Passing the state driver's licensing test does not always mean new drivers have the critical skills they need to drive safely, but researchers said they developed a simulator-based assessment that can evaluate performance, licensure readiness and identify specific skills new drivers lack.
"We're providing the science behind the answer to why teens – and some adults – don't drive well,” Flaura K. Winston, principal investigator for the research, said in a statement.
The assessment offers the opportunity for the first time to safely assess novice teen drivers' skills in high-risk driving scenarios that commonly lead to crashes, The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania said when they announced the news last month.
(image courtesy of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)
“Now we are able to 'diagnose driving' in order to ensure that we are training and putting skilled drivers on the road,” said Dr. Winston, who is the Center’s scientific director.
Previous studies of newly licensed teenage drivers indicate that they exit the learner period with significant skill deficits, leading to a much higher risk of crashing compared with more experienced drivers. For all new drivers, regardless of age, crash risk is highest immediately following licensure, and driver errors due to inexperience and lack of skill cause the majority of these crashes. For teens in this country, motor vehicle crashes remain the number one cause of death.
"When we put new drivers on the road without ensuring that they have the necessary skills to drive safely, why are we surprised when they crash? We shouldn't be," Dr. Winston said.
The results of the research were published in the journal Injury Prevention earlier this year. During the 35-minute the Simulated Driving Assessment, which incorporates 22 variations of the most common ways teen drivers crash, nearly 43 percent of newly licensed teens (within three months of licensure) had a simulated crash at least once, according to the study. That percentage was 29 percent for licensed, experienced adult drivers; for every additional error committed during the assessment, the risk for crashing or running off the road increased by 8 percent. The study also noted that although the novice teen drivers were adept at basic driving skills (i.e., using turn signals), the more advanced skills (i.e., braking in hazardous situations, anticipating and responding to hazards) proved challenging.
Dr. Winston noted that more than half of the novice teen drivers in the study did not have a simulated crash, indicating that they had the needed skills to drive safely. "We want to ensure that all teens have that ability," she said.
Catherine McDonald, lead author of the study and a teen driver safety researcher at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and the Center, said in a statement: " If we can identify driving skill deficits in a safe, simulated environment, then we can tell families and driving instructors what to focus on during supervised practice drives or how to help those with citations or crashes who are already licensed."
Click here for more information about the assessment, and here about the Center and its research initiatives.
