Teen driving: Can computers teach us to drive?

Can technology help us do a better job of training novice drivers? Note the term “novice,” which is coming to replace “teen” as the focus of national concern about inexperienced drivers. This stems in part from graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws that have pushed up the age of new drivers and is partially a reflection of recent studies showing that it’s not just newly licensed drivers, but all inexperienced drivers younger than 25 who are at higher risk of death or injury in car crashes.

“Technology is just a part of their lives,” says William Van Tassel, head of training for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “They’ve grown up with the Internet and cable and video games and phones, so they take that with them when they start driving.”

Most headlines about the mix of technology and young drivers are negative, because of the concentration on issues such as the use of phones or texting while driving. But Van Tassel points out that technology also is proliferating in driver education, training and monitoring.

“We don’t have a lot of data yet on any of these,” he notes. “We don’t know if advanced driving simulators can improve education for teen drivers. They’re being used more widely to train professional drivers in emergency response police, fire and ambulance], military and the transportation sector. The cost has come down some, but they’re still pretty expensive for your normal driving schools to take on.”

source: autoweek