Driving Safety Research Institute

Another successful Driving Assessment conference is in the books! Student award winners included Linda Pipkorn of Chalmers, Erika Ziraldo of University of Guelph, and Katelyn Schwieters of University of Minnesota.

We've had a great time so far this summer attending local outreach events to talk to people about our ADS for Rural America project. We've been to three of the four communities along our project route: Riverside, Hills, and Iowa City.

In a study published in Traffic Injury Prevention, our researchers found that effects on driving performance after cannabis use can depend on the type of high that the user experiences. Cannabis use that produces more stimulation results in less impact on driving, while use that produces a more stoned or high feeling results in worse driving performance.

Check out our Director Dan McGehee’s expert take on teen driving safety and a ranking of the best states for teen drivers. Do you agree with Iowa’s ranking?

Learn more about our ADS for Rural America project and our newly-equipped Ford Transit shuttle bus, set to be on Iowa roads later this summer.

Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth O'Neal, a postdoctoral research scholar at the National Advanced Driving Simulator and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, for receiving a K99/R00 Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Our tech partners Hexagon | AutonomouStuff in Morton, Illinois, have been busy with the final software integration and testing of our new automated vehicle, set to hit Iowa rural roads this summer.

KCRG TV9 News reports on the rise in distracted driving, what law enforcement has seen, and the research being done on distracted driving at the University of Iowa National Advanced Driving Simulator.

NADS Director Dan McGehee talks with KWWL on the dangers of distracted driving, especially on Iowa's unforgiving roads.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. 3,142 people were killed from distracted driving in 2019 – a 10% increase from 2018. NADS researchers work to reverse that trend.