VTTI Research – Featured Projects and Publications

Naturalistic Driving Research

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute conducts naturalistic driving research that can help commercial vehicle drivers and businesses better understand human factors relating to crashes. Below are a few example projects.

Klauer, S. G., Guo, F., Simons-Morton, B. G., Ouimet, M. C., Lee, S. E., & Dingus, T. A. (2014). Distracted Driving and Risk of Road Crashes among Novice and Experienced Drivers. New England Journal of Medicine, 370, 54-59.
Dingus, T. A. (2014). Estimates of prevalence and risk associated with inattention and distraction based upon in situ naturalistic data. Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine, 58, 60-68.
Dingus, T. A., Klauer, S. G., Neale, V. L., Petersen, A., Lee, S. E., Sudweeks, J., Perez, M. A., Hankey, J., Ramsey, D., Gupta, S., Bucher, C., Doerzaph, Z. R., Jermeland, J., & Knipling, R.R. (2006). The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study: Phase II – Results of the 100-Car Field Experiment (Contract No. DTNH22-00-C-07007). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Chen, R., & Gabler, H. C. (2014). Risk of thoracic injury from direct steering wheel impact in frontal crashes. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 76(6), 1441–1446. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000000222

National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence

The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence (NSTSCE) at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) was established by the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2005 to develop and disseminate advanced transportation safety techniques and innovations in both rural and urban communities. NSTSCT research focuses on four major objectives:

To develop and test transportation devices and techniques that enhance driver performance
To evaluate the roadway environment and infrastructure-based safety systems
To address mobility for vulnerable road users
To examine driver impairment issues

The catalogue of research is available online with completed reports and publications.

Center for Truck and Bus Safety

VTTI’s Center for Truck and Bus Safety (CTBS) focuses on the research, development, and evaluation of heavy-vehicle systems. CTBS is dedicated to the design, delivery, and implementation of leading-edge research and development efforts aimed at improving the health and safety of heavy-vehicle drivers. A few example projects are listed below.

Electronic Logging Devices – FMCSA: The purpose of this study was to assess the benefits of installed electronic hours-of-service recorders (EHSRs) on safety and hours-of-service (HOS) violations related to Class 7 and 8 trucks as they operated during normal revenue service.
Fatigue Management Program – NAFMP: The fatigue management program was sponsored by the North American Fatigue Management Program (NAFMP) and was completed in 2012. This program sought to address a number of issues through the comprehensive analysis of various factors that affect fatigue in truck drivers.