Naturalistic assessment of novice teenage crash experience

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention 2011-07, Vol.43 (4), p.1472-1479
• Main Authors: Lee, Suzanne E., Simons-Morton, Bruce G., Klauer, Sheila E., Ouimet, Marie Claude, Dingus, Thomas A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Automobile Driving - education; Automobile Driving - statistics & numerical data; Crashes; Exposure; Female; Humans; Male; Naturalistic driving; Novice; Sex Distribution; Teenaged drivers; Time Factors; Virginia
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2011.02.026

► Studied 42 teens driving instrumented vehicles for first 18 months of licensure. ► Parent data was also obtained to serve as adult comparison group. ► Teen crash/near-crash rates higher during first 6 months than final 12 months. ► Teen crash/near-crash rates higher than adult (parent) participants. ► Crash/near-crash types were similar for male and female teen drivers. 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. 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. 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. 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 sa