Increase accessibility of driver training through scholarships and technological Intervention

Despite the proven benefits of driver education in skill acquisition and safe driving outcomes, few studies have investigated interventions that can increase access to driver training (DT), particularly for lower income teens and teens of color. While the team has coined the term Driving Training Deserts (DTDs) and the team is working towards understanding how residing in a DTD leads to lower propensity to complete DT (see other projects), what is missing is an understanding of how to address this issue. As disparities in access to driver training and obtaining license before 18 years old could compound disparities in income and education, it is critical to understand how interventions can address this problem. The research team hypothesizes that residing in a DTD reduces teens’ likelihood to enroll in and complete DT; the challenge of physically transporting oneself to DT center as well as the cost is likely prohibitive. Preliminary analyses support the hypothesis on the associations between financial and physical access and completion of driver training: 21% of residents under 25 in DTD completed driver training and secured licensure before 18 years old, compared to 43% of young residents in non-DTDs. As disparities in accessibility to DT are disparities in health outcomes and mobility, the research will uncover an actionable way forward for addressing health and mobility equity. The team will do so in the following Aims: (Aim 1) Investigate the role of Scholarships in encouraging DT completion. Megan S. Ryerson is a Senior Fellow at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and CHOP’s partner, Ohio’s Governor DeWine, announced the new program that awarded grants to nonprofits to identify teens needing financial assistance. This has the potential to be groundbreaking in increasing accessibility to DT for teens, especially low-income teens and teens of color. The team will co-create a survey for the teens who were offered scholarships, and use the survey results to develop actionable recommendations and policies toward future scholarships for DT. The team will then design algorithms to target DT scholarships to those needing them most and who will most benefit from these scholarships. (Aim 2) Assessments to improve the knowledge of how teens need to train. Wide-spread, easily accessible DT would benefit teens in terms of imparting safe driving skills; yet, many barriers to supply and accessibility exist. Thus, a mechanism to assess teen driving and offer targeted suggestions for improvement would be beneficial; teens could receive a “prescription” for driver training to do with a parent or teacher. A low cost, easily accessible way to assess a teen’s driving skills is by using a mobile Virtual Driving Assessment (VDA) tool, developed by their partner team at CHOP. The idea here is that even if teens lack access to DT, a mobile VDA at their school, local library, or community center could help them understand the specific skills they lack. While the VDA cannot help train a driver, it can help offer specific feedback on what a young driver must study and learn. Using the implementation of the VDA in CHOP offices across Philadelphia, which has already been completed, the team will use already collected interview data from teens who engage with the VDA at Philadelphia centers and evaluate the ability of the VDA to provide actionable information. The team will then determine how best to deploy the VDA as a low-cost assessment intervention that could be set up in schools, pediatric offices, libraries and other community-based locations to help assess teens’ safe driving skill deficits.

• Record URL:
  • https://ppms.cit.cmu.edu/projects/detail/569

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $120268
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552344811

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Carnegie Mellon University

  Pittsburgh, PA  United States 

  Safety21 University Transportation Center

  Carnegie Mellon University
  Pittsburgh, PA  United States  15213
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Pennsylvania

  ,    
• Principal Investigators:

  Ryerson, Megan

• Start Date: 20240701
• Expected Completion Date: 20250630
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Driver education; Equity; Incentives; Teenage drivers
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01933396
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Safety21 University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552344811
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 13 2024 8:19AM