2014 Safety Conference

Highlights from the 2014 Traffic Safety Conference!

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Center for Transportation Safety, in cooperation with USAA, the ATLAS Center, and TxDOT, held the 2014 Traffic Safety Conference at the San Antonio Riverwalk Westin May 12-14, 2014. More information on TTI’s website at TTI Safety Conference

Here are highlights and please click here to view the PDF presentations from ALL sessions of the conference.

Older Drivers: Vehicle, Roadway and Driver Perspectives Session

Three ATLAS Center staff members presented their research on older drivers at one of the first sessions of the conference:

David Eby, ATLAS Center Director and Head of the Behavioral Sciences Group at U-M Transportation Research Institute - Designing Vehicles for Older Drivers

Lisa Molnar, ATLAS Center Associate Director - Behavioral Aspects of Self-Regulation among Older Drivers

Renée St. Louis, ATLAS Center Education Coordinator - Informal Caregivers and Older Adults

ATLAS Research Center Projects

ATLAS was represented by researchers awarded funding for the Cooperative Research, Strategic Initiatives, and the Research Excellence Programs respectively spoke at this designated breakout session:

Dan Blower, University of Michigan (in collaboration with Chiara Silvestri-Dobrovolny of TTI) - Identifying the Potential of Improved Heavy Truck Crashworthiness

Melisa D. Finley, TTI - Closed-Course Alcohol Impaired Driving Study Extension

Unfortunately, Anuj Pradhan of the University of Michigan was grounded by Michigan weather and was unable to attend the conference to present Examining Young Driver Behaviors Using Driving Simulation and Neuroimaging, but David Eby, ATLAS Director, who moderated the session, stepped up to the plate in presenting this complex material to an interested audience.

Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driving Session

Lidia P. Kostyniuk, ATLAS Center Research Coordinator, delivered The Potential Safety Benefits of Lowering the Legal Driving BAC.

Truck and Transit Safety Research

Nicole Zanier, ATLAS Technology Transfer Coordinator, presented her research on Targeting Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT): A Law Enforcement Program to Improve Truck Safety to a large law enforcement and state agency group at the conference.

Robert Wunderlich, ATLAS Associate Director and Director of the Center for Transportation Safety at TTI, presented his research on Identifying Bus Crash Scenarios in his most charismatic way.

ATLAS Sponsored Student Poster Presentations

ATLAS sponsored two University of Michigan students to travel to the conference and present a poster on their doctorate research on older driver safety.

Poster Session Winner:

A Longitudinal Examination of Driving Cessation Predictors and Subgroup Differences among Older Adults

Jonathon Vivoda Bio
University of Michigan, Health Behavior Health Education, School of Public Health
PhD Candidate

In-vehicle Multisensory Displays: How Much do Older Drivers Benefit from this Technology?

Brandon Pitts Bio
University of Michigan, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering
PhD Candidate

Other Poster Presentations:

Lacy Brown – Assessing How Drivers of through Vehicles React to Driveway Activity

Mahmoud Mohsen El-Sherif – On-road Evaluation of a Hands Free In-vehicle Information System

S. Hadi Khazraee – Application of the Hyper-Poisson Generalized Linear Model for Analyzing Motor Vehicle Crashes

Nina Jo Saint – Project C.R.U.I.S.E.: Culturally Responsive Understanding in Safety Education

Kathryn (Katie) Tippey – Investigating the Performance and Safety Effects of Using Google Glass While Driving Co-presenter: Elayaraj (Raj) Sivaraj

Lingtao Wu – A Study on Intersection Functional Area Using GIS

Yanfen Zhou – Establishing Mobility Investment Priorities Under TxDOT Rider 42: Safety Assessment of Interstate 35 Austin, Texas (Travis County)