Using an event-triggered video intervention system to expand the supervised learning of newly licensed adolescent drivers

Abstract

Objectives: We examined whether feedback from an event-triggered video intervention system reduced the number of safety-relevant driving errors made by newly licensed adolescents.

Methods: We used a 1-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design to compare the rate of coachable error events per 1000 miles for 18 drivers who were aged 16 years. The intervention consisted of immediate visual feedback provided to the drivers and weekly event reports and videos provided to the drivers and their parents.

Results: The number of coachable events was reduced by 61% overall during the intervention (chi(2) = 11.42; P = .001) and did not significantly increase during the second baseline, which was assessed after the intervention ended (chi(2) = 1.49; P = .223). The greatest reduction was seen in the category of improper turns or curves and for drivers identified at the first baseline as "high-event" drivers.

Conclusions: Our results show that immediate visual feedback for adolescents and cumulative video feedback for parents and adolescents during the early period of independent driving can have a dramatic influence on the rate of safety-relevant driving events. To the extent that such events are a proxy for crash risk, we suggest that feedback can enhance adolescent driving safety.

FIGURE 1

Number of coachable driving error events recorded by an event-triggered video intervention system among drivers aged 16 years, by study phase: Eagan, Minnesota, 2007–2008. Note. Figures derived from least squares means. Error bars reflect standard error.

FIGURE 2

Number of coachable driving error events recorded by an event-triggered video intervention system among drivers aged 16 years, by high- and low-event group and study phase: Eagan, Minnesota, 2007–2008.