Examining the Effect of Driving Experience on Teenage Driving Ability with Secondary Tasks

This research examined the relationship between experience and driving performance with secondary tasks. Data were collected from 42 teenage drivers and their parents using an instrumented vehicle for two one hour test track sessions spaced 12 months apart. For part of the sessions, participants followed a lead vehicle which allowed for range data to be collected. Teenage and experienced drivers' driving were compared for cell phone and odometer tasks. Variables such as Speed, Range to Forward Vehicle, and Driving-Related Eyeglance percentages were all analyzed utilizing ANOVA. Post-hoc analysis on continuous data was performed using a Tukey HSD test. Lane Deviations were examined using Chi-Square analyses. Experienced drivers drove faster overall than teenage drivers. Teenage drivers drove faster in the 12 month session than the first session. No significant effects were found for Speed Variance, Range Variance, or Lane Deviations. Experienced drivers had a higher percentage of driving-related glances than teenage drivers. For the odometer task, teenage drivers were found to follow further behind a lead vehicle than adults. Driving experience was believed to have an effect on driver eyeglance patterns due to increased development of attentional control resulting in better switching between the task and the driving environment. Experienced drivers likely drove faster due to increased confidence in their driving ability. This research supports current GDL cell phone restrictions. A drivers' education lesson plan framework was developed to address these differences. Future research should focus on further refining GDL legislation to address the cognitive differences between teenage and experienced drivers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Howard, Edwin Henry III

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Lee, Suzanne E.
• Winchester, Woodrow W. III

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kleiner, Brian M.

• teenage driver
• distracted driving
• secondary task
• driving experience

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-02112010-103206

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31208