Trending Teens: What TTI's Latest Research Says about Young Driver Attitudes and Behaviors

For more than two decades, TTI has championed young driver safety, preventing injury and saving lives through education, empowerment, and peer-led outreach. Supported by public- and private-sector sponsors, the Institute's Youth Transportation Safety (YTS) Program recently published Texas Trends, 2024, which captures data regarding young driver attitudes, codifies ongoing crash and injury trends, and helps us better understand the causes behind more than 900 young driver traffic deaths each year. TTI's Christine Yager discusses the report. | View the Texas Trends, 2024 report

Transcript

Allan Rutter: 0:14

Hey everyone. Welcome to Thinking Transportation--conversations about how we get ourselves and the stuff we need from one place to another. I'm Allan Rutter with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. There's an old joke in which a young man on the streets of New York walks up to an older gentleman and asks, "Can you tell me how I can get to Carnegie Hall?" To which he is told, "Practice, my boy. It takes practice." Many of us beyond our teen years have been driving for so long, it's almost a subconscious activity for younger drivers just starting out. They haven't had as much practice as we've had. My colleagues at TTI have developed innovative programs to help younger drivers accelerate their learning of good driving behaviors. Today, Christine Yager, a project specialist with TTI's Youth Transportation Safety Program, will talk with us about how TTI is helping young drivers drive more safely. Welcome, Christine.

Christine Yager: 1:13

Thanks for having me.

Allan Rutter: 1:15

So tell us a little bit about the underlying problems that you guys are trying to reach in the Youth Transportation Safety Program--problems in teen driving. Are teen drivers overrepresented in crash data? And what are some of the descriptions of the nature of that problem?

Christine Yager: 1:34

Yeah, so sadly, car crashes are a leading cause of injury and death for young people in our country. And nationally, in 2022, we lost over 2,800 teenagers due to car crashes; and thousands more were injured. And in Texas in particular, we lose about 900 teens each year due to car crashes. And so, you know, to put that national figure of losing 2,800 teens each year into perspective, that's the equivalent of a school bus full of teens dying in a car crash every week for an entire year. And so, just imagine seeing that headline week after week, you know, because I think a lot of people, it's hard to put that number into perspective, and they don't understand how large of a problem this is. And at the root of this problem is the fact that teenagers simply lack the driving experience that older adults have spent years building up; and driver inexperience, combined with common risky driving behaviors, are why teens have a higher risk of crashing compared to older age groups.

Allan Rutter: 2:38

So, tell me a little bit about some of those risky behaviors that teens are, just like any other driver, susceptible to, but maybe teens are more susceptible to.

Christine Yager: 2:49

Yeah, so the top five risky driving behaviors are distracted driving, driving at night, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, and impaired driving. And some people may ask, like, why isn't this a simple problem to solve? You know, why can't we just simply tell people to drive safer and change their behavior? As much as we wish we could just go and make people change their behaviors, we recognize that there are oftentimes more factors involved that go into a person's behaviors and decision-making. And so, you know, to change a behavior, we have to change a person's attitude and belief about the behavior.

Allan Rutter: 3:28

Yeah. As somebody who struggles with weight, the choices about how to eat and when to eat ... it's not a simple thing to run a light switch and make that happen.

Christine Yager: 3:37

Exactly.

Allan Rutter: 3:38

Now, one of the things you guys have done is do an annual survey among Texas students. Tell our listeners a little bit about the findings of this survey in terms of teen attitudes about those five safety risks, and then how they report their own driving behavior.

Christine Yager: 3:57

Yeah, so our annual high-school student survey asks about their awareness of those top risky driving behaviors as well as their attitudes about those behaviors. You know, how acceptable or unacceptable they think that those behaviors are. And then, we also ask them about their self-reported behaviors, you know, how frequently they admit to having done a particular behavior within the prior 30 days. And these surveys are collected anonymously to try to encourage honest answers. In Texas, we have collected over 18,000 survey responses between August of 2019 through April of this year [2024], and we found that most teenagers in Texas recognize distracted driving and impaired driving as top risky driving behaviors. But there's still more work to be done in helping them to recognize those other top risks. We also found that, for the most part, there is some consistency between what teens believe are unacceptable behaviors and then avoiding those driving behaviors. But there's certainly still work to be done to try to improve that consistency even more.

Allan Rutter: 5:01

So, as we talk about improving and making a difference in driving behaviors, one of the unique factors about TTIs' Youth Transportation Safety Program--and I'll start using an acronym, YTS--part of the YTS programs is that they're organized around peer-to-peer safety messaging. Tell our listeners about that principle and how you've come to find how effective that is.

Christine Yager: 5:30

Yes. The peer-to-peer programming format is what differentiates our program from some others out there because we believe that involving teens is critical to addressing the issue of teen traffic safety. And the reason is because teens are naturally going to connect and relate best with their peers as opposed to that top down , you know, adults telling teens what to do kind of approach.

Allan Rutter: 5:57

So, we'll link this in the show notes, but you guys have recently published a Texas trends report, which summarizes some of that survey research and then gives Texans an update on how the program is working. It describes three kinds of separate or related intervention safety programs, in particular the All Stars program, Zero Hero, and a You in the Driver's Seat app. I want to talk a little bit about each of those, one by one . The All Stars program is one of the incentive-based programs for sharing safety messages. Tell us a little more about how this works and maybe mention some of the other incentive-based programs YTS manages.

Christine Yager: 6:42

Sure. The All Stars part of our program is where we reward schools for actively participating in the Teens in the Driver's Seat Program. The program begins with us asking schools to complete those annual surveys that I just shared about, and they earn a $200 reward if they do so. The rest of the program is divided into what we call risk units, where each risk unit focuses on a particular risky driving behavior--those top five risky behaviors that should be avoided. And each risk unit has certain required outreach activities that the school must complete to earn credit for that unit. And then, for each risk unit that a school completes, they earn a monetary reward for their school. And some risk units are worth more than others because they require a more in-depth outreach activity such as the Zero Hero activity.

Allan Rutter: 7:36

So let's maybe mention the Zero Hero. As I understand it, it's used at high school and middle school levels so that you not only deliver a safety message but measure how effective those messages are being received. Tell us a little more about that process and some of the results.

Christine Yager: 7:55

The main idea of the Zero Hero activity is to give the students a firsthand look at the impact of their traffic safety outreach work on their school campus. And it starts with them doing pre-observations of a particular risky behavior such as not wearing a seatbelt , for example. We give the students observation forms, and they go out one morning before or after school, and then they observe as each car goes by and note whether the teen driver and passengers are wearing a seatbelt or not. Then, the students spend three to six weeks doing outreach messaging on their campus about the importance of wearing seat belts, how they save lives, reduce the risk of injury and death in car crashes. And then after that period of time, they then go back to the same spot at roughly the same time of day and they do the post observations once again, observing how many teen drivers and passengers are wearing their seatbelt or not. And then they send all of their observation forms to us. We process their data, and then we send them a summary report so that they can see directly what kind of impact their advocacy work had on their campus. And we currently have three different Zero Hero activities for high schools. We have one for distracted driving seatbelt use and distracted walking. And for middle schools, they just focus on seatbelt use since a lot of them are still just passengers instead of drivers. And results show an increased amount of seatbelt usage and decreased distracted driving and walking behaviors in between those pre- and post-observations.

Allan Rutter: 9:29

Of course, that's the kind of stuff that we researchers at TTI do on a regular basis, and it must be an interesting process for the students to see the before and after and what difference their own messaging is made.

Christine Yager: 9:44

Exactly.

Allan Rutter: 9:45

So, the final sort of intervention program is the You in the Driver's Seat mobile app . Tell us a little bit about how that works and some of the results from its use.

Christine Yager: 9:57

Sure. So, TTI developed a smartphone app called You in the Driver's Seat, or YDS for short. To address the prevalence of distracted driving among young people, the app monitors and scores each driving trip and awards the young user with gift cards for driving distraction free . And so at the start of each driving trip, a user's score starts at 100 but is decreased for each incident of phone use or excessive speeding. And so only trips that end with the driving scores still at 100 are classified as a safe trip. And so it really incentivized safe driving habits. And we analyzed a total of 244 young Texas app users' data that was collected between October of 2020 through February of this year [2024], and it was over 21,000 scored driving trips that we were looking at. And then we grouped the users into two categories: "short-term users" were those who made 10 or fewer scored trips, and then "long -term users" were those who made 11 or more scored trips. And the results of comparing those two groups showed that the long-term users had 31% higher safe trip percentage values and 14% higher average trip scores than the short-term users. And so, we're seeing a positive shift towards responsible driving behaviors among long-term users of the app. And to date, just in Texas, there have been over 60,000 safe miles driven with our app users; and that's the equivalent of driving around the contiguous U. S. boundaries almost six times. So, I love reporting that statistic 'cause it's just ... what a milestone. That's awesome.

Allan Rutter: 11:47

Well, and a long time since I've been a teen driver, but for all of us with our phones in our car--the need to make sure that you don't pick that thing up--we're so used to picking it up that, as a driver, the need to keep it safe and by itself ... Even us adults have lots of problems with that.

Christine Yager: 12:08

Absolutely. And you know , especially adults with children, you really are setting that example for your children, and they are paying attention much more than you may think they are. And so it's really, really important to set that good example and to teach them from a very early age about safe driving habits and putting your phone away and even talking to them about it. Like, I love telling my girls that, you know, they'll ask me to play a song from Frozen or something, and it's like, "No, I can't do that right now because I'm driving and it wouldn't be safe for me to look at my phone."

Allan Rutter: 12:42

Well good for you. And it also has the ancillary benefit of not having to listen to "Let It Go" for the 15,000th time <laugh> .

Christine Yager: 12:49

I don't mind it, but... <Laugh>.

Allan Rutter: 12:52

So, we are recording today in mid-November , but the YTS Program had a Youth Transportation Safety Summit in San Antonio last week. Tell our listeners a little bit about why San Antonio is important in the history of the YTS Program.

Christine Yager: 13:11

Yes, it was a great event. We had record-breaking registration, and it was just great to see our teens and teachers and other professionals come together who have an interest in youth traffic safety. But yes, San Antonio is definitely our home base. It's very important to us because Russell Henk, the former director of this program, he started Teens in the Driver's Seat in San Antonio after 10 teenagers were killed in car crashes within the span of six weeks . And so they started this program by piloting it at a few local schools, and then it just steadily grew and expanded each year to become a nationally recognized program. And now, with Lisa [Minjares-Kyle] directing the program, it's available in 29 states currently, and it's been in over 2,300 schools across the country. And we're just so thankful for the many different sponsors who have partnered with us to bring this program to so many schools.

Allan Rutter: 14:07

So, tell me a little bit about some of your colleagues and the YTS Program itself. About how many folks are involved and what kind of activities do you guys do on a regular basis to keep all those multiple schools in 29 states? That seems like a lot of activity to manage and monitor.

Christine Yager: 14:27

It certainly is, yes. We have almost two dozen staff members on our team. You know, it's a mixture of full-time and part-time staff. And you know, the expression "it takes a village" is very applicable to our team because this program would not be successful without each person on the team doing their part. You know, bringing their unique skills and perspective and knowledge to the table. You know, we do research in our program. We also evaluate our program each summer to decide what to improve upon based on feedback. We have a graphics team, social media team, a shipping department; we have admin support, student workers, event planning for this annual conference that we just had in last week. And then we have regional reps, who support the schools who are actually implementing the program. It's really wonderful to work with such a variety of people who share the same passion for youth traffic safety.

Allan Rutter: 15:19

So, like much of the research conducted at TTI y'all's work is supported by sponsors. Tell me a little bit about the kinds of organizations and agencies that support YTS programs.

Christine Yager: 15:32

Our sponsors are the lifeline for our program, and we're so grateful for their partnerships. We receive a variety of public sponsors such as state dots or traffic safety agencies in a particular state, as well as local NPOs as well as a variety of private sponsors. And the private sponsors allow us to offer those monetary incentives to schools who actively participate in our program, as well as the app gift card rewards and other contest rewards and prizes that are part of our program. And it truly is amazing to have so many sponsors who share the same mission of reducing teen car crashes.

Allan Rutter: 16:11

Well, and it sounds like a lot of that incentive-based encouragement and validation of participating in the program, those private-sector sponsors are a big part of the feedback loop that goes back to the participants.

Christine Yager: 16:25

Definitely.

Allan Rutter: 16:27

So, I'll mention again this Texas trends report. It's really visually interesting, it's really easy, accessible, and it tells a really effective story. It lists a number of success factors that distinguish this among other traffic safety improvement programs. Tell me a little more about some of those factors listed in your report. Teen involvement, how rewards work better than fear and how positive education can lead to safety cultures.

Christine Yager: 16:59

Sure . So, I mentioned this a little bit earlier, but that peer-to-peer format is really critical because it's using the power of peer pressure but in a positive way. And then positive youth development is all about involving youth and building up young people to be leaders and advocates--about teen traffic safety in this case--and empowering them to know that they really can make a difference in their local community. And then, traffic safety culture is a model that means that we recognize how a person's social environment and culture affects their attitudes and beliefs and so, therefore, ultimately their behavior as well. And so we recognize that it's important to understand all of these elements if we hope to positively change driving behaviors.

Allan Rutter: 17:47

I get the impression that you and your colleagues are constantly working on how to improve the programs. Tell our listeners a little more about some of the elements that are identified at the conclusion of the Texas trends report that point to the future of the program.

Christine Yager: 18:04

We are always evaluating our program and receiving additional training, all with the goal of trying to make this program as effective as possible. You know, there are a lot of program[s] and strategies that attempt to change behavior, and some have been shown through research to be more or less effective. And so, it's really important for us to continue to adapt this program to be the , you know, be more effective. We also recognize that in our country we have such a diverse population, and so that "one size fits all" approach may not be effective for all communities or states. And so, we strive to adapt the program to be effective considering, you know, those cultural and regional differences.

Allan Rutter: 18:47

Before we conclude , let me give you an opportunity to talk a little more about either the summit that just happened or some elements of the program that I haven't gotten you to be able to talk about yet.

Christine Yager: 19:00

Well, the summit--it's a lot of fun because the audience is mostly students. And so, you know, the types of conferences that I'm used to going to are a little more formal, you know, and so it's just always a joy to just work with my team and see what kinds of creative ideas we can come up with to try to keep these young people entertained. And so, just one little ... my personal favorite was just they had, like, this almost-like game show contest with trivia questions about traffic safety. And it was just, the energy in that room was just so contagious. It was so fun to just watch. I wasn't even, like, playing, you know , along, but it was just great to see so many young people getting excited about thinking about these questions and then, yeah, it was ... it was a lot of fun.

Allan Rutter: 19:48

Well, it sounds like that feedback loop of that energy is something that keeps you guys as YTS leaders going, too. And like you, we will be at a national conference at the beginning of January of next year with about 14,000 other transportation nerds, <laugh>. That high energy--that kind of energy--that's not really what we're gonna be present. So, it sounds like such a benefit and blessing to you guys to get that instantaneous feedback from the people who are involved in the program to know that it's making a difference for those guys.

Christine Yager: 20:21

It definitely is. Yeah. I guess they keep us young <laugh>.

Allan Rutter: 20:26

Well, youth is a good thing. And I really appreciate you being able to help us learn a little more about how you and your YTS colleagues, what they're doing to make a difference for students in Texas as drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Your passion for your work clearly shows. But what are some other reasons you get up for work each day?

Christine Yager: 20:50

Well, I've worked in traffic safety for over 10 years and it's so rewarding to know that the work that my colleagues and I do is making a difference and helping to save lives. You know--I mentioned I have daughters--you know, I have a family and I also have friends and I want to do everything that I can to make our roadways a safe place for them.

Allan Rutter: 21:10

Well, that's great. I appreciate you being willing to spend some time and help our folks. And once again, we will include links in our show notes to the Texas trends report so that listeners can learn more about the work you guys do at YTS. Thanks, Christine.

Christine Yager: 21:26

Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

Allan Rutter: 21:30

At the beginning of our conversation, Christine told us that 900 teen drivers in Texas lost their lives in 2022. That represents about 20 percent of the roughly 4,500 traffic fatalities that year. We can be grateful that Christine and her colleagues in the YTS Program--supported by their public- and private-sector sponsors--are deploying a range of creative approaches to change youth traffic safety culture for the better. And no matter how many birthdays separate us from our teen years, we too can avoid risky driving behaviors by removing distractions and always using our seat belts. Thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard or learned something, please take just a minute to give us a review, subscribe, and share this episode. I invite you to join us next time for another conversation about getting ourselves and the stuff we need from point A to point B. Thinking Transportation is a production of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, a member of The Texas A&M University System. The show is edited and produced by Chris Pourteau. I'm your host, Allan Rutter. Thanks again for joining us. We'll see you next time.