Potentials and Risks of New Technologies in the Training of young drivers

In most countries young drivers are the group of road users with the most accidents. Reasons for this are their lack of experience on the one hand but also the typical characteristics because of their youth; they tend to drive more risky for instance. Mostly, accidents happen because of badly adapted speed, mistakes in yielding and distance keeping, in connection with turning, etc. It seems comprehensible that different ITS systems can help young drivers to show a better driving performance and to reduce their accident risk. In this context definitely ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) like collision warning, ISA or lateral control systems have to be mentioned. Maybe also IVIS like navigation systems or travel- and traffic-information-services can support novice drivers, since they can provide them with information to avoid difficult situations. Especially for this kind of systems but also for ADAS we must not forget about problems which may arise in the driving performance of novice drivers because of distraction or overload. Additionally we have to bear in mind that all drivers are human beings who “function ” under similar psychological rules; e.g., drivers tend to delegate their responsibility to the system, to misjudge the objective risk in different situations, and so on. Therefore we have to take a look on both sides of the coin; the positive effects of new technologies but also the negative ones