National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence Reports (NSTSCE, VTTI)
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Browsing National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence Reports (NSTSCE, VTTI) by Author "Baker, Stephanie Ann"
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- Case Study on the Impact of Treating Sleep Apnea in Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers: Sleep Apnea Programs from Two Leading U.S. Carriers and Focus Group FindingsMabry, J. Erin; Baker, Stephanie Ann; Hickman, Jeffrey S.; Hanowski, Richard J. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2012-09-28)Approximately one in four commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in the U.S. are estimated to possess mild or higher levels of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common sleep-breathing disorder that is associated with significant medical consequences (including cardiovascular disease and diabetes). A major symptom of sleep apnea is excessive daytime sleepiness, which is highly correlated to impaired driving performance and may result in an increased risk of being in traffic--or work-related incidents. The most prescribed and cost-effective first-line treatment for OSA is nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Two leading U.S. carriers partnered with commercial sleep apnea providers to implement obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) programs that screen, diagnose, treat, and manage their OSA-positive CMV drivers. This case study provides an overview of these OSA programs; outlines each carrier's screening, testing, and compliance protocols; and compares and contrasts their approaches. Focus group research was also conducted with drivers and staff involved in each program to assess their perceptions and opinions of their respective OSA programs. While the majority of drivers expressed overall satisfaction participating in their carrier's OSA program, both drivers and staff stressed the difficulty of healthy eating, exercise, and weight loss as adjunct OSA treatments. Finally, staff expressed the importance of coordination between the carrier and the OSA provider to provide driver support.
- Consumer Driving Automation System Education: A Learning and Retention AssessmentTrimble, Tammy E.; Baker, Stephanie Ann; Russell, Sheldon M.; Tidwell, Scott (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2020-07-08)For the potential safety benefits of driving automation systems to be fully realized, drivers must understand the capabilities and limitations of these systems. This study explored a range of materials that drivers may access when trying to learn about driving automation system safety features: owner’s manual only, owner’s manual and OEM website video or animation, and owner’s manual and MyCarDoesWhat.org videos. Three vehicles, a 2015 Infiniti Q50, a 2016 Honda CR-V, and a 2015 Chevy Tahoe, were selected to represent a range of vehicle types, sizes, technologies, and price points. Each training condition was tested with each vehicle for a total of nine possible testing scenarios. Thirty-six participants were recruited for the study, with an equal number of males and females from two age groups, 25–39 and 40–54 years old. Participants were balanced across the nine possible testing scenarios. A two-part study was conducted to assess participants’ ability to learn from existing training materials and to determine how well participants were able to retain what they learned. When taking into consideration participants’ self-reported learning styles, average scores across all technologies were fairly comparable across style, and participants were able gain at least a rudimentary understanding of the operation and purposes of driving automation system technologies. However, participants were less sure of the specifics associated with the technologies (i.e., activation, alerts or warnings, and appropriate use). Those in the multimedia testing conditions reported feeling more familiar with the technologies than those in the owner’s manual only condition. Participants found the videos to be an entertaining and easier-to-understand alternative to the manual. Several indicated that they would refer to the video first to see how the technology worked and then refer to the manual to gain a more in-depth understanding. Videos with sound and additional details were preferred to the simpler animations.
- Development of Curriculum for the Virginia Driver's Licensing CeremonyDuke, Rebekah; Klauer, Charlie; Baker, Stephanie Ann (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2017-12-06)In Virginia, to receive the actual driver’s license (as opposed to the temporary driving permit), both a parent and the teenage driver must appear before a family district court judge and participate in the Virginia Driver’s Licensing Ceremony. This is an opportune moment when safety information is disseminated to parents and their novice drivers. These ceremonies are written and created primarily by district court judges. While some judges have taken a great deal of time and compiled excellent information, others are unsure about the information that should be relayed. The purpose of this project was to develop a PowerPoint presentation and handout based on contemporary teen driving research and to disseminate the materials to district court judges throughout the state of Virginia for use in their licensing ceremonies. The PowerPoint presentation included the slides but also was accompanied with a script for the judges to use during the presentation. The slides and script provide parents and teens with key safety information, including the driving risks teens face, the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws in Virginia, and how to use a parent-teen driving contract as a mechanism for risk reduction and parental management.
- Driver Coach Study: Using Real-time and Post Hoc Feedback to Improve Teen Driving HabitsKlauer, Charlie; Ankem, Gayatri; Guo, Feng; Baynes, Peter; Fang, Youjia; Atkins, Whitney; Baker, Stephanie Ann; Duke, Rebekah; Hankey, Jonathan M.; Dingus, Thomas A. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2017-12-08)Novice teenage drivers have the highest rates of fatalities and injuries on U.S. roadways compared to any other age group. This experimental research was conducted to see if presenting novice teenage drivers and their parents with feedback on teen driving performance could decrease rates of crash/near-crash (CNC) involvement. Ninety-two newly licensed teens had their vehicles instrumented with a data acquisition system (the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s MiniDAS) and received driving feedback in the form of a light and a tone when a potentially risky behavior was detected. Behaviors, such as swerving, speeding, lane changing without a turn signal, hard braking, hard turning, and fast starts, were used to determine when feedback was administered. Feedback continued for six months and then was turned off for one month (in the seventh month) to determine if risky behaviors returned after feedback stopped. These data were compared to a separate study (the Supervised Practice Driving Study [SPDS]) of 90 teenage drivers in the same geographic location who did not receive feedback. Parental involvement was examined by tracking which teen/parent groups checked the website and which did not. Results suggest that real-time and post hoc feedback produce a relative reduction in the rate of CNC involvement, but only when the parent is logging in to the website. If parents do not log in to the website to review the coachable events, real-time and post hoc feedback do not improve CNC rates. The analyses also indicated that once feedback was turned off in Month 7, teen CNC rates returned to baseline levels, which suggests that 6 months of feedback is not enough time to instill safe driving habits in novice drivers. This result also suggests that parental involvement in driver education must continue through the independent driving phase to improve teen CNC rates. In general, these results support previous research on monitoring and feedback, which suggest that parental involvement is critical in improving teen driving safety. These results also support current Graduated Driver’s Licensing (GDL) policies and provide research-based evidence that these policies should be strengthened.
- Evaluation of Light-Vehicle Driver Education Programs Targeting Sharing the Road with Heavy Vehicles: A Case Study AnalysisBaker, Stephanie Ann; Schaudt, William A.; Joslin, Spencer; Tidwell, Scott; Bowman, Darrell Scott (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2014-10-16)The purpose of this case study project sponsored by the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence (NSTSCE) was twofold. First, researchers investigated current light-vehicle driver education programs that contain components on sharing the road with heavy vehicles and developed a supplemental practices document on key sharing-the-road information that teachers could cover with students. Second, a case study was performed with a light-vehicle driver education program in a single state that only included a basic textbook-based component on sharing the road with heavy vehicles. Two components were introduced into different driver education classrooms and evaluated in comparison with the basic textbook-based component. The first component introduced was updated material in the form of a DVD developed by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance titled Teens and Trucks. The second component introduced was a hands-on truck experience program developed by NSTSCE researchers. Each classroom of students that received one of the components was invited to take part in a survey two months later and knowledge retention of key learning points (e.g., heavy vehicle No-Zones) was measured. Focus groups were also conducted with students to explore learning preferences related to driver education, understanding of key sharing-the-road information, and ratings of the various components. The mean percentage of correct responses for all survey questions was calculated and compared across the three conditions and did not show a statistically significant difference in knowledge retention of any one condition over another. Further analyses were performed to evaluate each survey question individually across conditions. Results found only one statistically significant difference: the textbook and truck condition outperformed the textbook condition regarding the proper front No-Zone distance. Although only one survey question analyzed for knowledge retention resulted in a statistically significant difference, students and teachers found the supplemental DVD and truck hands-on demonstration to be helpful, in particular the truck experience. The conclusion would seem to be that if a truck and driver are available teachers should try to include a truck hands-on experience when teaching sharing the road with trucks. Students are likely to find it helpful and preferable to just reading about sharing the road in their textbook.
- Koper Curve Principle for Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Traffic EnforcementBaker, Stephanie Ann; Trimble, Tammy E. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2023-08-15)The Koper curve principle postulates that crime deterrence can be improved with an optimal dosage of police presence at hot spot locations. With the goal of better understanding how to reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, a literature review was conducted to explore whether the Koper Curve principle has ever been applied to efforts aimed at reducing CMV crashes, and if so, how it was applied. In conducting the literature review, several related domains (deterrence, evidence-based policing, and high-visibility enforcement) were also considered as they apply to the use of the Koper Curve for CMV crash reduction. The literature related to the Koper Curve focused primarily on crime deterrence (e.g., robbery), not crash reduction. The literature review revealed one ongoing study that is using the Koper Curve principle toward the goal of reducing CMV crashes on specific interstate corridors (Kentucky Research Center, 2023). Two examples, from Nashville, Tennessee, and São Paulo, Brazil, showed the Koper Curve being applied to crash reduction more generally (not specific to CMVs), which may inform how the Koper Curve could be used to reduce CMV crashes. The literature provided a few best practices that may be helpful to practitioners seeking to reduce crashes in high-risk corridors: (1) use data to target behaviors leading to crashes; (2) use data to identify hot spots where crashes are occurring; (3) provide instruction to officers on how to conduct high-visibility enforcement; and (4) evaluate the enforcement effort.
- Parent Perceptions of Real-Time and Non-Video Feedback from the Driver Coach StudyBaker, Stephanie Ann; Klauer, Charlie; Baynes, Peter; Dingus, Thomas A. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2020-04-24)Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. Research indicates that an effective way to improve teen safety is through the use of in-vehicle monitoring devices that provide feedback to teens and parents. Monitoring devices provide teens with real-time feedback on their driving behavior and parents with post hoc feedback that allows them to monitor their teen and coach them as they learn to drive. The aims of this analysis were to understand if the parents of teens who participated in the Driver Coach Study utilized the non-video feedback tools on the website and to summarize their opinions about the real-time and non-video feedback provided. Key takeaways were that (a) training would help parents and teens make the most of the tools available to them, (b) real-time feedback was seen as beneficial at improving teens’ driving, (c) monitoring systems should notify parents when post hoc feedback is available, and (d) non-video monitoring tools such as graphs and coaching notes should be informative and provide a comments section for user feedback.
- A survey of light-vehicle driver education programs to determine the prevalence of curriculum on sharing the road with heavy vehicles: final reportBaker, Stephanie Ann; Schaudt, William A.; Freed, J. C.; Toole, Laura (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2011-12-01)Light-vehicle driver education programs that contain content about heavy-vehicle operation may be helpful in reducing light-vehicle/heavy-vehicle interactions. However, it is unclear as to the extent of current state curricula requirements, content, and perceived effectiveness (for both public and private programs) regarding heavy-vehicle operation and associated light-vehicle driving recommended procedures. This project involved the development of an online survey targeted at instructors and/or administrators of individual state driver education programs to identify current curricula addressing heavy vehicles (or lack thereof) and perceived effectiveness. Also, an attempt was made to locate driver education curricula and/or manuals from every state to better understand if instructors in every state have access to information on how light vehicles can safely share the road with heavy vehicles. -- Report website.
- Tips for Sharing the Road with Commercial Motor Vehicles: A Web-Based ApproachDunn, Naomi J.; Baker, Stephanie Ann; Blanco, Myra (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2016-01-11)This report documents the Tips for Sharing the Road with Commercial Motor Vehicles website (http://www.cmvroadsharing.org). The website was created by the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence to educate teen drivers about how to share the road with heavy vehicles. The website incorporates video clips of real-world driving events captured during a naturalistic driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). The video clips provide examples of both proper and improper driving behavior. The rationale for providing examples of both types of behavior was that effective education of drivers, especially those who are young and inexperienced, needs to show not only “what not to do,” but should also illustrate the alternative “correct” road sharing behavior. The naturalistic driving video clips shown on the website are all from the truck driver’s perspective to highlight the difficulties these drivers face on the road every day due to other drivers’ improper road sharing behavior.