Driver Testing and Training Technologies

This work for the U.S. DOT/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promotes the safe mobility of older persons. The Model Program’s first priority has been to identify the most useful tools for evaluation of drivers' functional capabilities. When it has been determined that an individual has one or more functional limitations that are likely to produce driving impairments, the Model Program will support remediation of the problem if possible, and the provision of mobility counseling to inform the individual about local alternative transportation options and how to access available services. Also key is a public information and education component to inform senior citizens and their support network of care givers about the link between functional decline and driving safety, and about resources that exist to help preserve or extend their mobility as they grow older.

A Gross Impairments Screening (GRIMPS) battery has been developed as a tool for early detection of driving impairments and is currently being pilot tested in Motor Vehicle Administration sites and in senior centers of the Area Agency on Aging in Howard County, in Maryland. A Safe Mobility for Older People Notebook has been developed to support program initiatives nationwide, and a formal set of guidelines describing the "Model Driver Screening and Evaluation Program" will be produced as an update to the NHTSA (1992) publication of the same title. The principal products to date in this project are:

Staplin, L., Lococo, K., Stewart, J., and Decina, L. (1999). Safe Mobility for Older People Notebook. U.S. DOT/NHTSA Publication No. DOT HS 808 853. Washington, D.C.

Gross Impairments Screening (GRIMPS) Kit and GRIMPS Administration Training Video

Public Information and Education Brochure: How Is Your Driving Health?

This U.S.DOT/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration project examined the feasibility of using simulation and other electronic devices for the safety training of novice drivers. Recommendations for training applications and platforms focused on the training elements for hazard anticipation, visual scanning behavior, foveal/peripheral visual performance, and a broad domain of knowledge elements. Project activities are described in the following Final Report and journal article:

Decina, L.E., Gish, K.W., Staplin, L., and Kirchner, A.H. (1997). Feasibility of New Simulation Technology to Train Novice Drivers. U.S.DOT/NHTSA Publication No. HS 808 548. Washington, D.C.

Decina, L.E. (1997). "Training Novice Drivers Using Simulation and Other Electronic Devices." The Chronicle of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association, 45(1); 9-12.

This project, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, is creating an Internet-based communication tool (i.e., web site) to inform teenagers about driving safety. Using a highly visual and interactive format, three levels of information will be included in the site: identification of safety problems; specific skills necessary to anticipate and respond effectively and safely to hazardous situations; and presentation of performance scenarios. Scientex’s role as a subcontractor to the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design includes communication planning and prototyping; implementation; and user testing, focus group studies, and refinement of the web site.

This project, sponsored by the U.S.DOT/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, documented driving problems and errors at intersections by older drivers using their own cars to travel familiar and unfamiliar routes. It also investigated how well older driver on-road performance could be predicted by prior screening tests given in an office setting. Field observations of intersection negotiation were conducted using 82 subjects, age 61 and older, referred to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. After first completing a functional test battery measuring vision, attention capabilities, and head/neck flexibility, subjects underwent on-road testing administered by DMV examiners. During the on-road tests, a miniature, multiple-camera apparatus in the driver’s own vehicle recorded visual search behaviors, brake and accelerator use, and traffic events in the forward scene. Regression analyses examined the relationships between functional test results and weighted examiners’ error scores. Speed of response on visual discrimination tasks was the best predictor, but no single measure accounted for more than 18% of variance on the criterion. The project activities and findings are included in the following Final Reports:

Staplin, L., Gish, K.W., Decina, L.E., Lococo, K., and McKnight, A.S. (1998). Intersection Negotiation Problems of Older Drivers, Volume I: Final Technical Report. U.S. DOT/NHTSA Publication No. DOT HS 808 850. Washington, D.C.

Staplin, L., Lococo, K., McKnight, A.J., McKnight, A.S., and Odenheimer, G. (1998). Intersection Negotiation Problems of Older Drivers, Volume II: Background Synthesis on Age and Intersection Driving Difficulties. U.S. DOT/NHTSA Publication No. DOT HS 808 850. Washington, D.C.