Tracy Zafian

Navigating Intersections: Examining Age-related Differences in Visual Scanning on a Driving Simulator

Older experienced drivers are at a greater risk of fatal crash involvement at intersections than middle-aged experienced drivers. The present cross-sectional study asked older and middle-aged drivers to maneuver various types of intersections (left turn at a 4-way intersection, right turn at a T-intersection and straight through an intersection) in a driving simulator and measured their frequency of glances towards latent and materializing hazards. Results replicate and extend the original findings by Romoser and Fisher (2009). First, the older drivers executed a smaller proportion of primary glances and secondary glances towards target zones where a latent or materializing hazard occurs than middle-aged experienced drivers. Second, older drivers who executed fewer glances toward the hazard were more likely to crash while navigating intersections. These findings provide further evidence for age-related differences in visual scanning for information critical to road safety at intersections. From a practical standpoint, practitioners can utilize better remedial measures in lieu of these age-specific shortcomings.

Evaluation of the Effect of a Novice Driver Training Program on Citations and Crashes

Novice driver training programs have been shown to change behaviors known to be linked to increases in crash risks, behaviors such as long glances inside the vehicle and failures to glance towards latent hazards. However, until recently no program had been shown to change the actual frequency of citations and crashes. The one program that has been shown to reduce crashes was delivered once, at the time of licensure, took only 17 minutes in length to complete, and addressed only hazard anticipation. We asked whether a training program that addressed both hazard anticipation and attention maintenance skills, Distractology 101, was roughly twice as long in length, and was delivered once in person and once over the internet would prove at least as effective, not only with drivers who had just received their license, but also drivers who had up to 36 months of experience. The results showed that this training program reduced citations and crashes significantly and similarly across drivers with different driving experience.

On-Road Effectiveness of a Tablet-Based Teen Driver Training Intervention

The largest cause of novice driver crashes is their inexperience, causing both failures to anticipate hazards and to maintain attention to the forward roadway. A number of computer-based training programs have been shown to improve novice drivers’ hazard anticipation and attention maintenance skills. The Engaged Driver Training System (EDTS) is a computer tablet-based program targeted at teaching novice drivers both, to anticipate latent hazards and decrease distracting activities in the presence of such hazards. Previous simulator testing of EDTS has found it to be effective at improving latent hazard anticipation and decreasing distraction. This current study extends that research by conducting an on-road evaluation of EDTS, and by examining the impact of training parents along with their teens. This evaluation found that EDTS-trained teens showed better hazard anticipation on-road than the placebo-trained teens. Teens who participated with their parents in training identified a higher proportion of latent hazards than teens who did not participate with their parents, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Can Secondary Traffic Alerts Improve the Latent Hazard Anticipation Ability of Novice and Experienced Drivers? A Simulator Study

The current simulator study aims to investigate whether warnings of an impending latent hazard, delivered on Google Glass can improve both, young and middle-aged drivers’ latent hazard anticipation ability. Twenty young and 30 middle-aged drivers were pseudo-randomly assigned to either the Google Glass condition or the control condition. All participants completed seven simulated driving scenarios with potential hazards. Participants in the Glass condition received text messages alerting them about the presence of a potential hazard, approximately 400 ft in advance of the hazard. Participants in the control condition received no such alerts. The results showed that warnings on Google Glass significantly improved the proportion of latent hazards anticipated by young drivers. The performance of middle-aged drivers was not affected by the warnings. It is concluded that head mounted displays like Google Glass offer a promising platform for the delivery of traffic warnings to help young driver better detect hazards on the road. However, its application on middle-aged drivers requires further research attention.