Using Naturalistic Driving Data to Assess the Prevalence of Environmental Factors and Driver Behaviors in Teen Driver Crashes March 2015

The Situation 963,000 drivers aged 16-19 involved in crashes in 2013 Resulted in 383,000 injuries and 2,865 deaths Driver behavior and actions immediately prior to the crash are difficult to ascertain after the fact Some key factors may be systematically under-reported in the national statistics Previous naturalistic studies have observed only a small number of moderate-to-severe crashes Very few teens *Due to the nature of police reported data

Dr. Dan McGehee University of Iowa AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Largest naturalistic study of teen crashes in history Released in March 2015

Overview Researchers from the University of Iowa examined data from teen driver crashes captured on the Lytx Drive Cam in-vehicle video camera system Drivers 16-19 who were participating in a program using a DriveCam Mostly from the Midwest Crashes occurred between August 2007 and July 2013 Results are based on examination of 1,691 eligible crashes Video was examined for 6 seconds preceding the crash Major crash types examined: Single vehicle loss of control (LOC) Single vehicle road departure Rear-end Angle (front-to-side)

Major Factor: Inattention/Distraction Driver distracted in 58% of crashes NHTSA data: 14% Major distractions Passengers Cell Phone Unknown person/object outside of vehicle

#1 Distraction: Passengers Passengers in vehicle in ~40% of crashes overall 85% teens, some younger, very few adults (<5%) Driver conversing/interacting/attending to passengers in 15% of crashes

#2 Distraction: Cell Phones Present in 12% of crashes overall NHTSA data: 1.1% Varied by crash type 34% of run-off-road crashes involved phone 18% of rear-end crashes involved phone - Drivers using phone had eyes off the road for 4.1 seconds

Cell Phone & Reaction Time (Rear-end crashes only) Drivers using phone took more than full second longer to react than drivers not using phone (3.4 sec vs. 2.3 sec) > 50% of drivers using phone showed no reaction whatsoever (no brakes, no steering) before crashing into vehicle in front of them!

Other Key Findings Decision errors (failing to yield right of way, running stop signs, and driving too fast) were involved in 66% of crashes Driver was driving too fast for conditions in 79% of single-vehicle crashes Following too closely in 36% of rear-end crashes Failed to yield to another vehicle in 43% of angle crashes

Implications Distraction due to cell phone use appears to be much more prevalent than is reflected in official government statistics derived from police reports NHTSA statistics indicate that 14% of all crashes involve driver distraction, with 7% of those (1% of all crashes) involving distraction related to cell phone use Driver education and training should teach young drivers to avoid taking excessively long glances away from the forward roadway