Citation

Sagberg F. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2018; 117: 270-275.

Affiliation

Institute of Transport Economics, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: fs@toi.no.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2018.04.025

PMID

29738876

Abstract

Drivers or riders without a valid license are involved in 10% of fatal road crashes in Norway. This was shown by an analysis of data from all fatal crashes in the period 2005-2014. A literature review shows that unlicensed drivers have a considerably increased crash risk. Such crashes could be prevented by electronic driver authentication, i.e., a technical system for checking that a driver or rider has legal access to a vehicle before driving is permitted. This can be done by requiring the driver/rider to identify themselves with a national identity number and a unique code or biometric information before driving may commence. The vehicle thereafter verifies license availability and vehicle access by communication with a central register. In more than 80% of fatal crashes with unlicensed drivers/riders, speeding and/or drug influence contributed to the crash. This means that a majority of crashes with unlicensed drivers alternatively could be prevented by already available systems, such as alcolock and speed limit dependent speed adapters. These systems will have a wider influence, by preventing crashes also among licensed drivers. Mandatory implementation of alcolock, speed limiter, and electronic driver authentication in all motorized vehicles is estimated to prevent up to 28% of fatal road crashes, depending on effectiveness of the systems.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Alcolock; Driver authentication; Fatal road crashes; Intelligent speed adaptation; Unlicensed driving