See what we’ve been up to in the past year in our NADS Annual Report, with stories about ADS for Rural America, driving drowsy, regenerative braking safety benefits, cannabis and driving, and more. 

The ADS for Rural America project launched in October 2021 and has completed its first phase of data collection. See an example map and learn more about the roles of the safety driver and co-pilot.

Ben Berhow and Wil Comer—two seniors majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Iowa—both landed part-time jobs with the miniSim team at the National Advanced Driving Simulator this past year, giving them valuable on-the-job experience. 

In an important step toward identifying who is too impaired to drive due to cannabis use, a team of researchers from the University of Iowa and Advanced Brain Monitoring found there are specific markers in brain activity linked to cannabis intoxication that consistently and negatively impact driving performance.

Research Scientist Timothy Brown, PhD, at the National Advanced Driving Simulator discusses his extensive experience in drugged driving research studies: specifically, his work on the dangers of prescription drug and marijuana use while driving.

Want to ride in a partially automated vehicle with us? We’re now looking for people who are age 65 or older, have a disability that affects their mobility (age 25 or older), or have low vision impairment (age 25 or older). We’ll be stopping in Iowa City, Hills, Riverside, and Kalona.

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?