Can We Change the Way Teen Drivers Interact with Other Road Users?
(07/02/2009)
Telling a teenage driver to be careful as you hand him or her a set of car keys hasn't proved to be the most effective strategy to promote safe driving. But what else can we do?
The Vehicle-Based Teen Driver Incentive Program to Promote Safe and Courteous Driving Interactions is one option to discover another way. For this study, the Rockville Institute will try to shift the manner in which teens deal with other road users—from a driving style that may be self-absorbed or aggressive to one that is actively cooperative and courteous. Teens will use video recording technology to document their courteous acts and will receive incentives—tangible rewards—for these acts.
"The approach is innovative and takes advantage of available vehicle-based technologies that are now cost effective and readily implemented," explained Neil Lerner, Ph.D., the study's lead researcher. "The teen driver is actively involved in the process of monitoring and controlling safe and courteous interactions with other road users. Through positive incentives, teen participants are encouraged to engage in and document cooperative driving acts on a regular basis."
The study will begin in August and last a year. Researchers plan to monitor nearly three dozen teens in cars outfitted with sophisticated systems that allow the drivers to monitor, via video and audio, their own positive driving interactions with other drivers. These events will be transmitted to a central location where the program administrator will verify the actions taken by the drivers.
Part of the process of the study is to develop different kinds of incentives that teens will find appealing and motivate them to engage in cooperative driving behaviors. Discounts, coupons, and cash are just some of the incentives that are being considered. Further research and focus group analysis will specify what incentives will be used for the study.
"The desired outcome is an increase in courteous acts and a decrease in aggressive acts, and associated decreases in driving measures associated with more aggressive driving styles, such as hard deceleration," explained Dr. Lerner. "These driving improvements are intended to be fundamental and provide benefit even after the incentive program is removed."
The project will evaluate this innovative approach and document its efficacy in both safety-benefit and programmatic terms. "At project completion, we should have a good understanding of how well the approach works and the practical considerations for implementing such programs," continued Dr. Lerner. "The final report will provide explicit guidance for designing and implementing the system. It will also indicate where further experimentation or evaluation might be useful."