Texas A&M Transportation Institute» distracted driving

Voice-To-Text Apps Offer No Driving Safety Benefit; As With Manual Texting, Reaction Times Double

Chris Sasser — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:47:43 +0000

Texting drivers may believe they’re being more careful when they use the voice-to-text method, but new research findings suggest that those applications offer no real safety advantage over manual texting.

The study was sponsored by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center and conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). SWUTC is a part of the University Transportation Centers Program, which is a federally-funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

The study is the first of its kind, as it is based on the performance of 43 research participants driving an actual vehicle on a closed course. Other research efforts have evaluated manual versus voice-activated tasks using devices installed in a vehicle, but the TTI analysis is the first to compare voice-to-text and manual texting on a handheld device in an actual driving environment.

Drivers first navigated the course without any use of cell phones. Each driver then traveled the course three more times performing a series of texting exercises – once using each of two voice-to-text applications (Siri® for the iPhone and Vlingo® for Android), and once texting manually. Researchers then measured the time it took each driver to complete the tasks, and also noted how long it took for the drivers to respond to a light which came on at random intervals during the exercises.

Major findings from the study included:

Driver response times were significantly delayed no matter which texting method was used. In each case, drivers took about twice as long to react as they did when they weren’t texting. With slower reaction times, drivers are less able to take action in response to sudden roadway hazards, such as a swerving vehicle or a pedestrian in the street.
The amount of time that drivers spent looking at the roadway ahead was significantly less when they were texting, no matter which texting method was used.
For most tasks, manual texting required slightly less time than the voice-to-text method, but driver performance was roughly the same with both.
Drivers felt less safe when they were texting, but felt safer when using a voice-to-text application than when texting manually, even though driving performance suffered equally with both methods.

Christine Yager, a TTI Associate Transportation Researcher who managed the study, says the findings offer new insight, but only a part of the knowledge that’s needed to improve roadway safety. “Understanding the distracted driving issue is an evolving process, and this study is but one step in that process,” she says. “We believe it’s a useful step, and we’re eager to see what other studies may find.”

The study’s results are being published during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Numerous agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are sponsoring public awareness campaigns to highlight the dangers of driving distractions, particularly those associated with cell phone use.

Another TTI study now underway is examining the motivations and attitudes of distracted drivers. Results from the focus groups and a 3,000-driver survey are expected in late summer, and will include a look at which demographic groups are most affected by the distracted driving issue.

Additional Resources:

As Distracted Driving Becomes an Increasing Threat on Texas Roadways, TxDOT Ramps Up Public Education

Chris Sasser — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:11:26 +0000

Talk. Text. Crash. campaign launches statewide

It happens every day. You get a text or a phone call and you feel the need to respond immediately, even when you’re driving. But what you may not know is a simple text or call can cost you your life or someone else’s.

“Distracted driving is unacceptable, and it’s something that is preventable,” said John Barton, TxDOT’s deputy executive director. “If you reply to or send a text while driving, you are putting your life or someone else’s life at risk.”

It’s a fact – distracted drivers are making Texas roads more dangerous. According to crash data collected by the Texas Department of Transportation, to date, there were 90,378 crashes in Texas in 2012 that involved distracted driving (distraction, driver inattention or cellphone use). That’s an 8-percent increase from 2011. Of these crashes, 18,468 resulted in serious injuries and 453 resulted in deaths. From 2011 to 2012, there was a 9-percent increase in traffic fatalities caused by distracted driving on Texas roadways.

According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, almost half of all Texas drivers in 2012 admit to regularly or sometimes talking on the cell phone while driving. However, 84.9 percent of Texas drivers think driving while talking on a cell phone is a very serious or somewhat serious threat to their personal safety.

In another just-completed study, TTI researchers found that 10 percent of Texas drivers are using their cell phone at any point in time during the day. The finding represents the first time that actual cell phone use by Texas drivers has been measured (rather than self-reported use), and was based on observations of drivers at 190 intersections in 22 counties across the state.

Talk. Text. Crash. Campaign Launch

On April 8, TxDOT launched its Talk. Text. Crash. campaign to coincide with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Throughout this month, TxDOT will reach out to Texans through community events, TV public service announcements, and online and outdoor advertising. TxDOT is also partnering with AT&T on this year’s distracted driving effort.

“In today’s tech-connected age, people are relying on text messages and smartphones to stay in touch, but texting while driving is something that carries profound, very real risks. In the United States, someone is killed or injured once every five minutes on average in a crash that happens while a driver is texting and driving. It’s time we worked together to change behaviors, attitudes, hearts and minds,” said Dave Nichols, President, AT&T Texas. “We can each commit not to text and drive. We can lead by example. That’s why we’re pleased to join the Texas Department of Transportation in its Text.Talk.Crash. effort and why we continue to raise awareness through our AT&T’s own It Can Wait campaign.”

As part of the campaign, TxDOT is asking Texans to do their part by making a simple commitment to focus on driving when they get behind the wheel.

Barton notes, “Use of cell phones while driving isn’t the only action that can lead to serious injury or death. Other actions, such as reading the newspaper, eating or smoking while driving, are also distractions. Keeping drivers safe is our priority.”

Although all the age groups are represented in the total number of traffic crashes caused by distracted driving, of the 90,378 traffic crashes in 2012 in Texas, the top two age groups are:

28,443 ages 16-24.
23,784 over the age of 45.

This year’s campaign PSAs will demonstrate to Texans how hard it is to complete any simple task – like walking when distracted. The goal is to show that if people cannot text and walk without having an accident, they surely should not text and drive. Texans can watch campaign videos on YouTube.

Learn more about the Talk. Text. Crash. campaign by liking the TxDOT Facebook page.

USAA, TTI Begin Extensive Distracted Driving Study

Chris Sasser — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:50:14 +0000

TTI is responsible for one of the nation’s most extensive texting-while-driving studies – one that demonstrated how texting behind the wheel doubles a driver’s reaction time.

The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) has contracted with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to conduct an extensive study on the use of cell phones by Texas drivers, and distracted driving in general. The effort is the first involving TTI and USAA, one of the nation’s most respected insurance companies offering insurance protection and financial services to the U.S. military and their families for more than 90 years.

A survey of roughly 3,000 people will be conducted in driver’s license stations operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety in several regions around the state. The sample size will allow researchers to examine which demographic groups are most affected by the distracted driving issue and what their attitudes and self-reported behaviors are, according to TTI Senior Research Scientist Katie Womack, who will lead the study.

“Focus groups will also be conducted to explain in greater detail the thought processes and behavior motivations underlying texting, cell phone use, and other distractions while driving,” Womack says. “The two approaches combined will lead to recommendations for consideration of the most appropriate intervention and/or education strategies.”

USAA visited TTI in 2012 for a discussion that focused on USAA’s interests in current and emerging roadway safety issues, along with a review of TTI’s capabilities and current research activities. TTI is responsible for one of the nation’s most extensive texting-while-driving studies – one that demonstrated how texting behind the wheel doubles a driver’s reaction time.

USAA, a longtime advocate for safe driving, hosted Distracted Driving Summits last year in Texas and Florida, in conjunction with each state’s Department of Transportation, Shriners Hospitals and the Distraction Advocate Network. The objective was to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and compel people to personally change their driving behaviors; you can watch highlights on YouTube (keyword: Florida Distracted Driving Summit, presented by USAA).

“USAA is clearly focused on some of the most pressing roadway safety problems that our society now faces, and TTI is focused on pursuing solutions to those problems,” says TTI Director Dennis Christiansen. “We’re confident that together we’re going to make a very strong and effective team.”

“We are committed to promoting vehicle and driver safety for the protection of our military members and their families,” says USAA Executive Director Joel Camarano. “USAA is excited to form this relationship with TTI, a leader in roadway safety research for over 60 years.”

TTI Researcher Presents at Human Factors Annual Meeting

Chris Sasser — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:08:49 +0000

Christine Yager

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Associate Transportation Researcher Christine Yager gave a presentation, “The Effects of Reading and Writing Text-Based Messages While Driving,” at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The meeting was held in Boston, MA, October 22–26 and was attended by more than 1,450 participants from the United States and around the world.

According to Yager, the meeting provided an opportunity for colleagues to share information and research on various human factors topics such as distracted driving, which is a major issue among drivers of all ages. TTI Senior Research Scientist Melissa Walden also attended the meeting.

Yager presented the results of a project that assessed the distraction potential of reading and writing text-based messages while driving under varying roadway and texting response demands.

“I presented the results from our study that looked at the effect of text-based driving,” says Yager. “As part of the presentation I showed three videos that were shot in different experimental conditions: a control, a text-writing, and a text-reading condition.”

Yager says the biggest surprise of the research results was that the response times were even slower than expected compared to previous driving simulator research.

“With the driving simulator, response times were 1–2 seconds, whereas our test track test bed showed an increased response time of 3–4 seconds,” says Yager.

Other notable sessions, according to Yager, were a session about agent-based modeling and how safe-driving information is disseminated among social networks, and a driving simulator research session, which explored the possibility of linking two simulators together to create a virtual driving environment with multiple drivers.

“The area of the conference where Christine presented was specifically related to surface transportation and distracted driving provided a central theme in regards to traffic safety,” says Walden. “It was part of a bigger concern about how advancements in technology can help the driver, but must not adversely affect the driver’s vigilance related to primary driving tasks.”

Additional Resources

Christine Yager Presentation (PDF)

2012 Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society website

Texas Transportation Researcher article “It’s Confirmed: Driving’s a Full-Time Job — How Texting Impairs Driving Performance“

New Study Says Texting Doubles a Driver’s Reaction Time

Chris Sasser — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:19:59 +0000

Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute have determined that a driver’s reaction time is doubled when distracted by reading or sending a text message. The study reveals how the texting impairment is even greater than many experts believed, and demonstrates how texting drivers are less able to react to sudden roadway hazards.

The study — the first published work in the U.S. to examine texting while driving in an actual driving environment — consisted of three major steps. First, participants typed a story of their choice (usually a simple fairy tale) and also read and answered questions related to another story, both on their smart phone in a laboratory setting. Each participant then navigated a test-track course involving both an open section and a section lined by construction barrels. Drivers first drove the course without texting, then repeated both lab tasks separately while driving through the course again. Throughout the test-track exercise, each participant’s reaction time to a periodic flashing light was recorded.

Reaction times with no texting activity were typically between one and two seconds. Reaction times while texting, however, were at least three to four seconds. Worse yet, drivers were more than 11 times more likely to miss the flashing light altogether when they were texting. The researchers say that the study findings extend to other driving distractions that involve reading or writing, such as checking e-mail or Facebook.

The study, sponsored by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, was managed by Christine Yager, an associate transportation researcher in TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety. Forty-two drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 participated in the research.

In addition to the reaction-time element, researchers also measured each driver’s ability to maintain proper lane position and a constant speed. Major findings further documented the impairment of texting when compared to the controlled driving conditions. Drivers were less able to:

safely maintain their position in the driving lane when they were texting and their swerving was worse in the open sections of the course than in barreled sections.
maintain a constant speed while texting, tending to slow down in an effort to reduce the demand of the multiple tasks. By slowing down, a driver gains more time to correct for driving errors (such as the tendency to swerve while texting). Speed variance was also greater for texting drivers than for non-texting drivers.

The fact that the study was conducted in an actual driving environment is important, the researchers say. While simulators are useful, the dynamics of an actual vehicle are different, and some driver cues can’t be replicated in a simulator. By using a closed course, researchers can create an environment similar to real-world driving conditions while providing a high degree of safety for the participants.

“Most research on texting and driving has been limited to driving simulators. This study involved participants driving an actual vehicle, “Yager says. “So one of the more important things we know now that we didn’t know before is that response times are even slower than we previously thought.”

The total distance covered by each driver in the study was slightly less than 11 miles. In the interest of safety for both participants and the research staff, researchers minimized the complexity of the driving task, using a straight-line course that contained no hills, traffic or potential conflicts other than the construction zone barrels. Consequently, the driving demands that participants encountered were considerably lower than those they would encounter under real-world conditions.

“It is frightening,” the researchers wrote, “to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with routine driving.”

Federal statistics suggest that distracted driving contributes to as much as 20 percent of all fatal crashes, and that cell phones constitute the primary source of driver distraction. Researchers point to two numbers to illustrate the magnitude of the texting while driving problem: an estimated 5 billion text messages are sent each day in the United States, and at least 20 percent of all drivers have admitted to texting while driving.

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It’s Confirmed: Driving’s a Full-Time Job — How Texting Impairs Driving Performance

Tobey — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:55:21 +0000

Researchers and safety advocates have known for years that driving performance worsens when the driver is texting. Now we know just how much worse.

TTI research proves that keeping your eyes on the road really does make a difference. Texting while driving was found to double the reaction time of drivers, while myths, such as “texting while driving saves time,” were challenged by the study’s findings.

Federal statistics suggest that distracted driving contributes to as much as 20 percent of all fatal crashes, and that cell phones constitute the primary source of driver distraction. Researchers point to two numbers to illustrate the magnitude of the texting-while-driving problem: an estimated 5 billion text messages are sent each day in the United States, and at least 20 percent of all drivers have admitted to texting while driving.

The study consisted of three major steps. First, participants typed a story of their choice (usually a simple fairy tale) and also read and answered questions related to another story, both on their smart phone in a laboratory setting.

Each participant then navigated a test-track course involving both an open section and a section lined with construction barrels. Drivers first drove the course without texting and then repeated both lab tasks separately while driving through the course again. Throughout the test-track exercise, each participant’s reaction time to a periodic flashing light was recorded.

Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) Assistant Research Scientist Joel Cooper directed the study along with TTI colleagues Christine Yager, associate transportation researcher, and Sue Chrysler, manager of TTI’s Human Factors Program. The research involved 42 participants between the ages of 16 and 54 and was funded by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center.

safely maintain their position in the driving lane when they were texting, and their swerving was worse in the open sections of the course than in the barreled sections.
maintain a constant speed while texting, tending to slow down in an effort to reduce the demand of the multiple tasks. By slowing down, a driver gains more time to correct for driving errors (such as the tendency to swerve while texting). Speed variance was also greater for texting drivers than for non-texting drivers.

This work will produce one of the first and only studies in the nation conducted in an actual driving environment. That distinction is important, researchers say, because while simulators are useful, the dynamics of an actual vehicle are different, and some driver cues can’t be replicated in a simulator. By using a closed course, researchers can create an environment similar to real-world driving conditions while providing a high degree of safety for the participants.

“Most research on texting and driving has been limited to driving simulators. This study involved participants driving an actual vehicle,” Yager says. “So one of the more important things we know now that we didn’t know before is that response times are even slower than we previously thought.”

The researchers also examined the productivity level of each driver, measuring the amount of texting activity they could perform while driving. Drivers were generally able to complete about half the exercise content behind the wheel compared to what they could do in the lab setting.

“There’s a general assumption by some people who believe they’re being more productive if they’re exchanging messages while they drive because they’re performing two tasks at once,” Cooper says. “But our findings suggest that the productivity level for each of those tasks drops to less than half what it should be. That indicates to us that texting while driving is not only unsafe, it’s also inefficient.”

The researchers say that another finding from the study dispels a common misconception that composing a text message is a more demanding task than reading one. In post-study interviews, a majority of study participants held that belief, but study results found significant impairment from both reading and writing.

“The findings of this study extend to other distracting activities involving reading and writing, such as checking email or Facebook, while driving,” notes Chrysler.

The total distance covered by each driver in the study was slightly less than 11 miles. In the interest of safety for both participants and the research staff, researchers minimized the complexity of the driving task, using a straight-line course that contained no hills, traffic or potential conflicts other than the construction-zone barrels. Consequently, the driving demands that participants encountered were considerably lower than those they would encounter under real-world conditions.

“It is frightening,” the researchers wrote, “to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with routine driving.”

TTI Studies Increased Crash Rates Along the DFW Connector

Tobey — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:35:16 +0000

Take a dynamic work zone that can change daily. Add distracted drivers. What do you get? That’s what the Texas Department of Transportation wanted to know. Jason Crawford, manager of the Texas Transportation Institute’s North Texas Region, began looking for answers.

What he and his team of researchers discovered is that more drivers are turning their attention away from driving while passing through a construction zone. The roadway in question is a $1 billion project known as the DFW Connector, which skirts the northwest side of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Over 200,000 motorists pass through it daily.

TTI researchers were asked to evaluate the work zone because of higher-than-normal crashes, especially at night and on weekends. A statistical review separated injury crashes from non-injury crashes. That analysis showed that injury crashes occurred less frequently than the national work zone average, while property damage crashes happened more often.

Researchers concluded that the higher night and weekend crash numbers were the result of driver distraction, since drivers failed to notice traffic flow changes resulting from lane and total freeway closures. Crawford notes, “There can’t be any lane closures during the day. All of the work that happens above traffic lanes or impacts highway lanes occurs overnight or on the weekends.”

Crawford describes the construction area as “one where you have a lot of merging traffic. You also have a lot of weaving traffic. There are temporary lane shifts the contractor has in place. If you’re not really paying attention and the lane shifts, you could sideswipe someone.”

Cell phones may be adding to the complexity of navigating the work zone. Average cell use while driving in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is 6 percent, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates. TTI researchers noted 12 percent usage in the DFW Connector work zone. Researchers feel that cell phone use could be a contributing factor to increased property damage crashes, although data did not allow them to make a causal link.

“We’re trying to get drivers to slow down and pay attention. The landscape for that construction project can change almost on a daily basis as you’re going through. There are crashes. And, the rate of cell phone usage is twice what you’d normally see,” Crawford says.

The study determined that drivers do not accurately perceive the safety risks involved with distracted driving in a complex construction zone like the DFW Connector.

The contractor has already acted on the findings. “Since we came out with the cell phone study, the contractor has implemented a number of coordinated campaigns, through banners and bumper stickers,” says Crawford. “The campaigns encourage drivers to slow down and pay attention.” The banners state, “Please don’t text and drive. My Daddy Works Here,” and “Let us work safely. Drive 50 mph!”

“They’re trying to increase awareness, not only for their guys, but also for the motoring public,” Crawford explains.

The study also recommends changes to lane-shift locations and markings, lighting practices and site maintenance to make the DFW Connector the safest work zone possible.