Our Mission

We aim to make roads safer by researching the connection between humans and vehicles. We are home to the National Advanced Driving Simulator, and we now have a new name for our broader institute: the Driving Safety Research Institute.

News

AVs in Rural America: What's the Holdup?

TR News article published: 'Automated vehicles in rural America: What’s the holdup?'

Friday, October 13, 2023
TR News recently published an article with two of our Iowa team authors titled 'Automated vehicles in rural America: What’s the holdup?'
NADS-1 simulator and automated Ford Transit

UI Driving Safety Research Institute to host public open house, offer rides in an automated shuttle bus

Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Join us on October 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. for our public open house. Attendees can ride in an automated shuttle bus, tour our facility, and drive one of our "miniSim" driving simulators.
dashboard photo showing advanced driving assistant systems (ADAS)

UI researchers studying ADAS features and crashes

Tuesday, August 1, 2023
They are looking for drivers who have been involved in a crash or near-crash situation in the past 12 months while driving a vehicle equipped with at least one ADAS feature to participate in a study.
Drowsy driver

University of Iowa research sheds light on drowsy driving, including risk factors, sleepiness questionnaires & ADAS applications

Monday, July 31, 2023
Drowsy driving is thought to be a probable cause in almost 40% of investigated highway crashes. While our researchers found that notifications do little to change driver performance, nothing replaces quality sleep before a long drive.
Inside NADS-1 simulator

The Long and Winding Road: 25 Years of the National Advanced Driving Simulator

Wednesday, July 19, 2023
From IEEE Xplore magazine, this article summarizes the capabilities and history behind the National Advanced Driving Simulator.
tractor

Podcast listen: Safely sharing the road with farm vehicles

Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Listen to a short podcast on our SaferTrek project, which studied how passenger vehicles interact with farm vehicles on the road. With researchers Michelle Reyes and Cara Hamann.
Emily Shull

Recent ISE PhD alum to begin career in driving safety research at NHTSA

Friday, July 14, 2023
Emily Shull recently graduated from the University of Iowa College of Engineering with a PhD in industrial and systems engineering. Soon she will begin her professional career as a general engineer at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Omar Ahmad and Alec La Velle

Representing Rural America: Testing Automated Driving on Rural Roads

Friday, July 7, 2023
The University of Iowa is leading the way in testing a highly automated vehicle on unmarked and gravel roads, in winter weather, and at highway speeds.
Gazette screenshot

UI researchers’ highly-automated van has ‘amazing potential’ for rural areas

Wednesday, June 14, 2023
The Gazette reports: The white Ford Transit could be a campus shuttle or a rural transit service van. Only those aboard the vehicle knew it was driving itself around the University of Iowa’s Oakdale research campus. ...
KCRG screenshot

Univ. of Iowa researchers become one of the first to test driverless bus on rural roads

Wednesday, June 14, 2023
KCRG reports: The University of Iowa is shared their results on a self-driven bus that has traveled hundreds of miles throughout rural Iowa. ...
Automated shuttle bus on rural Iowa road

ADS for Rural America

Learn more about our Automated Driving Systems (ADS) for Rural America project, which drove a partially-automated shuttle bus through Iowa City, Hills, Riverside, and Kalona, Iowa. 

NADS-1 bay, 3D globe image

Tour our tech

Take a 360 degree virtual tour of our facility, and learn more about our technology and expertise.