Research In Action

This week (October 19-25) is National Teen Driver Safety Week. Conducted annually during the third full week of October, this initiative is dedicated to raising awareness and seeking solutions to prevent teen injuries and deaths on the road. To mark National Teen Driver Safety Week, we are highlighting two research studies in progress at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention deploying innovative, novel methods to understand predictors of driving safety among young drivers.

DRIVER Study

Young drivers have the highest crash risk in the first six months of licensure and continue to be at risk for the first two years of driving. CIRP research has found that this elevated crash risk is due to a lack of experience and driving skills, both of which may be improved through quality training and practice. The DRIVER study is the first randomized controlled trial since 1983 to evaluate driver training prior to licensure on crash risk outcomes. The DRIVER study recruits participants ages 16 to 17 in their learner permit phase and follows them throughout the licensure process and up to six months after. Eligible participants receive either free online driver training or free behind-the-wheel driver lessons by a certified driving instructor, and a smartphone app installed in their cars monitors crash risk behavior during driving trips.

Recruitment for the study is running smoothly thanks to a combination of strategic recruitment efforts. The study team says the CHOP Recruitment Enhancement Core (REC) and research study champions at study sites have been instrumental in identifying potential eligible participants for this study. Enrollment is expected to be completed in 2027. The researchers hope the results of the study will help identify the type of training that gives young drivers the best chance to have safe mobility.

This study is being conducted by a collaboration between researchers at CIRP and the University of Pennsylvania. It is led by Flaura Winston, Elizabeth Walshe, and Dan Romer. This work is supported in part by NJM Insurance.

ADHD ETA Study

Young drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodevelopmental differences may have characteristics that place them at risk for unsafe driving behaviors. CIRP research has found that newly licensed teen drivers with ADHD were more likely to be at fault for their crashes than their peers without ADHD, though the types of crashes they are involved in were similar. CIRP researchers are using a combination of research methods to greater understand the crash risk of these young drivers.

A team led by Allison Curry has recently completed recruitment on a prospective longitudinal cohort study of teen drivers with ADHD and their parents, the first of its kind, called the Evaluating Transportation Among Adolescents (ADHD ETA) Study. Young drivers ages 16 to 20 with and without ADHD are recruited soon after receiving their learner’s permit and are followed throughout the permit and license period. The researchers are beginning to analyze data on the 600+ participants in the cohort. The researchers hope to identify specific factors that heighten driving risks for teen drivers with ADHD.

The team also hopes to gain further insights on ADHD and driving through a naturalistic driving study, conducted in partnership with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. They are currently recruiting teens with and without ADHD who are about to receive or who have recently received their driver’s license. Participants complete surveys and have a smartphone app installed on their phone that collects data about their driving for approximately six months. A key innovation in this study is the use of text surveys sent to participants about medication usage, making this the first examination of how ADHD medication use influences real-world naturalistic driving performance.

How to get involved

Since National Teen Driver Safety Week started in Pennsylvania in October 2007, CIRP has been supporting this initiative through conducting and sharing research about young driver safety. You can help by sharing teen safety messaging on social media with your personal and professional networks. You can also help by participating in and amplifying research studies which are critical to advancing knowledge of young driver safety. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute has a Research Discovery Finder to find currently recruiting studies.