Distracting behaviors among teenagers and young, middle-aged, and older adult drivers when driving without and with warnings from an integrated vehicle safety system.

INTRODUCTION

Negative reinforcement from crash warnings may reduce the likelihood that drivers engage in distracted driving. Alternatively, drivers may compensate for the perceived safety benefit of crash warnings by engaging in distractions more frequently, especially at higher speeds. The purpose of this study was to examine whether warning feedback from an integrated vehicle-based safety system affected the likelihood that various secondary behaviors were present among drivers ages 16-17, 20-30, 40-50, and 60-70.

METHOD

Participants drove an instrumented sedan with various collision warning systems for an extended period. Ten 5-second video clips were randomly sampled from driving periods at speeds above 25mph and below 5mph each week for each driver and coded for the presence of 11 secondary behaviors.

RESULTS

At least one secondary behavior was present in 46% of video clips; conversing with a passenger (17%), personal grooming (9%), and cellphone conversation (6%) were the most common. The likelihood that at least one secondary behavior was present was not significantly different during periods when drivers received warnings relative to periods without warnings. At least one secondary behavior was 21% more likely to be present at speeds below 5mph relative to speeds above 25mph; however, the effect of vehicle speed was not significantly affected by warning presence. Separate models for each of the five most common secondary behaviors also indicated that warnings had no significant effect on the likelihood that each behavior was present.

CONCLUSIONS

Collision warnings were not associated with significant increases or decreases in the overall likelihood that teen and adult drivers engaged in secondary behaviors or the likelihood of the behaviors at speeds above 25mph or below 5mph.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

There was no evidence that forward collision warning and other technologies like those in this study will increase or decrease distracted driving.