Can a Caffeine Buzz Improve Driving Safety?
People love coffee. Along with keeping us honest and making it easier to get going in the morning, research is finding another caffeine-fueled perk: It may play a role in improving driving safety....
View ArticleTeens Drive More Safely in the Months After a Crash
Teens’ risky driving drops considerably in the two months following a serious collision, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological...
View ArticleBeacons help Waze users navigate Pittsburgh’s tricky tunnel exits
Marketplace: Even before reliance on GPS, tunnel driving has been difficult for drivers. “As you go from light to dark, you have a momentary adjustment of the lighting in your eye, the responses of the...
View ArticleNC State researchers use simulator to make roads safer
CBS: Distracted driving is a major problem in the nation, ranging from what’s on the radio to making calls and texting while behind the wheel. And experts say it is only going to get worse. Research...
View ArticlePromising Behavioral Intervention Helps Cut Idling Car Engines
It’s a hated, but often unavoidable, aspect of urban life: the noise and pollution caused by idling cars and trucks. Idling vehicles are such a problem in Washington, DC, for example, that desperate...
View ArticleToo Fast, Too Slow: Judging–And Misjudging–Speeds
Video played at different speeds can quickly alter what people perceive as normal speed, according to research published in Scientific Reports. Leaving a highway to take an off-ramp may come with a...
View ArticleSelf-Driving Cars Face Psychological Speed Bumps
The technology to put autonomous vehicles on the road in large numbers is available, today. Manufacturers are pushing the accelerator—General Motors announced its readiness to mass-produce autonomous...
View ArticleMotorcycles Are Missed Because Drivers Aren’t Looking for Them
In Australia, a motorcyclist is 30 times more likely to be killed on the road than a car driver, despite there being many fewer motorcycles on the road and the average motorcyclist spending 1% of the...
View ArticleTools to Drive Eco-Friendly Behaviors
As the specter of climate change looms larger than ever, psychological scientists are trying to find ways to motivate people to adopt eco-friendly behavior. For example, research has shown that...
View ArticleYoung Men, Frequent Drivers Most Likely To Get Distracted While Driving
If you’re reading this on your phone while driving, stop it. Especially if you’re a young neurotic extroverted guy who drives a lot. Two seconds of attention to the insistent beeping and blinking of...
View ArticleWhy We Can’t Stop Texting and Driving
Once smartphones arrived in the hands of the masses, it didn’t take long for drivers to start using them behind the wheel — not only to make calls, but also to send text messages. Even more alarming:...
View ArticleHow Boring Roads Lead to Distracted Driving
It is a common phenomenon: You get in your car, start driving to work, your mind starts to wander…and you arrive at your destination, with only a vague sense of what happened in between. Although cases...
View ArticleTaming Traffic Tension with Behavioral Science
On New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis gave a homily at Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica, expressing his gratitude to those who, though small and concrete actions, “cooperate silently for the common good.” He...
View ArticleSHRP2 Safety Data: Naturalistic Driving Data Sandbox Available
Readers of APS’s Minds on the Road blog know that human behavior behind the wheel can be similar to—and sometimes strikingly different than—behavior outside of the car. For instance, risky drivers...
View ArticleNarcissism is a Driving Hazard, Research Suggests
Manipulation, rule breaking, and bullying are just a few of the behavioral hallmarks of narcissism. But new research identifies another disturbing manifestation of narcissism—dangerous driving....
View ArticleApril 4 Webinar: Tools and Applications for Naturalistic Driving Data
Learn about ways to take advantage of the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP 2 NDS), an enormous dataset on driving behavior, in an upcoming April 4, 2018 webinar....
View ArticleCrash Risks May Spike Immediately After a Near Miss
The short period of time after narrowly averting a vehicular accident is a vulnerable one for drivers, especially in city driving, according to new research findings. Dariusz Dolinski and Ewa...
View ArticleHow Monotony Promotes Sleepiness in Self-Driving Vehicles
Autonomous vehicles promise benefits in lives saved on the road, congestion in cities, and time spent on commutes. But if you’re hoping that, 5 years from now, you will be able to nap while your...
View ArticleBuckle Your Truck Up: Factors That May Slacken Seat Belt Use
In the United States, public information campaigns, car design, and law enforcement have led to widespread use of seat belts — around 90 percent, according to 2016 data. However, a 2015 study suggested...
View ArticleDriving? Your Phone Is A Distraction Even If You Aren’t Looking At It
I was in the car with a friend recently when she pulled up to a stoplight, picked up her phone and replied to a text. I gave her the side eye. What? she glared back. “I only use my phone when we’re...
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