Being watched over by a conversation robot may enhance safety in simulated driving

IntroductionIn an aging society that is more and more information-oriented, being able to replace human passengers’ protective effects on vehicle drivers with those of social robots is both essential and promising. However, the effects of a social robot’s presence on drivers have not yet been fully explored. Thus, using a driving simulator and a conversation robot, this experimental study had two main goals: (a) to find out whether social robots’ anthropomorphic qualities (i.e., not the practical information the robot provides drivers) have protective effects by promoting attentive driving and alleviating crash risks; and (b) by what psychological processes such effects emerge. Method: Participants were recruited from young (n = 38), the middle-aged (n = 39), and the elderly (n = 49) age groups. They were assigned to either the treatment group (simulated driving in a conversation robot’s presence) or the control group (simulated driving alone), and their driving performance was measured. Mental states (peaceful, concentrating, and reflective) also were assessed in a post-driving questionnaire using our original scales. Results: Although the group of older participants did not experience protective effects (perhaps due to motion sickness), the young participants drove attentively, with the robot enhancing peace of mind. The protective effect was also observed among the middle-aged participants, and the verbal data analysis ascribed this to the robot’s role of expressing sympathy, especially when the middle-aged drivers nearly had not-at-fault crashes, which caused them to be stressed. In conclusion, we discuss the practical implications of the results.     

Graduated driver licensing in the United States: evaluation results from the early programs

BACKGROUND: Seventeen states enacted graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs that were implemented from 1996 through 1999 and for which evaluations are of interest. METHODS: We received evaluation results reported for six states for which data were available. Summarizing results is difficult in other than the most global terms because of differences in pre-GDL programs, differences in GDL programs, and differences in evaluation methodology. RESULTS: All states identified some crash reduction among teen drivers following GDL implementation. This positive effect was observed across different geographic regions, and with different GDL programs. Simple counts are down-fewer teens are experiencing crashes and becoming injured. After calculating crash rates to adjust for changes over time in populations or licensed drivers, reductions generally were still found. Population-adjusted risks of injury/fatal crash involvement of 16-year-old drivers in Florida and Michigan were reduced by 11% and 24%, respectively. Population-adjusted risks of any crash involvement of 16-year-old drivers in Michigan and North Carolina were reduced by 25% and 27%, respectively. Reductions in night (restricted hours) crash risk were impressive in Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina. A comparison state design was only possible in the Florida evaluation, and results showed greater crash reductions under GDL. Change-point analyses of Michigan's crash data trends over time provided additional support of GDL's effectiveness in reducing crashes. DISCUSSION: Taken as a whole, and including the preliminary findings from California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, these reports demonstrate the early effectiveness of GDL in reducing the crash risk of teen drivers. The impact of these studies and others to come will guide future research, practice, and policy.     

Enhancing the effectiveness of graduated driver licensing legislation

PROBLEM: Many states have enacted graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems in an effort to reduce the very high crash rates of young beginning drivers. This article addresses how to achieve the maximum benefit from GDL by ensuring compliance with protective restrictions. ENHANCING GDL THROUGH SYSTEM STRUCTURE: The major crash reductions due to GDL systems result from the protective restrictions during the initial two levels, which isolate novice drivers from the highest risk driving situations. Accordingly, GDL systems should include protective restrictions that adequately control the greatest dangers facing young drivers: multiple teen passengers and night driving before midnight. ENCOURAGING COMPLIANCE THROUGH SYSTEM STRUCTURE: Including protective restrictions that are supported by parents and teens will encourage compliance. Furthermore, linking a teen's advancement through GDL to demonstrated responsible driving will likely encourage compliance more than threatening punishment for violations. ENCOURAGING COMPLIANCE THROUGH ENFORCEMENT: Parents are in a prime position to enforce most GDL restrictions, but there is some evidence they do not enforce those restrictions that they consider too extreme. Little is currently known about the involvement of law enforcement in GDL systems, but there is potential for high visibility law enforcement activities to encourage compliance with restrictions. IMPACT ON RESEARCH, PRACTICE, AND POLICY: There is a need for better designed GDL systems in many states; more research is needed to examine compliance with restrictions and to evaluate enforcement efforts by parents and law enforcement.     

How well do parents manage young driver crash risks?

Motor vehicle crashes are extremely high among young drivers during at least the first year of licensure. Crash risks decline with increased experience, but the more newly licensed teenagers drive, the greater their risk exposure. Hence, the dilemma facing policy makers and parents is how to provide young drivers with driving experience without unduly increasing their crash risk. Graduated driver licensing policies serve to delay licensure and then limit exposure to the highest risk conditions after licensure, allowing young drivers to gain experience only under less risky driving conditions. A similar strategy is needed to guide parents. Parents do not appear to appreciate just how risky driving is for novice drivers and tend to exert less control over their teenage children's driving than might be expected. Recent research has demonstrated that simple motivational strategies can persuade parents to adopt driving agreements and impose greater restrictions on early teen driving.     

Evaluating the impact of passengers on the safety of older drivers

PROBLEM: This study involved a quasi-induced exposure analysis of 4 years of crashes involving older drivers in the state of Kentucky. METHOD: Single- and multivehicle crashes were disaggregated according to the number of passengers: (a) no passenger, (b) one passenger, and (c) two or more passengers. RESULTS: Overall, the presence of two or more passengers was found to negatively impact the probability that drivers 75 years of age or older were at fault in crashes. Several potential factors were studied for interactive effects with passengers: vehicle occupant gender mix, time of the day, road curvature, grade, and number of lanes. The negative impact of passengers increased for some geometric road conditions. However, older drivers were found to be safer at night when carrying two or more passengers. The presence or absence of passengers was not found to affect the 65- to 74-year-old driver group. Groups of male vehicle occupants with a 75+ male driver were found to have high single-vehicle crash rates. IMPACT: These results are among the first to directly consider the effect of passengers on the crash-causing propensity of older drivers and the findings suggest more work is warranted to consider causes for the crash rate differences.     

Using a driving simulator to identify older drivers at inflated risk of motor vehicle crashes

PROBLEM: To develop appropriate assessment criteria to measure the performance of older drivers using an interactive PC-based driving simulator, and to determine which measures were associated with the occurrence of motor-vehicle crash. METHOD: One hundred and twenty-nine older drivers residing in a metropolitan city volunteered to participate in this retrospective cohort study. Using the driving simulator, appropriate driving tasks were devised to test the older drivers, whose performances were assessed by 10 reliable assessment criteria. Logistic regression analysis was then undertaken to determine those criteria that influence the self-reported crash outcome. RESULTS: As expected, driving skill of older drivers was found to decline with age. Over 60% of the sample participants reported having at least one motor-vehicle crash during the past year. Adjusting for age in a logistic regression analysis, the cognitive abilities associated with the crash occurrence were working memory, decision making under pressure of time, and confidence in driving at high speed. SUMMARY: The findings of this retrospective study indicated those individuals at inflated risk of vehicle crashes could be identified using the PC-based interactive driving simulator. Prospective studies need to be undertaken to determine whether the driving simulator can predict future crash events. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This study demonstrated an economical driving simulator approach to screen out problematic or unsafe older drivers before a more detailed but expensive road test is considered.     

Practicing for and performance on drivers license tests in relation to gender differences in crash involvement among novice drivers

PROBLEM: Young male novice drivers are overrepresented in injury motor-vehicle crashes compared to females in the same category. This difference in crash involvement is often assumed to include factors such as overestimation, risk acceptance, and sensation seeking, but it can also be related to acquisition of knowledge, skills, insight, and driving experience. Therefore, this study explored possible gender differences among 18-24-year-olds in Sweden regarding practicing as learners, outcome of the driver's tests, and crash involvement during the first year after licensure. METHOD: Data for 2005 from different sources (e.g., questionnaires, license test, and crash statistics) were examined. It was not possible to follow individual subjects through all stages or in all analyses. Nevertheless, the study design did enable scrutinization and discussion of gender differences between younger inexperienced drivers with respect to education and training, license test results, and initial period of licensure. RESULTS: Males and females assimilated tuition in different ways. Females studied more theory, pursued training in a more structured manner, practiced more elements of driving in several different environments, and participated more extensively in driving school instruction. National statistics showed that females did better on the written test but not on the driving test. Males were involved in 1.9 more injury crashes per 1,000 drivers than females during their first year of licensed driving. The proportional distribution of crash types was the same for both sexes during the first period as novice drivers, but the circumstances surrounding the accidents varied (e.g., males were involved in more night crashes). IMPACT ON TRAFFIC SAFETY: More structured training while learning appears to be one of the reasons why females initially do better than males as novice drivers. Therefore, in the future, driver education should focus not only on matters such as the amount of time spent on training and preconditioning, but also on the importance of the organization and content of the learning process.     

Novice teen driving: GDL and beyond

The Symposium on Novice Teen Driving: GDL and Beyond--Research Foundations for Policy and Practice, held in Tucson, AZ, on February 5-7, 2007, provided a detailed overview of graduated driver licensing (GDL) and other beginning driver issues in the United States. This paper summarizes the information presented at the Symposium and in its background papers. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This information and summary should help all interested persons and organizations, including industry, in their efforts to improve GDL and teen driver programs in the United States, which in turn will further reduce traffic crashes and fatalities involving teenage drivers.     

Extending parental mentoring using an event-triggered video intervention in rural teen drivers

Teen drivers are at high risk for car crashes, especially during their first years of licensure. Providing novice teen drivers and their parents with a means of identifying their risky driving maneuvers may help them learn from their mistakes, thereby reducing their crash propensity. During the initial phase of learning, adult or parental supervision often provides such guidance. However, once teens obtain their license, adult supervision is no longer mandated, and teens are left to themselves to continue the learning process. This study is the first of its type to enhance this continued learning process using an event-triggered video device. By pairing this new technology with parental feedback in the form of a weekly video review and graphical report card, we extend parents' ability to teach their teens even after they begin driving independently. Twenty-six 16- to 17-year-old drivers were recruited from a small U.S. Midwestern rural high school. We equipped their vehicles with an event-triggered video device, designed to capture 20-sec clips of the forward and cabin views whenever the vehicle exceeded lateral or forward threshold accelerations. Preliminary findings suggest that combining this emerging technology with parental weekly review of safety-relevant incidents resulted in a significant decrease in events for the more at-risk teen drivers. Implications for how such an intervention could be implemented within GDL are also discussed.     

Traffic safety in the U.S.: re-examining major opportunities

INTRODUCTION: This article examines five major road-safety risk factors: exceeding posted speed limits, not using safety belts, driving while intoxicated, nighttime driving, and young drivers. METHOD: The importance of each of these factors is documented, known effective countermeasures (both policy and technology based) are discussed, and impediments to the implementation of these countermeasures in the United States are examined. RESULTS: Based on current understanding of the five major risk factors, and of the available countermeasures, there appear to be a variety of opportunities to make substantial gains in road safety using existing knowledge. The limited implementation of a variety of known countermeasures therefore appears to be inconsistent with high-level, strategic goals to improve road safety. Consequently, a recommendation is made to comprehensively re-examine the balance between the countermeasures discussed in this article and economic, mobility, and privacy concerns. IMPACT ON PUBLIC SAFETY: Such a re-examination is likely to result in broad support for these countermeasures, with a consequent major improvement in road safety.