Ongoing research into the social and cultural factors affecting young people’s approach to driving in Australia has included questions relating to control of motor vehicles, control of other external conditions (or controlling things outside oneself), and self-control (or one’s own actions and reactions). This paper distinguishes between control of objective conditions from self-control and presents focus group discussions related to ideas of control and self-control. A total of six focus groups were held in high schools with the permission of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, as well as school principals. A total of 40 young people participated in the focus groups with 34 having provisional licenses and 6 having their learner permits. The young men in these focus groups tended to focus on car-handling skills with the mention of self-control predominantly indirect. However, the young women made direct references to self-control, but infrequently. Overall, these young drivers tended to focus more control of the car and less on the development of self-control skills. References