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NEWS ARCHIVES
For Immediate Release
August 14, 2002
Drive Atlanta: Study Will Monitor Driver Behavior to Determine Role of Speed in Highway Crashes
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With a vehicle crash rate exceeding the national average, metro Atlanta
is the natural test bed for a new comprehensive study of driver behavior,
the driving environment and the role of speed in crashes.
Researchers leading the Georgia Institute of Technology's Drive Atlanta study have begun installation of data collection and telecommunications equipment in the cars of 1,100 metro drivers randomly recruited from participants in a recently completed Georgia Tech travel survey called SMARTRAQ. Installations should be complete by early fall, and two years of data collection and analysis will then get under way.
"Ultimately, we hope the data we collect can help make the whole
system -- the driver, vehicle and the road -- safer and more efficient,"
said Jennifer Ogle, lead investigator and a research scientist in the
Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. "We hope to learn about all three pieces of the
system. In particular, we are interested in travel routes, driver-vehicle
interactions and exposure to crash risk. The sheer size of the data set
allows for nearly limitless analysis possibilities."
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Though the role of speed in crashes is the primary focus of the study,
researchers also will examine other driving variables, such as seat belt
use, time spent on the road (especially during congested periods), time
spent on highways versus local roads and occurrences of extreme braking.
Led by Ogle and her colleagues Associate Professors Karen
Dixon and Randall
Guensler, researchers hope to answer several questions. Does speeding
lead to crashes? Does the driving environment contribute to speeding?
Does the frequency of extreme vehicle maneuvers correlate with crash involvement?
"We know very little about pre-crash speeds," Ogle said. "Almost
all of what we know relies on driver and witness reports or crash reconstruction
activities. Each of these sources is subject to errors. Our equipment
will actually measure and record speed for us."
But researchers also want to learn more about travel patterns -- how,
when and where people drive. This information will be useful to both Ogle's
research team and to SMARTRAQ (Strategies for Metropolitan Atlanta's Regional
Transportation and Air Quality), a Georgia Tech-led study to determine
what types of land use and transportation investment policies have the
best chance to reduce auto dependence.
"For years, we have collected information from the roadway and the
vehicle," Ogle said. "Now, we will also be able to gain information
on driver behavior. This information will allow transportation officials
to target their countermeasure programs.
"Countermeasures can come in the form of safety enhancements for
the vehicle or the roadway environment, such as the roadside grading,
signage, air bags, seat belts or the setting of appropriate speed limits.
This research may also lead to more appropriate driver training programs
for younger and older drivers."
Drive Atlanta is primarily funded by a $1.9 million contract with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) and a $1.2 million in-kind grant from Atlanta-based Safety Intelligence
Systems, Inc. The private company is providing the development costs,
prototyping and testing for the MACBOX,
an event data recorder, which will operate -- transparently to the driver
-- in all study vehicles.
The MACBOX will record high-resolution data for each vehicle trip and
download that information to the researchers' secure server weekly. Data
will include trip length, trip duration, route choice and second-by-second
speed and acceleration.
Researchers will supplement MACBOX data with information on the freeway
and major highway driving environments. The Atlanta Traffic Management
Center will contribute data on prevailing traffic conditions, and researchers
will gather weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They will combine all of these data within a geographic information system
using the Georgia Department of Transportation
roadway characteristics file and network as the basis for analyses.
In exchange for their participation, drivers have been assured of the
privacy of data collected from their vehicles with a Certificate of Confidentiality
provided by the National Institutes of Health. And they have the benefits
of a vehicle theft-tracking system and automated 911 notification in the
event of a crash.
Researchers will collect additional data -- both from the MACBOX and
at the scene -- when a study vehicle is involved in a crash. Based on
statistical probabilities, they estimate that at least 100 crashes will
occur during the study period.
When a crash occurs, the MACBOX will record all of the vehicle deceleration
data and simultaneously transmit a Mayday message to the Fulton County
Public Safety Access Point, or 911 center, the central emergency agency
for all vehicles involved in the study. Researchers are making plans on
how to handle crashes that may occur outside the metro area, Ogle added.
Fulton County 911 officials will open a cellular telephone line into
the vehicle using the onboard speakerphone system to verify that a crash
has occurred and determine its potential severity. Global positioning
system signals transmitted to 911 officials from the vehicle will reveal
the crash location.
Meanwhile, algorithms embedded in the MACBOX software will automatically
analyze crash data, such as impact velocity and severity, and inform 911
personnel about the probability of injuries or casualties associated with
the wreck. Then after quickly looking at these data and attempting to
contact the driver, they will dispatch rescue workers and police to the
scene.
The in-vehicle equipment will automatically notify the on-call Georgia
Tech research team, which will deploy and investigate the crash in coordination
with police departments. All faculty members and graduate students involved
in the study underwent crash reconstruction and investigation training.
Researchers will analyze the MACBOX data and crash scene information to
determine the role of speed in the crash.
"Crash reconstruction is essentially more an art than a science,"
said Safety Intelligence Systems' Ricardo Martinez, a former NHTSA administrator
and now an adjunct professor of civil engineering at Georgia Tech. "We
look at the archaeology of the crash, witness reports and expert opinion
to decide the 'facts.' With cars becoming more sophisticated like computers,
we can actually measure what happens in a crash. So with the MACBOX, we
can go from Flintstonian to Jetsonian."
Based on a pilot study she did in 1997 in Texas, Ogle believes Drive
Atlanta will be successful in terms of data collection technology and
data analysis. Ogle will issue periodic reports to NHTSA throughout the
study and a final report late in 2004.
"There is a lack of comprehensive information on crashes," Ogle said. "With ABS brakes, skid marks are not as detectable…. But crash analysis is changing. The more information we have, the better off we are."
RESEARCH NEWS & PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS:
Jane Sanders (404-894-2214); E-mail:
jane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu; Fax: (404-894-4545) or John Toon (404-894-6986);
E-mail: john.toon@edi.gatech.edu.
TECHNICAL CONTACTS:
1. Jennifer Ogle, Georgia Tech (404-385-0694);
E-mail: jennifer.ogle@ce.gatech.edu
2. Karen Dixon, Georgia Tech (404-894-5830); E-mail:
karen.dixon@ce.gatech.edu
3. Randall Guensler, Georgia Tech (404-894-0405);
E-mail: randall.guensler@ce.gatech.edu
4. Paul Tremont, NHTSA, 202-366-5587; E-mail: ptremont@nhtsa.dot.gov
WRITER: Jane Sanders