Research Agenda

The AAA Foundation is currently at the beginning of a large-scale evaluation of driver education programs in Michigan, Oregon and Manitoba, using the rigorous evaluation methodology developed in the Foundation’s Guidelines for Evaluating Driver Education Programs. As its first order of business, the Center will take this evaluation to a new level. Additional evaluations will be undertaken on other types of driver education and training courses, including online programs and programs that use more advanced learning tools, such as driving simulators, are proposed for the next four years.

Of equal interest and concern is the effectiveness of post-license driver training programs targeting young drivers, including those that focus on defensive driving techniques, risk awareness, and advanced vehicle handling skills.  There is no regulation of ‘advanced driver training,’ and research results to date are at odds with media and parental impressions of the real effectiveness of some of these programs.  The Center’s proposed research agenda will identify the components of post-license driver training programs that are helpful and those that may be counterproductive, and develop a recommended set of components for a model advanced driver training program. 

Recent research suggests that attitudes toward driving and risk are formed well before teens are old enough to begin driving.  The Center will investigate the informal lessons acquired by young people during their pre-driving years, the impacts of those lessons when young people begin driving, and possible approaches to reaching teens before they begin driving, such as AAA’s Dare to Prepare, which involves parent and teen education when the teen is 14 or 15 years of age.  Efforts in this area will build on current Foundation work to develop guidelines for effective parent-teen communication during the learner stage of driver licensing, and will identify educational and motivational aspects of novice drivers that go beyond learning the rules of the road and how to operate a vehicle. 

Beyond the question of how to prepare novice drivers for the risks of the road, it is also clear that current tests for determining when these drivers are ready for the road are inadequate.  European countries are already moving toward upgrading their driver license examination protocols, and harmonizing across Europe.  England and the Netherlands, for example, both recently instituted new, more comprehensive testing protocols.  The Center will study the effectiveness of existing driver licensing examinations in the United States and abroad to identify best practices and knowledge gaps, ultimately leading to the development of a model licensing test that would more effectively assure that newly-licensed drivers are capable of driving safely under real world driving conditions.  Traditional “paper and pencil” and in-vehicle tests, along with tests using more advanced technologies such as simulators, will be considered.

Finally, significant Foundation research has already demonstrated the lifesaving benefits of Graduated Driver Licensing programs, and this research has been instrumental in the passage of state licensing laws that have already saved thousands of lives.  Yet there is much room to further improve laws and to enhance the parent – teen interactions throughout the driver learning process.  Additional research is needed to induce states that are lagging behind to “catch up,” to continue to make graduated licensing programs more effective, and to be able to recommend “best practices” to protect teen drivers and the general public.

The Center will also conduct research to identify means of effectively and persuasively communicating with teens, including identifying how parents should communicate risk to their teens.  Recent groundbreaking research on the development of the teenage brain, for example, suggests that simply educating an immature person about statistical risk or the possibility of grim consequences may be completely ineffective, and other studies suggest that emphasizing social consequences (e.g., the disapproval of one’s peers) rather than physical danger may be a more promising avenue. Additional research will evaluate the interaction of parents and teens during the supervised driving phase, as well as in their ongoing communications vis-à-vis restrictions, risk management, etc. after the supervised phase has concluded.

The Center’s long-term evaluation of existing driver education programs will result in a catalogue of what works, what doesn’t work, and what may be harmful. 

By year four, the Center will have completed research and evaluation of advanced driver training programs and will be able to identify the components that may work, may not work, or are detrimental to a novice driver’s education.  Outcomes will include a policy and position paper to guide regulation of advanced driver training, to inform parents, and to correctly educate media and opinion leaders.

The Center will take a new tack on novice driving with an exploration of motivations, behaviors and attitudes of those drivers, as well as review of multi-disciplinary strategies, to better understand how to implement a public health model approach focused on novice driving.  By year four, the Center will provide guidance on an intervention concept that promotes a new and comprehensive approach to changing motivations and behaviors in novice drivers.

Also by year four, the Center will have developed a more rigorous licensing test that will better distinguish between drivers that possess adequate skills and abilities to be safe independent drivers under realistic conditions and those who still need more training or more practice.  In support of this new testing strategy, the Center will provide state agencies and teen driver safety advocates with the research foundation to support enhanced, effective, and acceptable driver license examination protocol.

The Center will also continue to evaluate innovative new driver licensing policies adopted by the states.  As Foundation research has been instrumental in the passage of the most effective Graduated Driver Licensing programs known to date, the Center will continue to provide the research base for continuing to improve licensing policies for novice drivers in the future.

Based on specific research as regards communications strategies for teens, the Center will develop message points, guidelines, etc. to inform parents on “best practices” for speaking with their teens to communicate driving risk.