Young drivers in Scotland continue to be over-represented in fatal and serious accidents, and it is expected that as many as one-in-five will be involved in an accident in their first year of driving. Young males are the main target group because, although they may be skillful drivers, their inexperience and lack of developed hazard perception skills make the first six months a critical time.
Evidence demonstrates that attitudes towards driving are often laid down at a very early age, and a great deal of RSS’s activity in this area will be dealt with via the Education Strategy, including the Crash Magnets initiative. RSS is also mindful of the fact that young drivers figure in casualty statistics across a range of behaviours and, therefore, while there is little direct activity targeting them as a group, they continue to be a principal target audience across the whole RSS publicity programme. PR activity targeted young drivers, making full use of editorial platforms relevant to the target audience, such as Fresh Magazine, and submitting articles to University newspapers. In addition, young driver leaflets were included in Freshers' Packs at nine universities throughout Scotland.