Headway Time and Crashes Among Novice Teens and Experienced Adult Drivers in a Simulated Lead Truck Braking Scenario

Driving simulators can be used to evaluate driving performance under controlled, safe conditions. Teen drivers are at particular risk for motor vehicle crashes and simulated driving can provide important information on performance. The authors developed a new simulator protocol, the Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA), with the goal of providing a new tool for driver assessment and a common outcome measure for evaluation of training programs. As an initial effort to examine the validity of the SDA to differentiate performance according to experience, this analysis compared driving behaviors and crashes between novice teens (n=20) and experienced adults (n=17) on a high fidelity simulator for one common crash scenario, a rear-end crash. The authors examined headway time and crashes during a lead truck with sudden braking event in their SDA. They found that 35% of the novice teens crashed and none of the experienced adults crashed in this lead truck braking event; 50% of the teens versus 25% of the adults had a headway time <3 seconds at the time of truck braking. Among the 10 teens with <3 seconds headway time, 70% crashed. Among all participants with a headway time of 2-3 seconds, further investigation revealed descriptive differences in throttle position and brake pedal force when comparing teens who crashed, teens who did not crash and adults (none of whom crashed). Even with a relatively small sample, the authors found statistically significant differences in headway time for adults and teens, providing preliminary construct validation for their new SDA.

• Record URL:
  • http://drivingassessment.uiowa.edu/sites/default/files/DA2013/Papers/067_McDonald_0.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780615819723
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Iowa, Iowa City

  Public Policy Center
  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Iowa City, IA  United States  52242-1192
• Authors:
  • McDonald, Catherine C
  • Seacrist, Thomas S
  • Lee, Yi-Ching
  • Loeb, Helen
  • Kandadai, Venk
  • Winston, Flaura K
• Conference:
  • 7th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design
  • Location: Bolton Landing New York, United States
  • Date: 2013-6-17 to 2013-6-20
• Publication Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 7p
• Monograph Title: Driving Assessment 2013: Proceedings of the 7th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adults; Braking; Driver experience; Driving simulators; Headways; Highway safety; Rear end crashes; Teenage drivers; Trucks
• Uncontrolled Terms: Lead vehicle
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01493913
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780615819723
• Report/Paper Numbers: 67
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 24 2013 9:12AM