While scanning abilities and anticipation are the best ways to prevent a crash, evasive maneuvers such as swerving or hard braking are last resort actions that can prevent the accident. A crash is often the outcome of a succession of catastrophic events. In fact, the leading cause of death among 16 to 20 years olds is motor vehicle related crashes ( 2). According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a 16-year-old driver is more than 4 times as likely to have a motor vehicle crash as any other licensed driver ( 1). Teenage drivers are disproportionately represented in crash statistics. When placed in the same situation, the novice teens decelerated on average 50% less than the experienced adults (p<0.01). The results showed strong differences between the experienced adult and novice teen drivers in the brake pressure applied. To avoid the crash, participants must hard brake, exhibiting dynamic control over both attentional and motor resources. As the participant drove on a suburban road, a car surged from a driveway hidden by a fence on the right side of the road. As part of a 30 to 35 simulated drive that encompassed the most common scenarios that result in serious crashes, participants were exposed to a sudden car event. This paper summarizes the results of a driving scenario in a study comparing the driving performance of novice teen drivers (n=21) 16–17 year olds with 90 days of provisional licensure with that of experienced adult drivers (n=17) 25–50 year olds with at least 5 years of PA licensure, at least 100 miles driven per week and no self-reported collisions in the previous 3 years. Since it is impossible to expose human subjects to critical life threatening driving scenarios, researchers have been increasingly using driving simulators to assess driving skills. Their driving skills are very new, still very often untested, so that their ability to properly react in an emergency situation remains a research question. Newly licensed drivers are the group most at risk for crashes. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death in teens in the United States.
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