Browsing by Author "Stulce, Kelly E."

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    Assessing the Impact of Disability on Drivers’ Equitable Use of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): A Literature Review
    Stulce, Kelly E.; Antin, Jonathan F. (NSTSCE, 2024-08-22)
    The growing prevalence of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in the U.S. passenger fleet promises increased mobility and enhanced safety outcomes for all drivers, but particularly for disabled drivers, a group that comprises 11.9% of the driving population (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). For ADAS to realize their full potential, stakeholders need to consider the difficulties associated with ADAS use by disabled drivers as well as the potential benefits. To support this reckoning, the authors reviewed the extant literature to discover emerging themes and to identify gaps in the literature. We then synthesized these results into a proposed road map for future work that addresses the challenges of using ADAS to enhance mobility and improve safety for all drivers, including those who are disabled. Our review of the literature reveals gaps that point the way forward for further work that will support the optimal implementation of ADAS to compensate for disability-induced driving performance deficits. Specifically, our gap analysis and research road map suggest that this work should begin with using subjective methodologies (e.g., focus groups, interviews, and surveys) to learn from the disabled driver community in a manner that centers these individuals. Such research should yield results that more authentically capture the experience (or lack thereof) of disabled individuals driving with and making use of ADAS. Additionally, longitudinal research is necessary to support extended observation of real-world ADAS use by disabled drivers across driving environments and their disability-related functional states, which are often transient
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    Examining Senior Drivers Adaptation to Mixed Level Automated Vehicles: A Naturalistic Study
    Liang, Dan; Antin, Jonathan F.; Lau, Nathan; Stulce, Kelly E.; Baker, Stephanie Ann; Wotring, Brian (SAFE-D: Safety Through Disruption National University Transportation Center, 2019-08)
    Advances in the development of advanced vehicle technologies (AVTs), such as blind spot alerts, lane keep assist,lane alert, and adaptive cruise control, can benefit senior drivers by reducing exposure to hazards andcompensating for diminished cognitive abilities sometimes seen in this population. However, the degree to whichsuch benefits can be realized in this vulnerable population depends largely on the degree to which senior driverswill accept, adopt, and adapt to these features. This study investigated how 18 seniors, aged 70–79, accepted,trusted, and used mixed-function AVTs when provided an AVT-equipped vehicle to drive as they desired for a 6-week period. Researchers assessed attitudes and the effect of exposure via before-and-after exposure surveys, briefweekly check-in surveys during the driving exposure period, and focus group sessions conducted after theconclusion of the driving exposure period. Analyses revealed that seniors prefer technologies that inform, such asblind spot alert, over those that assert independent control over the vehicle, such as lane keep assist. Increasedconfidence in and willingness to use AVTs correlated positively with exposure, with adequate time for orientationand appropriate user documentation emerging as key factors determining senior drivers’ acceptance.
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    Examining Seniors’ Adaptation to Mixed Function Automated Vehicles: Analysis of Naturalistic Driving Data
    Liang, Dan; Antin, Jonathan F.; Lau, Nathan; Stulce, Kelly E. (SAFE-D: Safety Through Disruption National University Transportation Center, 2021-02)
    The study examined whether advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can benefit the mobility and driving performance of senior drivers. Two groups of driving data, collected separately from two naturalistic driving projects, were examined. The Second Strategic Highway Research Program and the Examining Seniors’ Adaptation to Mixed Function Automated Vehicles project databases were used to compare measurements of mobility and driving performance. Mobility analyses did not yield significant differences between seniors who drove conventional vehicles and those who drove ADAS-equipped vehicles. As to driving performance, three analyses were conducted to address different research interests. Results indicated that ADAS-equipped vehicles influence seniors’ driving performance both in positive as well as negative ways. Seniors generally displayed better speed management performance while driving the ADAS-equipped vehicles. Using adaptive cruise control (ACC) may help seniors reduce the frequency and level of higher g-force accelerations. However, poorer lateral control performance was observed during trips where ACC was used. The study is the first to investigate the influence of ADAS on the mobility and driving performance of seniors in real-world traffic and road environments.
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    Naturalistic Driving Study: Technical Coordination and Quality Control (SHRP 2 Report S2-S06-RW-1)
    Dingus, Thomas A.; Hankey, Jonathan M.; Antin, Jonathan F.; Lee, Suzanne E.; Eichelberger, Lisa; Stulce, Kelly E.; McGraw, Doug; Perez, Miguel A.; Stowe, Loren (Transportation Research Board, 2015)
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    VTTI L2 Naturalistic Driving Study: A Self-funded Effort to Capture L2 Feature Use Landscape
    Hankey, Jonathan M.; Bedwell, Kaitlyn; Wiersma, Ethel; Stulce, Kelly E.; Perez, Miguel A. (2024-06-20)
    The introduction of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) into the vehicle fleet continues to accelerate. In the past few years, that introduction has started to permeate the non-luxury vehicle segment, greatly increasing the availability of these technologies to a wide segment of the driving population. The implementation and capabilities of these systems, however, can vary widely across vehicle makes and models, which makes it imperative to have recent data that supports the study of driver adaptations in response to ADAS. While this data can take several forms, naturalistic driving data has proven to provide a flexible means of assessing real-world driver and system performance across a variety of domains and is well suited to understanding ADAS usage. The main objective of the VTTI L2 NDS data collection effort was to create a robust naturalistic driving dataset containing critical information about vehicles with ADAS. As ADAS continue to rapidly evolve and become more readily available in the vehicle fleet, it is essential to understand how these systems are being used and, in some instances misused, by drivers. This knowledge will facilitate the understanding of the safety, performance, and convenience benefits that these systems may offer drivers, along with unintended consequences from the use of these systems. The VTTI L2 NDS is available to help address a wide array of research questions that pertain to the usage of ADAS, along with traditional queries suited to NDS data, in a relatively modern fleet.