driver-qualification-handbook-english

2But with driving, confidence can work against you. Research shows that while mostdrivers are pretty confident about their skill, the most confident drivers are usuallythe least experienced. This can lead to overconfidence and a feeling that you mightbe a better driver than you really are.Overconfidence contributes to many crashes for drivers in their first five yearsof driving. It makes you underestimate the risk of negative outcomes (eg beinginvolved in a crash, getting caught for speeding or being killed or injured in a roadcrash). Overconfidence is boosted every time you drive over the speed limit anddon’t get caught. This makes it hard to counteract. You may feel that you can ‘handleit’ and that you are a better driver than other people.Because crashes are quite rare for individual drivers, you start to think that it won’thappen to you. Most of the time you will be right. On average each year, only one in140 NSW licence holders are involved in a casualty crash reported to police.But did you know that your risk of getting booked by the police is much, muchgreater? In NSW, the risk of being booked and issued with a ticket for a trafficoffence is more than 1000 times greater than being killed in a crash. So if you drivein an unsafe manner, you might not crash, you might not get killed or injured, butyou are likely to get booked, pay heavy fines, incur demerit points or lose yourlicence.Driver qualification handbook 33