Distracted Driving Translational Research for Injury Prevention (TRIP) Laboratory

Stavrinos, Despina · 2018 · ROSA P / Alabama. Dept. of Transportation

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Summary

This report details the establishment of the Translational Research for Injury Prevention (TRIP) Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and presents findings from a study on distracted driving among at-risk populations. Motivated by high motor vehicle collision rates in Alabama, particularly among younger and older drivers, the project aimed to examine how roadway conditions and individual differences predict risky driving behavior. The study utilized a high-fidelity SUV driving simulator to assess the impact of distractions, weather, and lighting on driving performance. The research involved 100 participants: 50 adolescents (mean age 17.58) and 50 older adults (mean age 71.7). Participants completed driving scenarios mimicking rural Alabama roads, including elevations, curves, and intersections, under varying conditions of light (day/night) and weather (clear/rain). Distraction tasks were age-specific: adolescents engaged in handheld cellphone conversations, text messaging, or no distraction; older adults engaged in handheld cellphone, hands-free cellphone, or no distraction. Data analysis focused on average speed, speed variability, lane maintenance, and collision frequency, using linear regressions and general estimating equations. Results for adolescents indicated that distractions significantly impaired driving performance. Talking on a cellphone increased average speed and speed variability compared to no distraction. Both cellphone conversation and text messaging significantly worsened lane maintenance, particularly in curves and intersections. Text messaging in rainy conditions led to significantly higher speeds and greater speed variability in elevations and intersections, respectively. Intersections presented the highest collision risk, with a 137% increase in likelihood compared to curves. In contrast, older adults showed fewer significant effects from distractions on speed, variability, or lane maintenance across most conditions. However, roadway type significantly influenced their performance; older adults were 80% less likely to collide in curves compared to elevations when undistracted. Weather had a notable impact on older adults, who were 115% more likely to collide in rain compared to clear weather during elevation sections. The study successfully established a state-of-the-art simulator facility, providing a platform for future research and interventions aimed at reducing traffic injuries through evidence-based policy and training.

Key finding

Adolescents drove significantly faster and maintained their lane position more poorly when using cellphones or texting compared to undistracted driving, while older adults showed no significant changes in speed or lane maintenance due to distraction but had a significantly higher collision risk in rainy weather.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 100

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• external distraction
• visual
• passenger effects
• mobile phones
• visual manual
• manual

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, behavioral performance data
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource