How Risky is It An assessment of the relative risk of engaging in potentially unsafe driving behavio

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How Risky is It? An assessment of the relative
risk of engaging in potentially unsafe driving
behaviors
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AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

• Established in 1947
• 501 (c)(3) Not-For-Profit
• Research affiliate of AAA/CAA
• North American Focus

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Mission

• Identify traffic safety problems
• Foster research that seeks solutions
• Disseminate information and educational materials

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Funded through the generosity of

and its members
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Published December 2006 Prepared by Virginia
Tech Transportation Institute Available onlin
e at
www.aaafoundation.org
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Purpose of Study

• Perform additional analysis of data collected
  under previous 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study
  to investigate impacts of various behaviors on
  crash risk
• Behaviors studied
• speeding
• drowsy driving
• aggressive driving
• distracted driving

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The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study

• 3 Million study sponsored by National Highway
  Traffic Safety Administration, Virginia DOT, and
  Virginia Tech
  
• Conducted by Virginia Tech Transportation
  Institute
  
• Collected unprecedented level of driving data
  pre-crash and normal driving behavior

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100-Car Study Naturalistic Approach

• Used in-vehicle camera and custom-built advanced
  black box to monitor drivers
  
• 100 equipped vehicles
• 12-13 months of data collection, no
  experimenter present
  
• Subjects not coached, instructed to drive as
  usual
  
• Instrumentation was unobtrusive and inconspicuous
  to other drivers, but not invisible
  
• NHTSA-sponsored work indicates subjects driving
  was uninfluenced by in-vehicle monitoring after
  the first few hours (out of 12-13 months)
  

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100-Car Study Equipment
Driver Face Camera
Forward Road Camera
Black Box
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100-Car Study Camera Views
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100-Car Study Camera Views
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100-Car Study Participants

• 109 primary drivers
• Ages 18-68
• 60 male, 40 female
• Recruited in Washington DC Northern VA
• Range from very safe to very unsafe
• Wide range of driving mileage
• Drove on all road classes
• Mostly urban suburban driving, some rural
• Drove sedans and SUVs
• Also 132 secondary drivers

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100-Car Study Database Statistics

• Captured data on
• 42,300 hours and 2 million miles of driving
• 82 Crashes and collisions
• Defined as any contact between the subject
  vehicle and another vehicle, object, pedestrian,
  cyclist, or animal
  
• 761 Near crashes
• Defined as a conflict situation requiring a
  rapid, severe evasive maneuver to avoid a crash
  
• 8,295 Incidents
• Conflict requiring an evasive maneuver, but of
  less magnitude than a near crash
  
• 20,000 normal baseline driving epochs
• To compare driver behavior during normal driving
  to behavior leading up to crashes, near crashes,
  and incidents

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This Study

• Investigated the frequency with which drivers
  engage in various potentially risky behaviors
  during ordinary driving and immediately prior to
  crashes, near-crashes, and incidents
• Analyzed the impacts of various behaviors on the
  risk of being involved in a crash or near-crash

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Results Frequency of Behaviors
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Results Risk of Crash or Near Crash
Note Odds of crash or near-crash with behavior
present vs. absent computed using logistic
regression to control for other behaviors odds
ratio 1 indicates increased risk
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Conclusions

• The odds of being involved in a crash are nearly
  tripled when driving while drowsy or driving
  faster than surrounding traffic.
  
• The odds of being involved in a crash are
  approximately doubled when driving aggressively
  or when looking away from the road for longer
  than 2 seconds.

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For more information on the 100-Car Study, please
go to http//www.vtti.vt.edu and click on 100-
Car Study Or go to http//www-nrd.nhtsa.dot
.gov/departments/nrd-13/newDriverDistraction.html
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• For more information about this study sponsored
  by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,
  
• please go to
• www.aaafoundation.org

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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a
501(c)(3) public charity located in Washington,
DC that is dedicated to saving lives and reducing
injuries. It is supported by donations from AA
A/CAA Clubs, AAA/CAA members, and other
organizations associated with AAA/CAA.