Browsing by Author "Simons-Morton, Bruce G."

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    Factors Influencing Learner Permit Duration
    Ehsani, Johnathon P.; Li, Kaigang; Grant, Brydon J. B.; Gershon, Pnina; Klauer, Charlie; Dingus, Thomas A.; Simons-Morton, Bruce G. (MDPI, 2016-12-22)
    An increasing number of countries are requiring an extended learner permit prior to independent driving. The question of when drivers begin the learner permit period, and how long they hold the permit before advancing to independent licensure has received little research attention. Licensure timing is likely to be related to “push” and “pull” factors which may encourage or inhibit the process. To examine this question, we recruited a sample of 90 novice drivers (49 females and 41 males, average age of 15.6 years) soon after they obtained a learner permit and instrumented their vehicles to collect a range of driving data. Participants completed a series of surveys at recruitment related to factors that may influence licensure timing. Two distinct findings emerged from the time-to-event analysis that tested these push and pull factors in relation to licensure timing. The first can be conceptualized as teens’ motivation to drive (push), reflected in a younger age when obtaining a learner permit and extensive pre-permit driving experience. The second finding was teens’ perceptions of their parents’ knowledge of their activities (pull); a proxy for a parents’ attentiveness to their teens’ lives. Teens who reported higher levels of their parents’ knowledge of their activities took longer to advance to independent driving. These findings suggest time-to-licensure may be related to teens’ internal motivation to drive, and the ability of parents to facilitate or impede early licensure.
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    Naturalistic Assessment of the First 10 Hours of Driving: The Supervised Practice
    Ehsani, Johnathon P.; Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Klauer, Charlie; Lee, Suzanne E.; Guo, Feng; Dingus, Thomas A. (2014-08-25)
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    An Overview of Methods and Key Findings from the NTDS: The Naturalistic Teenage Driving Study: Methods and Selected Findings
    Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Klauer, Charlie; Guo, Feng; Lee, Suzanne E.; Ouimet, Marie-Claude; Albert, Paul S.; Dingus, Thomas A. (2014-08-25)
    This paper summarizes the findings on novice teenage driving outcomes (e.g., crashes and risky driving behaviors) from the Naturalistic Teenage Driving Study. Method Survey and driving data from a data acquisition system (global positioning system, accelerometers, cameras) were collected from 42 newly licensed teenage drivers and their parents during the first 18 months of teenage licensure; stress responsivity was also measured in teenagers. Result Overall teenage crash and near-crash (CNC) rates declined over time, but were > 4 times higher among teenagers than adults. Contributing factors to teenage CNC rates included secondary task engagement (e.g., distraction), kinematic risky driving, low stress responsivity, and risky social norms. Conclusions The data support the contention that the high novice teenage CNC risk is due both to inexperience and risky driving behavior, particularly kinematic risky driving and secondary task engagement. Practical Applications Graduated driver licensing policy and other prevention efforts should focus on kinematic risky driving, secondary task engagement, and risky social norms.
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    Personality and Crash Risk
    Ehsani, Johnathon P.; Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Li, Kaigang; Perlus, Jessamyn G.; O'Brien, Fearghal (2014-08-25)
    Personality characteristics are associated with many risk behaviors. However, the relationship between personality traits, risky driving behavior, and crash risk is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between personality, risky driving behavior, and crashes and near-crashes, using naturalistic driving research methods. Method: Participants' driving exposure, kinematic risky driving (KRD), high-risk secondary task engagement, and the frequency of crashes and near-crashes (CNC) were assessed over the first 18 months of licensure using naturalistic driving methods. A personality survey (NEO-Five Factor Inventory) was administered at baseline. The association between personality characteristics, KRD rate, secondary task engagement rate, and CNC rate was estimated using a linear regression model. Mediation analysis was conducted to examine if participants' KRD rate or secondary task engagement rate mediated the relationship between personality and CNC. Data were collected as part of the Naturalistic Teen Driving Study. Results: Conscientiousness was marginally negatively associated with CNC (path c = − 0.034, p = .09) and both potential mediators KRD (path a = − 0.040, p = .09) and secondary task engagement while driving (path a = − 0.053, p = .03). KRD, but not secondary task engagement, was found to mediate (path b = 0.376, p = .02) the relationship between conscientiousness and CNC (path c′ = − 0.025, p = .20). Conclusions: Using objective measures of driving behavior and a widely used personality construct, these findings present a causal pathway through which personality and risky driving are associated with CNC. Specifically, more conscientious teenage drivers engaged in fewer risky driving maneuvers, and suffered fewer CNC. Practical Applications: Part of the variability in crash risk observed among newly licensed teenage drivers can be explained by personality. Parents and driving instructors may take teenage drivers' personality into account when providing guidance, and establishing norms and expectations about driving.
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    The Prevalence and Risk of Secondary Task Engagement with Novice Drivers: Distracted Driving and Risk of Road Crashes among Novice and Experienced Drivers
    Klauer, Charlie; Guo, Feng; Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Ouimet, Marie-Claude; Lee, Suzanne E.; Dingus, Thomas A. (2014-08-25)
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    Teen Driving Risk and Prevention: Naturalistic Driving Research Contributions and Challenges
    Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Ehsani, Johnathon P.; Gershon, Pnina; Klauer, Charlie; Dingus, Thomas A. (MDPI, 2017-12-18)
    Naturalistic driving (ND) methods may be particularly useful for research on young driver crash risk. Novices are not safe drivers initially, but tend to improve rapidly, although the pace of learning is highly variable. However, knowledge is lacking about how best to reduce the learning curve and the variability in the development of safe driving judgment. A great deal has been learned from recent naturalistic driving (ND) studies that have included young drivers, providing objective information on the nature of crash risk and the factors that contribute to safety critical events. This research indicates that most learners obtain at least the amount of practice driving recommended and develop important driving skills. Unfortunately, most learners are not exposed during training to more complex driving situations and the instruction provided by supervising parents is mostly reactive and may not fully prepare teens for independent driving. While supervised practice driving is quite safe, crash rates are high during the first six months or so of independent driving then decline rapidly, but remain high for years relative to experienced drivers. Contributing factors to crash risk include exposure, inexperience, elevated gravitational-force event rates, greater willingness to engage in secondary tasks while driving, and social influence from peer passengers. The findings indicate the need and possible objectives for improving practice driving instruction and developing innovative prevention approaches for the first year of independent driving.
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    Variability in Crash/Near-Crash Risk Among Novice Drivers
    Guo, Feng; Simons-Morton, Bruce G.; Klauer, Charlie; Ouimet, Marie-Claude; Dingus, Thomas A.; Lee, Suzanne E. (2014-08-25)
    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 nearcrash (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. (J Pediatr 2013;163:1670-6).