Notice drivers account for ___ times more crashes than those with 5 years of experience.

Notice drivers account for ___ times more crashes than those with 5 years of experience.

• A. 2
• B. 3
• C. 4
• D. 5

Answer: (C)

Understanding how crash risk changes with driver experience helps explain why newer drivers are involved in more crashes. In the early years behind the wheel, people are still learning to scan for hazards, judge speeds, and make safe decisions, so their likelihood of crashing is much higher. Safety data commonly show that drivers with little experience crash about four times as often as those with around five years of experience. As experience grows, hazard perception improves and reactions become more consistent, which lowers the crash rate. The four-times figure fits the typical pattern of a steep early learning curve, whereas smaller multipliers wouldn’t capture the gap, and larger ones would overstate it.

Understanding how crash risk changes with driver experience helps explain why newer drivers are involved in more crashes. In the early years behind the wheel, people are still learning to scan for hazards, judge speeds, and make safe decisions, so their likelihood of crashing is much higher. Safety data commonly show that drivers with little experience crash about four times as often as those with around five years of experience. As experience grows, hazard perception improves and reactions become more consistent, which lowers the crash rate. The four-times figure fits the typical pattern of a steep early learning curve, whereas smaller multipliers wouldn’t capture the gap, and larger ones would overstate it.