THE Bathurst car races encourage young men to binge drink and drive like maniacs, a visiting researcher claims., "Research shows the driving behaviour of young men changes immediately after events such as the Adelaide Grand Prix and the Bathurst races,” Dr Sarah Redshaw, from the University of Western Sydney's Centre for Cultural Research, said., Dr Redshaw said car races were just one of the cultural influences that encouraged a "reckless, carefree” approach to driving., She said young people were constantly exposed to car advertising on television that appealed to "the fantasy of the open road”., "Most car ads show cars on the roads all by themselves in race-track conditions,” she said., "It looks fun and challenging, but it leaves out the complex reality of traffic, of other cars.”, Dr Redshaw said car advertising should not be linked to information about the performance of racing cars., "That connection is constantly being made, and it is very dangerous,” she said., "No wonder young men want to push these things to the limit.”, Dr Redshaw said the young drivers she spoke to during her research often acknowledged that they were inexperienced but they also insisted they knew what they were doing., She said intensive driver education, of the type given in traffic offender programs, should be given to all young people and not just those who offend., "It's better to do it before they get into trouble,” she said., Dr Redshaw said that while education for individuals was important, it was also essential to change the broader culture., "We can't expect individuals to do something different if the whole culture is encouraging people to behave in a certain way,” she said., Dr Redshaw was in Bathurst with fellow researcher Dr Zoe Sofoulis to conduct focus groups of young drivers as part of the Transforming Drivers research project., A joint initiative of NRMA and the University of Western Sydney, the project is exploring the cultural influences behind young people's driving. , The findings will be used to devise more effective road safety campaigns., Focus group participant Chris Inzitari, 19, said he loved driving fast cars., "I feel I can drive all right,” the business finance student at Charles Sturt University said. , "I do heaps of kilometres.”, Another participant, Katherine Springett, 19, a finance trainee of Bathurst, said young men were more reckless than young women., "It's a testosterone thing,” she said., According to the NRMA, 17 to 20-year-old drivers were three times more likely to be involved in a serious crash than drivers over 21. , In 2002, 2186 drivers aged 17-20 were killed or injured on NSW roads., Dr Redshaw and Dr Sofoulis were invited to conduct the focus groups in the Central West by road safety officers for Lithgow and the Tablelands, Matt Irvine and Jennifer Howard.