Study Finds Gen Zs As the “Riskiest” Drivers on the Road

More Population, More Drivers

As the global population grows, more people are getting behind the wheel for the first time, and that naturally leads to more cars sharing the same roads. It’s a usual part of modern life: more commuting, more school runs, more weekend trips. With that comes an obvious reality – when the number of vehicles rises, the chances of incidents rise with it, simply because there’s more activity happening at once.

This raises a long-standing question: which drivers are actually contributing most to road risk? Different age groups tend to carry certain reputations – whether it’s younger drivers being seen as inexperienced or older drivers being viewed as overly cautious. These ideas get repeated often, but they’re not always backed by actual data.

Under-25 drivers take the most risks on the road

To answer the questions with actual data, UK comparison service Scrap Car Comparison conducted a study and asked drivers from 18 countries how they feel about different generations of drivers, and the results are quite interesting, to say the least.

According to 90% of Australian drivers interviewed, Gen Z (under-25) drivers take the most risks on the road, with the remaining 77% of global respondents agreeing that young drivers have a “cavalier” attitude towards driving.

Going deeper into the results, the top five countries that distrust Gen Z drivers the most are:

1. Australia: 90%
2. UK: 88%
3. US: 84%
4. New Zealand: 84%
5. Netherlands: 84%

In fact, more than half (above 50%) of the respondents across all 18 countries in the study agree with the top 5; the lowest percentage is still a high 67%.

With Age Comes Wisdom and Other Things

The study also highlights different age groups for different reasons. Among Millennials aged 35-44, the majority of the world says they are the best drivers. That might be controversial, but it was what the study claimed.

On the older side of the spectrum, though, a high number of respondents are wary of drivers aged 60 and above, with some saying drivers should stop driving at that age. Furthermore, only 18% of global respondents would get into a car and be comfortably driven by someone aged 80 or above.