5– Non-parents: M = 1.4

Not statistically significant: − t (226) = .50, p = .62

Number of hours of supervision

How many hours did you supervise the learner for?


Not statistically significant: – t (226) = - 1.90, p = .06

Parental involvement

How involved do you think parents should be in teaching their children to drive?


Not statistically significant: – t (226) = - 1.73, p = .09

1Not very involved

5Very involved

PNP

Use of the Log book (1)

Did you record your supervision time in the log book?

• Total: M = 1.8– Parents: M = 1.6– Non-parents: M = 2.0

• Statistically significant: – t (226) = - 3.40, p = .001

1All practice

4No practice

NPP

Use of the Log book (2)

How accurate were the hours recorded?


Statistically significant: – t (226) = 3.92, p = <.001

1Not very accurate

5Very accurate

NP P

Importance of teaching (1)

How important do you think it is to teach your learner each of the following?

Behaviour M sd F1 dfStatistical

level

Remaining within the speed limitParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.186.37

1.671.30

7.46 1, 222 p = .007

Car controlParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.406.29

1.301.52

3.61 1, 222 p = .059

Hazard perceptionParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.286.44

1.431.25

10.08 1, 222 p = .002

Following distancesParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.106.36

1.491.28

10.70 1, 222 p = .001

1 The ANCOVA controlled for age, income, marital status and gender of the participants .

Importance of teaching (2)

Behaviour M sd F1 dfStatistical

level

FatigueParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

5.976.23

1.571.50

6.3 1, 222 p = .013

Drink drivingParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.346.34

1.471.47

3.61 1, 222 p = .059

Drug driving (illegal drugs)Parent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.376.46

1.421.29

4.84 1, 222 p = .029

Appropriate mobile phone behaviourParent (n = 116)Non-parent (n = 112)

6.346.39

1.421.42

5.62 1, 222 p = .019

1 The ANCOVA controlled for age, income, marital status and gender of the participants.

Discussion (1)

Private supervisors provide the majority of the supervised practice that learner drivers undertake in Queensland

Parents were more likely to report being the primary supervisor

However, non-parents reported providing a substantial amount of supervision

Overall, supervisors report that they record hours of practice reasonably accurately

Discussion (2)

Both parents and non-parents believe parents should be involved in teaching their children to drive

Parents were more likely to report recording the practice they supervised in the logbook, and for the hours to be accurate

Overall, non-parents were more likely to think it important to teach a range of safety-related driving behaviours

Study limitations Convenience sample

Unable to calculate response rates

May be a volunteer bias

The representation of parents vs. non-parents may not be generaliseable to the broader population

The study relied on self-report data

Conclusions GDL systems have traditionally encouraged

the greater involvement of parents

Mandating extensive hours of practice has resulted in more private supervision being provided to Learner drivers in Queensland

Non-parental supervisors appear to play a significant role, along with parents

Need to more directly support private supervisors, including non-parents

Further research Who are the non-parents involved in

supervising learners? At what stage do non-parents become

involved? Do parents and non-parents provide

different types of supervision? Does the parental involvement continue

into the provisional phase?

Questions?Dr Lyndel Bates: [email protected]

Professor Barry Watson: [email protected]

Mark your Diaries!

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25-28 August 2013, Brisbane

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driving practice

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