CURRENT RESEARCH IN DRIVER EDUCATION

DRIVER EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND EFFORT CONTINUE TO EXPAND THROUGHOUT THE NATION. FOUR CONTRACTS WERE AWARDED BY THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SAFETY BUREAU IN 1968 TO EVALUATE THE ACCIDENT COUNTER-MEASURE EFFICACY OF DRIVER-EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS AND TO DEVELOP IMPROVED PROGRAMS THAT CONTRIBUTE MORE SUBSTANTIALLY TO ACCIDENT CONTROL OBJECTIVES. THE FOUR CONTRACTORS ALL SUGGESTED SOME KIND OF SURVEY OF DRIVER-EDUCATION COURSES AS AN IMMEDIATE OR SHORT-TERM MEASURE. THEY EACH DEVELOPED COST FIGURES BASED ON EDUCATED GUESSES AND SOME DETAILED BUILDUP DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF PROGRAMS AND THE NUMBER OF DRIVERS TO BE SAMPLED IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH. MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FOUR CONTRACTORS WERE: (1) AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE DESIGN WAS SUGGESTED TO DETERMINE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MULTIPLE VARIABLES INFLUENCING DRIVER PERFORMANCE, (2) THE SUPPORT OF COMPONENT STUDIES SHOULD BE GUIDED BY COST- EFFECTIVENESS DECISIONS BASED ON SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTION AMONG COMPONENTS AFFECTING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SYSTEM GOALS (3) IT WAS SUGGESTED USING AS AN IMMEDIATE CRITERION THE EVALUATIVE CRITERIA DEVELOPED BY THE NATIONAL STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL EVALUATION, AND (4) A SHORT-TERM EVALUATION EFFORT WAS SUGGESTED BASED ON THE CATALOGING OF EXISTING DRIVER-EDUCATION PROGRAMS. RESULTS OF THESE PRO- JECTS WERE TRANSLATED INTO A UNIFIED SHORT-AND-LONG TERM PLAN BY THE HIGHWAY RESEARCH BOARD OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. THE SHORT-TERM EVALUATION PLAN INCLUDES: (1) DRIVING TESTS ANALYSIS, (2) OBJECTIVIES OF DRIVER EDUCATION, (3) A VALUATION OF PROGRAM CONTENT, AND (4) SPECIFICATIONS FOR LONG-TERM EVALUATION. THE LONG-TERM EVALUATION PLANS INCLUDE: (1) MEASURES OF DRIVER PERFORMANCE, (2) MEASURES OF PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS, (3) MEASURES OF HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SYSTEM OBJECTIVES, AND (4) RESEARCH STUDIES USING PROXIMATE AND ULTIMATE CRITERIA. A SET OF OBJECTIVES ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR DRIVER-EDUCATION COURSES BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES RESEARCH ORGANIZATION. STANDARDS ARE ALSO BEING DEVELOPED FOR DRIVER-TRAINING SIMULATORS AND DRIVING RANGES BY THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr107/107-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • PP 34-40, 2 FIG, 9 REFDistribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Research Board (HRB)

  Washington, DC   
• Authors:
  • Tarrants, W E
• Conference:
  • Second Western Summer Meeting
  • Location: Salt Lake City Utah, United States
  • Date: 1969-8-11 to 1969-8-13
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Monograph Title: Highway safety
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 107
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis of variance; Benefit cost analysis; Driver performance; Driver training; Drivers; Driving simulators; Highway safety; Personnel performance; Prevention; Safety; Systems analysis
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220865
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 21 1970 12:00AM