October 16-22, 2022 is National Teen Driver Safety Week.
This week is important because teens are at increased risk of crashes and fatalities.
In fact, teens are nearly 3x more likely to be in a fatal crash compared to drivers 20 and older.
This is largely due to their inexperience and maturity as young drivers.
The Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) is working to help change that.
Prior CSRC research showed the importance of parents modeling the safe driving habits they wish their teens to practice, in collaboration with the University of Michigan.
Now, CSRC is collaborating with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on a new effort called “Risk Anticipation Training to Enhance Novice Drivers”, or Risk-ATTEND. Risk-ATTEND is a training program designed to help teens learn and practice the skills needed to identify potential crash hazards in their everyday driving experience. Think of it as a means to accelerate specific forms of “defensive driving.”
This project, announced as part of the CSRC 10 Year Celebration last April, will validate the training program with specific scientific observations, including enhanced driver eyeglance patterns and real-world safe driving performance. Early pilot results have been promising, and final results are expected in late 2023. Stay tuned for more details…
