Assessing driving risks for teen drivers: Cognitive impairments and adverse weather
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Padmanabhan, Adhithya
- Graduate Program:
- Industrial Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 28, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Yiqi Zhang, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Ling Rothrock, Committee Member
Steven Landry, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Driver performance
Teenage drivers
Weather
Cognitive impairments - Abstract:
- According to statistics from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2017), motor vehicle crashes have been identified as the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers. Teen drivers are more likely to engage in driving distraction, make judgment errors, and perform risky driving behaviors (Simons-Morton et al., 2013). Recent studies of drivers diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) indicated that teen drivers with ADHD had three to four times more accidents compared to drivers without ADHD. Teens with ADHD tend to engage in more driving errors. Inclement weather and low visibility can affect driver perception of their surroundings, and consequently driver performance. Common forms of bad weather that can affect driving include rainfall, snow, and fog. A significant number of vehicle crashes have occurred in unfavorable weather, making this a topic that should be looked at. Situational awareness in particular can be expected to be severely affected in such conditions but has not been studied very well. This project aims to assess the driving risks of teen drivers by systematically quantifying the risk factors, including driver distraction, risky driving behavior, ADHD, and adverse weather conditions. Datasets containing de-identified data with variables that include driver factors, event and trip summary factors, environmental and road conditions have been used. The study finds that driving experience, Barkley score and sensation seeking tendencies impact the safety and performance of the driver, where an increase in driving experience and lower values of Barkley scores and sensation seeking lead to a decrease in crash rate. Logistic regression also suggests that drivers’ behavior, weather and the surface conditions of the road increase the chances of crashes.