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Rural Older Adult Driver Tailored Research-Integrated Plan��A VTTI Giving Back Initiative

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Jon Antin Ph.D., CHFP: PI, Vulnerable Road User Safety Group Lead

Brian Wotring, M.S.: Human Factors Researcher

Jon Hankey, Ph.D., Co-PI: Senior Transportation Fellow

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

NHTSA ROAM – January 2024

ROAD TRIP Evolution

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Goals

Evaluate an individually tailored program that will enhance rural older adults’ feelings of self efficacy or… beliefs about one’s ability to perform actions that will influence their environment (Stalvey and Owsley, 2000)

In terms of…

Driving safety
Mobility
Having Needs Met

Getting to needed/desired locations
Remote access to services or other interactions

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Overview

Rural Older Adult

Health Concerns

Cog. & F(x)al Assessment

Personal Situation/�Env

Available

Technology

Driving Evaluation

Driving Concerns

Tailored Findings

OEM-Based ADAS

Provider Referrals

Driving/�Route Restrictions

Driver (re)Training

Existing Programs (e.g., CarFit)

Geo-Temporal Fence

ROAD TRIP

Program

Assessments

Interventions

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Assessments

Balance Confidence

Rural Mobility

Physical Activity

Cognitive Assessment

Technology

Driving Knowledge

Social Disconnectedness

Medical Conditions & Medications

Physical Capability

Health

Knowledge

Preferences & Access

Driver Behaviors

Naturalistic Driving Evaluation

Survey-Based & �Functional Capabilities

Unobtrusive, automated instrumentation
Real-world driving data
No experimenter present
Frame-by-frame analyses / �in depth scenario investigation

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Intervention Program Options

		Assessments
		Driving Questions	Physical Activity	Medical Conditions/Meds	Driving Knowledge	Rural Mobility	Balance Scale	Sage	Driving Eval.
Interventions	Restrictions	X		X		X
	ADAS Training	X				X
	Alt Transportation Training	X				X
	Referrals	X	X	X			X	X
	Co-Pilot Tips	X		X		X
	Nav Use or Routing Changes	X				X
	Instrument Cluster Config	X				X
	Telehealth					X
	Online Grocery shopping options					X
	Driver Refresher Course	X			X				X
	Nav System Training					X
	Suggest Alt. Transportation	X		X	X	X
	Support Services
	Driver Informational Websites
	Community Centers
	Library Resources
	Post-Crash ADAS Information
	CarFit

Everyone

Individually Tailored

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Driving Assessment �Algorithmic Results

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Mobility Consultations

At participant’s home, typically
Two researchers present

Best of both worlds:

Data-driven tailored plan w/ interventions
Robust conversation following up on findings

In-person consultation resulted in novel insights & opportunities

Prior crashes/driving anxiety
Cell phone use/BT pairing
Backup camera usage & considerations

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Cost

1.0

ROAD TRIP Phases

1: Hands-on, VTTI NDS
2: Hands-on, Check Drives
3: Hands-on, CMT NDS
Future: Hands-off, modularized

Program Evolution Over Time

Effectiveness / Perceived Value

Evolving the Program

2.0

3.0

F.0

F.i

F.n

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ROAD TRIP 2.0

Replaced NDS driving evaluation with supervised test drive in New River Valley

Subjective scoring for key concerns

5-point Likert: very safe to very unsafe 🡪 converted to numeric for analysis (20, 40, 60, etc.)
Traffic control device attentiveness, lane position, following distance, lane change/merge safety, speed, etc

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Road Trip 2.0 – Test Route

Test route completed 3 times

Intake
Post-consult
Study exit

New River Valley area of Southwest Virginia

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20 mi
25-30 min

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Road Trip 2.0 – Test Route Results

Two of five did not complete third test route due to safety concerns
Focused on behaviors discussed at consultation session

Mixed results, compounded by one-off events
Low exposure to locations of interest – �variability in driving conditions and �driver behaviors

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ROAD TRIP 3.0

Replace supervised test drive with smartphone app: DriveWell Go (Cambridge Mobile Telematics, CMT)

App-assigned scoring along 6 dimensions:

Overall, braking, acceleration, cornering, speeding, phone use
Averages and distributions

User-assigned non-driving �modality

Driver, passenger, bus, �train, etc.

Data collection in progress…

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Road Trip 3.0 – Early App Results

161 collected trips from 4 drivers – Pre-Consult trips only

Predominately 5-star trip ratings (ceiling effect)
Only 7 trips marked as non-driver (1 on a train – not likely based on starting/ending GPS location)

Forgetting or accurate reflection of non-driving trips?

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Overall Rating

Acceleration

Cornering

Phone Motion

Braking

Speeding

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Road Trip 3.0 – Early App Results

Unequal distribution of flagged trips by participant

Two participants (10 & 14) responsible for 88% of flags

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Exit Survey

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Extremely Positive �Unsolicited Responses!

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Unsolicited Participant Comments

Simply raising awareness of safety & mobility issues may have strong benefits
Devoting attention to their specific situation and needs seems to be impactful
100% positive responses!

I love it (1)!

I love it (2)!

I love it (3)!

Why didn’t I think of that?

This is great!

I love doing studies anyway, but this one gives benefits back to me!

This has been so much fun!

I got a lot out of our conversation today.

I’m glad to have things to work on!

That’s a great idea

Really thorough

Very helpful.

This is just what I needed.

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You should win an award!

In depth

Discussed with friends – could help them too

Game changer

Wonderful idea

really helped me!

I endorse everything you’re saying

This type of individualized program could benefit so many older drivers

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Overall Conclusions

High levels of enthusiasm and appreciation highlight the need for this sort of program
Many have stated they would have gladly participated �without compensation – they value safety, longevity, and independence
For any benefit to be realized, the individual must also be open to change and/or modifications of current behaviors
An individual’s prior level of mobility or transportation challenges will likely directly influence the value they see in the program
Focus was on rural drivers, but many in urban environments may face very similar challenges
To truly effect change, implementation cannot be on the level of 10’s of drivers, it needs to be on the level of 100’s or 1,000’s of drivers

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RT Program

Impact Vision

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Next Steps…

Continue to refine program
Find participants with greater need – try to get past ceiling effects
As time/technology progress, incorporate more ADAS
Expand program footprint & maximize overall impact

while retaining the perceived beneficial essence!

Please reach out if you would like to continue the discussion or collaborate - We’d love to hear your thoughts!�� jantin@.vt.edu

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