There are no empirical studies which directly address whether television and motion picture portrayals of risky driving affect viewers' driving behavior. Research on observational learning, however, demonstrates that humans acquire much of their information about human behavior from observing social models and that these are frequently symbolic models portrayed in the mass media. It is also evident that attitudes and behaviors acquired from media portrayals depend on interactions among characteristics of the stimulus (e.g., the specific television content), of the observer (e.g., the specific needs and abilities of the viewer), and of the environment (e.g., external conditions operating during viewing and/or during performance). The growing literature on television's influence on a variety of diverse social attitudes and behaviors (e.g., sex-role attitudes, aggressive behavior, helping behavior, etc.) makes it reasonable to hypothesize that driving behaviors may also be affected, particularly among adolescents. 15 references. (Author abstract modified)