Road Safety
Road and transportation SAfety
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injuries and death around the world.
Our Research and Practice Action Teams (RPATs) are topical areas of focus.
Topics we study:
- Rural road safety/ farm equipment safety
- Older drivers
- Teen driving
- ATVs on and off the roadways
- Bicycle safety
- Motorcycle safety
- Pedestrian safety
- Simulation studies
- Naturalistic studies
- Virtual environments
Labs, technology, and websites
- TRIPS Lab
- Driving Safety Research Institute
- Hank Virtual Environments Lab
- Steering Teens Safe
- SaferTrek
- PedalPortal
Blog posts
- Older adult drivers.
- Child passenger safety: 30 years of data in Iowa.
- Addressing motorcycle safety in Iowa.
- ATV safety & youth
- Preventing child injuries outdoors during COVID-19
- Using real-world technology to study bicycle safety for kids & adults
- Preventing child pedestrian injuries
- Car crashes: When teens are at fault
- Preventing impaired driving among youth
- Preventing child pedestrian injuries
New research
- Highway safety behavioral strategies for rural and tribal areas (guide)
- Deciding when to cross in front of an autonomous vehicle: How child and adult pedestrians respond to eHMI timing and vehicle kinematics
- How do bicyclists respond to vehicles with adaptive headlamp systems? A nighttime study in an immersive virtual environment
- The association between county ordinances allowing off-road vehicles on public roads and crash rates
- Direct medical charges of all parties in teen-involved vehicle crashes by culpability
- Predictors of rural driver self-reported passing behaviors when interacting with farm equipment on the roadway
- How Children Judge Affordances When Walking and Bicycling Across Virtual Roads: Does Mode of Locomotion Matter?
- Longitudinal and Concurrent Effortful Control as Predictors of Risky Bicycling in Adolescence: Moderating Effects of Age and Gender
- Do Simulated Augmented Reality Overlays Influence Street-Crossing Decisions for Non-Mobility-Impaired Older and Younger Adult Pedestrians?
Policy briefs
- In-person license renewal: An important tool to identify older adults with reduced driving abilities and improve road safety
- Strategies to end bicycle crashes in Iowa: Policy, legislative, and infrastructure solutions
- Iowa Traffic Road Update: Crosswalks (TRIPS Lab)
- Keeping teen drivers and roads safer
Handouts and reports
- Road safety across the lifespan: Interventions from the UI IPRC
- Is your child safe on the road?
- Transportation and rural road safety
- Agricultural Safety
- Inventory of Youth Bicycle Education Programs
- Iowa traffic code update: Crosswalks
- Highway Safety Behavioral Strategies for Rural and Tribal Areas: A Guide
Infographics
Partners in road safety
- Iowa Department of Transportation
- Governor’s Highway Traffic Safety Bureau
- Blank Children’s Hospital Center for Advocacy and Outreach
- Iowa State University Center for Transportation Research & Education
- University of The Gambia, The Gambia
- University of Babes-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Our Road Safety team includes a UI Research Team Lead and a Practice Team Lead:
- Cara Hamann, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology
- Daniel McGehee, PhD, Director of the Driving Safety Research Institute