Novice Teen Research Articles

Analysis of spatial variations in the effectiveness of graduated driver’s licensing (GDL) program in the state of Michigan

Injury resulting from motor vehicle crashes is the leading cause of death among teenagers in the US. Few programs or policies have been found to be effective in reducing the risk of fatal car crashes for young novice drivers. One effective policy that has been widely implemented is Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL). Published articles have mostly reported on the temporal effectiveness of GDL in the US. This article reports on the development of spatial statistical modeling approaches to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of GDL policy across eighty-three counties in the state of Michigan. Data were gathered from several publicly available databases, including the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), US Census Bureau, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and US Department of Agriculture.To account for spatial dependence among crash counts from adjacent counties we invoke spatial random effects, which we provide with a Conditionally AutoRegressive (CAR) prior. Our analysis confirms previous findings that GDL in Michigan is an effective policy that significantly reduces the risk of fatal car crashes among novice teenage drivers. In addition, it indicates that rurality is an important contextual variable associated with spatial differences in GDL effectiveness across the state of Michigan. Finally, our findings provide information that can be used to strengthen GDL policy and its implementation to further enhance teenage-driver safety.

Variability in Crash and Near-Crash Risk among Novice Teenage Drivers: A Naturalistic Study

Using video monitoring technologies, we investigated teenage driving risk variation during the first 18 months of independent driving. Driving data were collected on 42 teenagers whose vehicles were instrumented with sophisticated video and data recording devices. Surveys on demographic and personality characteristics were administered at baseline. Drivers were classified into 3 risk groups using a K-mean clustering method based on crash and near-crash (CNC) rate. The change in CNC rates over time was evaluated by mixed-effect Poisson models. Compared with the first 3 months after licensure (first quarter), the CNC rate for participants during the third, fourth, and fifth quarters decreased significantly to 59%, 62%, and 48%, respectively. Three distinct risk groups were identified with CNC rates of 21.8 (high-risk), 8.3 (moderate-risk), and 2.1 (low-risk) per 10 000 km traveled. High- and low-risk drivers showed no significant change in CNC rates throughout the 18-month study period. CNC rates for moderate-risk drivers decreased substantially from 8.8 per 10 000 km in the first quarter to 0.8 and 3.2 in the fourth and fifth quarters, respectively. The 3 groups were not distinguishable with respect to personality characteristics. Teenage CNC rates varied substantially, with distinct high-, moderate-, and low-risk groups. Risk declined over time only in the moderate-risk group. The high-risk drivers appeared to be insensitive to experience, with CNC rates consistently high throughout the 18-month study period, and the moderate-risk group appeared to learn from experience.

Studying Smartphone Usage: Lessons from a Four-Month Field Study

Many emerging mobile applications and services are based on smartphones. We have performed a four-month field study of the adoption and usage of smartphone-based services by 14 novice teenage users. From the field study, we present the application usage and usage characteristics of our participants. We show that their usage is highly mobile, location-dependent, and serves multiple social purposes. Furthermore, we report qualitative lessons regarding the evaluation of smartphone-based services. In particular, we highlight the cases that an accurate evaluation would require a long-term and/or field study instead of a short or lab-based study, and the cases where studying a particular application independently is insufficient and a holistic study, i.e., involving the whole device, is necessary. We further present guidelines on effectively shortening the length of a study. These lessons are supported in part by five identified contributing factors to usage evolution.

Teen driving in rural North Dakota: A qualitative look at parental perceptions

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens in the United States. Graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs allow new drivers to gain driving experience while protecting them from high-risk situations. North Dakota was one of the last states to implement GDL, and the current program does not meet all of the best practice recommendations. This study used qualitative techniques to explore parents’ perceptions of the role teen driving plays in the daily lives of rural North Dakota families, their understanding of the risks faced by their novice teen drivers, and their support for GDL. A total of 28 interviews with parents of teens aged 13–16 years were conducted in four separate rural areas of the state. During the face-to-face interviews, parents described their teens’ daily lives as busy, filled with school, sports, and other activities that often required traveling considerable distances. Participation in school-sponsored sports and other school-related activities was highly valued. There was nearly unanimous support for licensing teens at age 14½, as was permitted by law at the time of the interviews. Parents expressed that they were comfortable supervising their teen's practice driving, and few reported using resources to assist them in this role. Although few parents expressed concerns over nighttime driving, most parents supported a nighttime driving restriction with exemptions for school, work or sports-related activities. Despite many parents expressing concern over distracted driving, there was less consistent support among parents for passenger restrictions, especially if there would be no exemptions for family members or school activities. These findings can assist in planning policies and programs to reduce crashes among novice, teen drivers, while taking into account the unique perspectives and lifestyles of families living in rural North Dakota.

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. We 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. We examined headway time and crashes during a lead truck with sudden braking event in our SDA. We 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, we found statistically significant differences in headway time for adults and teens, providing preliminary construct validation for our new SDA.

Trajectories of kinematic risky driving among novice teenagers

ObjectivesElevated gravitational force event rates are associated with the likelihood of a crash or near crash and provide an objective measure of risky driving. The purpose of this research is to examine the patterns over time of kinematic measures of risky driving among novice teenage drivers. MethodsDriving data were collected from 42 newly licensed teenage drivers during the first 18 months of licensure. Data recording systems installed in participants’ vehicles provided information on driving performance and driver characteristics. Latent class and logistic regression models were used to analyze trajectories of elevated gravitational-force (g-force) event rates, called kinematic risky driving, with respect to risk groups and associated factors. ResultsKinematic risky driving over the 18-month study period was best characterized as two classes, a higher-risk and a lower-risk class. The rate of kinematic risky driving during the first 6 months generally maintained over 18 months. Indeed, of those classified by latent class analysis as higher risk, 88.9%, 94.4% and 94.4% had average event rates above the median in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 6-month periods, respectively, indicating substantial tracking over time. Friends’ risky driving, friends’ risky behavior, self-reported risky driving, and perceptions about risky driving and driving privileges were associated with trip-level rates of kinematic risky driving. However, none of these factors was associated with trip-level rates after stratifying by overall risk in a latent class model, although friend's risky driving was marginally significant. ConclusionKinematic risky driving tended to track over time within the lower and higher risky driving groups. Self-reported risky driving and having risky friends were predictors of kinematic risky driving rates, but these variables did not explain the heterogeneity within higher and lower classes of risky drivers.

Preliminary results on crashes in a validation study for a new simulated assessment of driving performance for novice teen drivers

BackgroundDriving simulators offer a safer alternative to on-road driving for driving performance evaluation. However, few protocols for novice teen drivers have been validated for ability to differentiate safe from unsafe...

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ON-ROAD DRIVING ASSESSMENT FOR NOVICE TEEN DRIVERS

BackgroundA standardised measure of driving performance is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of driver training programmes for novice teen drivers.Aims/Objectives/PurposeDevelop and assess the reliability of an on-road driving assessment for...

Driver responses to motorcycle and lead vehicle braking events: The effects of motorcycling experience and novice versus experienced drivers

In many countries, motorcyclists are over-represented in traffic collision fatalities and injuries compared to vehicle registrations. Why drivers may violate the right-of-way of motorcyclists traveling as lead vehicles in front of drivers is empirically examined in two studies that were conducted with a moderate-fidelity driving simulator. The purpose of the first study was to determine if drivers, who also held a motorcycle license (N = 16), drove cars differently than regular drivers (N = 16) around motorcycles. The two groups did not differ on responses to motorcycling braking events, which was consistent with previous research on car following. The second study compared the driving performance of sixteen novice teenage drivers (M = 16.2 years of age) to 15 experienced drivers (M = 32.9) over the span of six monthly simulator sessions. Novice drivers’ perception response times (PRT) to the braking events were significantly longer than those of the experienced drivers. PRTs to motorcycle and lead vehicle braking events decreased over sessions. For all participants, PRTs to the motorcycle events were longer than to the car events. The implications of these results for motorcyclists and drivers with different levels of experience are discussed.

The Effect of Passengers and Risk-Taking Friends on Risky Driving and Crashes/Near Crashes Among Novice Teenagers

The high crash rates of novice teenage drivers are thought to be caused by inexperience and risky driving behavior, exacerbated by passengers, driving at night, and other complex driving conditions. This study examined factors associated with crash/near crash and risky driving rates among novice teenagers, including driving at night versus day, passenger presence and characteristics, and driver psychosocial factors. The vehicles of 42 newly licensed teenage drivers were equipped with recording systems that collected data on driving performance and occupant characteristics during their first 18 months of licensure. Survey data were collected at four measurement times. Poisson regression models with random effects were used to analyze crash/near crash and elevated gravitational force event rates (i.e., risky driving); incident rate ratios measured associations with covariates. Crash/near crash rates among novice teenagers were 75% lower in the presence of adult passengers and 96% higher among those teenagers with risky friends. Teenage risky driving was 67% lower with adult passengers, 18% lower with teenage passengers; 20% lower during early night than day; and 109% higher among teens with relatively more risky friends. The low rate of risky driving in the presence of adult passengers suggests that teens can drive in a less risky manner. The higher rate of risky driving among those with risky friends suggests that risky driving may be socially influenced.

Novice Drivers’ Exposure to Known Risk Factors During the First 18 Months of Licensure: The Effect of Vehicle Ownership

Objective: Though there is ample research indicating that nighttime, teen passengers, and speeding increase the risk of crash involvement, there is little research about teen drivers’ exposure to these known risk factors. Three research questions were assessed in this article: (1) Does exposure to known risk factors change over time? (2) Do teenage drivers experience higher rates of exposure to known risk factors than adult drivers? (3) Do teenage drivers who own a vehicle experience higher rates of exposure to risk factors than those who share a family vehicle? Methods: Forty-one newly licensed teenage drivers and at least one parent (adult) were recruited at licensure. Driving data were recorded for 18 months. Results: Average vehicle miles traveled (VMT) or average nighttime VMT for teens did not increase over time. Teenagers consistently drove 24 percent of VMT at night, compared with 18 percent for adults. Teenagers drove 62 percent of VMT with no passengers, 29 percent of VMT with one passenger, and less than 10 percent of VMT with multiple passengers. Driving with no passengers increased with driving experience for these teens. Teenage drivers who owned their vehicles, relative to those who shared a vehicle, sped 4 times more frequently overall and more frequently at night and with multiple teen passengers. Conclusion: These findings are among the first objective data documenting the nature of teenage driving exposure to known risk factors. The findings provide evidence that vehicle access is related to risk and suggest the potential safety benefit of parental management of novice teenage driving exposure.

Naturalistic assessment of novice teenage crash experience

Background Crash risk is highest during the first months after licensure. Current knowledge about teenagers’ driving exposure and the factors increasing their crash risk is based on self-reported data and crash database analyses. While these research tools are useful, new developments in naturalistic technologies have allowed researchers to examine newly-licensed teenagers’ exposure and crash risk factors in greater detail. The Naturalistic Teenage Driving Study (NTDS) described in this paper is the first study to follow a group of newly-licensed teenagers continuously for 18 months after licensure. The goals of this paper are to compare the crash and near-crash experience of drivers in the NTDS to national trends, to describe the methods and lessons learned in the NTDS, and to provide initial data on driving exposure for these drivers. Methods A data acquisition system was installed in the vehicles of 42 newly-licensed teenage drivers 16 years of age during their first 18 months of independent driving. It consisted of cameras, sensors (accelerometers, GPS, yaw, front radar, lane position, and various sensors obtained via the vehicle network), and a computer with removable hard drive. Data on the driving of participating parents was also collected when they drove the instrumented vehicle. Findings The primary findings after 18 months included the following: (1) crash and near-crash rates among teenage participants were significantly higher during the first six months of the study than the final 12 months, mirroring the national trends; (2) crash and near-crash rates were significantly higher for teenage than adult (parent) participants, also reflecting national trends; (3) teenaged driving exposure averaged between 507 and 710 km (315–441 miles) per month over the study period, but varied substantially between participants with standard errors representing 8–14 percent of the mean; and (4) crash and near-crash types were very similar for male and female teenage drivers. Discussion The findings are the first comparing crash and near-crash rates among novice teenage drivers with those of adults using the same vehicle over the same period of time. The finding of highly elevated crash rates of novice teenagers during the first six months of licensure are consistent with and confirm the archival crash data showing high crash risk for novice teenagers. The NTDS convenience sample of teenage drivers was similar to the US teenage driver population in terms of exposure and crash experience. The dataset is expected be a valuable resource for future in-depth analyses of crash risk, exposure to risky driving conditions, and comparisons of teenage and adult driving performance in various driving situations.

Do Responses Differ between Novice and Experienced Drivers when a Late Yellow Light Is Encountered?

To understand why novice teenage drivers are overrepresented in fatal and injury crashes, a longitudinal simulator study examined the development of driver competence and hazard perception during the first six months post graduated licensure. The performance of 16 novice teenage drivers ( M = 16.2 years of age) was compared to a group of 15 experienced adult drivers ( M = 32.9) when a variety of maneuvers and hazards were encountered. Participants attended monthly simulator sessions over a period of six months. The results of the late yellow light event are presented. Drivers were either followed or not followed by another vehicle as they traveled through a number of intersections during the course of two experimental drives per session. The percentage of novice and experienced drivers who ran the late yellow light did not differ nor did approach speeds to the intersection, although several trends across sessions were consistent with increased novice driver risk taking or over-confidence. The presence of a following vehicle did not affect the decision to run the yellow light, but fewer novice drivers actively sampled the rearview mirror. Interestingly, novice drivers were significantly more likely to be caught in the intersection once the light turned red.

Might expectations explain early self-reported symptoms of nicotine dependence?

We examined youths' expectations about nicotine dependence to determine if these might explain the early appearance of symptoms. A convenience sample of 9th graders ( n = 460) completed a survey that asked them to imagine they were a novice teen smoker and an inveterate adult smoker and indicate whether they would expect to experience real and bogus symptoms of nicotine dependence. Responses were compared to actual symptom reports from 1375 adolescent novice smokers and 1102 adult smokers. The pattern of symptoms experienced by teen smokers did not match the pattern of symptoms expected by nonsmokers, but matched that of adult smokers almost exactly. The pattern of symptoms expected by novice teen smokers did not match the pattern of symptoms they reported experiencing. We found no evidence that youths' reports of symptoms of nicotine dependence are based on expectations. While youth do share expectations about nicotine dependence, it is not the expectation that they will become dependent; it is the expectation that if they smoke they will be able to quit whenever they want.

Response to Intersection Conflict Situations Across Driver Age and Experience

Automobile crashes are a leading cause of death for teens, and intersections are common sites for crashes. Understanding how novice teen drivers respond differently than experienced adult drivers in common potential crash situations may further efforts to reduce the risk associated with teen drivers. A study involving novice teen drivers duplicated a portion of the protocol from a study involving adult drivers in order to compare novice teen performance to that of older and more experienced age groups. Two intersection events are examined: oncoming left turn and unexpected cross traffic from the right. Four categories of variables are used: anticipation of the event, response to the event, reaction time, and safety implications. Anticipation: novice drivers are the least likely to anticipate potential threats, whereas older drivers are the most likely anticipate such dangers. Response: overall, older participants were much more likely to steer to avoid and middle-aged drivers were the least likely to only apply the brakes. Reaction time: novice drivers had the fastest transition time to braking, and, interestingly, their reactions differed significantly from those of young drivers. Safety implications: novice drivers had the shortest values for minimum TTC, and older drivers had the largest values. Conclusions: older drivers had the largest safety margins, and despite novice teen drivers' faster reaction times, their safety margins are quite similar to middle-aged adult drivers.

Detection of Road Hazards by Novice Teen and Experienced Adult Drivers

Previous laboratory and simulator research has indicated that hazard detection skills and abilities are less developed among novice drivers compared with experienced adult drivers. Novices tend to miss some relevant cues and may be less able to process important elements in the environment while driving. As was found with other research methods, it was hypothesized that novices would have lower hazard detection skills and will react less appropriately to hazards than older and more experienced drivers.Three hazard perception scenarios were simulated on a test track and data were collected on newly licensed teen drivers (within 2 weeks of licensure) and a comparison group of adults. The scenarios included a hidden stop sign, hidden pedestrian, and hidden pedestrian with lane closure (this last included a text-messaging task). Discrete quantitative performance metrics were evaluated for this analysis, including: 1) Did the participant glance at the potential hazard (e.g., stop sign, pedestrian)? 2) Did the participant stop (for the stop sign scenario)? 3) Did the participant show signs of indecision, caution, or awareness (for all hazards)?Significant differences between teen drivers and more experienced adult drivers were found in a combined hazard detection analysis. Results indicate that the adult drivers observed hazards and demonstrated overt recognition of hazards more frequently than the teen drivers. Results indicated that a large portion of teen drivers failed to disengage from peripheral task engagement in the presence of hazards. The results will later be compared to naturalistic data for the same set of drivers to see whether these test track results are predictive of real-world behavior.

Crashes of novice teenage drivers: Characteristics and contributing factors

Objective: The initial months of licensure are especially hazardous for teenagers. Factors leading to crashes of novice 16-year-old drivers were identified. Method: Sixteen year-olds in Connecticut who were involved in nonfatal crashes during the first 8 months of licensure were interviewed, and police crash reports were examined. Crash types and contributing factors were identified. Results: Three-fourths of the crash-involved teenagers were at fault. Their crashes resulted primarily when they ran off the road, rear ended another vehicle, or collided with another vehicle that had the right-of-way. Three factors contributed about equally to their crashes: failing to detect another vehicle or traffic control, speeding, and losing control of the vehicle or sliding. Slippery roads also were an important factor. Most failures to detect another vehicle or traffic control involved not looking thoroughly, distraction, or inattention. Discussion: Based on the findings, potential countermeasures for reducing crashes of novice teenage drivers include adequate practice driving, in-vehicle monitoring devices, and electronic stability control. Impact on industry: More than half of the nonfatal, at-fault crashes of newly licensed 16-year-old drivers involved more than one contributing factor including speed, loss of control, and slippery roads. Efforts to reduce teenage crashes should focus on these factors.

Eye Movement Patterns for Novice Teen Drivers

Attention to the road is essential to safe driving, but the development of appropriate eye glance scanning behaviors may require substantial driving experience. Novice teen drivers may focus almost exclusively on the road ahead rather than scanning the mirrors, and when performing secondary tasks, they may spend more time with eyes on the task than on the road. This paper examines the extent to which the scanning of novice teens improves with experience. For this study, 18 novice teen (younger than 17.5 years old) and 18 experienced adult drivers performed a set of in-vehicle tasks and a baseline driving segment on a test track, the teens within 4 weeks of licensure and then again 6 months later. This paper addresses the following questions: Did teen eye glance performance improve from initial assessment? Did teens and adults still differ after 6 months? Results for some tasks showed that rearview and left mirror-window (LM-W) glances improved for teens from initial testing to the 6-month follow-up and that some differences between teens and adults at initial testing were no longer significant at the 6-month follow-up, suggesting significant learning effects. The frequency of rearview and LM-W glances during secondary tasks improved among teens at the 6-month follow-up, but teens still had significantly fewer glances to mirrors than did adults when engaged in a secondary task.

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.