Unspoken trepidations progressing through the licensing system: A qualitative study of teen novice drivers

• The system, environment and individual factors influence learning to drive. • Risky experienced drivers influence young novice drivers’ learning experiences. • The practical on-road driving test may not be an indicator of safe driving outcomes. • Findings highlighted the need for best-practice learner driver training guidelines. • Improvements to licensing systems should incorporate young drivers’ perspectives. The over-representation of young drivers in road crash fatalities and serious injuries remains a persistent global problem, which has led to significant research efforts directed at understanding factors that influence young drivers’ behaviour and safety. Despite the associated importance of graduated driver licensing systems, limited research has explored young drivers’ perspectives of their experiences as they navigate the learning to drive process and transition to independent driving. The purpose of the research was to explore novice drivers’ learning experiences across the early stages of the licensing process. A thematic analysis was conducted of 57 young novice drivers’ (16–19 years; 24 males) shared narratives regarding challenges encountered during the licensing process provided in an online survey. Three overarching themes emerged, centred around the licensing system, individual, and driving environment, and encapsulated in ten sub-themes: parents as supervisors , mandated driving hours , the practical driving test, driving skills deficit, self-calibration , learning needs and expectations , emotive state , distraction , other road users , and peer intentions and driving behaviours . While traditional themes known to be contributing factors to increased crash risk were identified (e.g., emotions and distraction ), a number of unique themes were found that further illuminate the complexity of the challenges associated with learning and progressing through the licensing system (e.g., learning needs and expectations and other road users ). The paper outlines the relevance of these themes in regard to young drivers successfully transitioning to independent driving and suggests practical and policy implications to improve the current over-representation of young novice drivers in road trauma.