Ohio University officials are hoping to put the brakes on potential vehicle crashes by observing how drivers handle dangerous situations behind a fake wheel.
OU’s tricked-out blue-gray Ford Focus sits in the Safety and Human Factors Facility in Stocker Center Room 308, and it is used to simulate hazardous driving conditions.
Three different screens in front of the driver display conditions such as snow, unexpected deer and construction workers.
Drivers’ responses are recorded by two eye-tracking cameras. It takes nine computers to run the lab.
“We assist state agencies to improve roadway designs and human behaviors,” Deborah McAvoy, OU’s chair and associate professor of civil engineering said.
The research was granted $170,000 by the National Science Foundation in 2008, which covered the expenses of obtaining the car from a junkyard.
About $1 million has since been spent on the research.
“We’ve done different studies including texting while driving,” McAvoy said. “We’re observing distracted drivers.”
Using computer software called HyperDrive, students in the lab can create hundreds of different scenarios.
“It takes a while to analyze all the results,” said Nick Brady, a second-year graduate student studying civil engineering.
The data collected from the car are received as fast as .03 seconds. Data are gathered in a text file, which Brady transfers to an Excel spreadsheet—sometimes a weeklong process.
Participants tend to be from the psychology department’s pool of students, who frequently get credit for taking part in the study.“Anyone who uses the roadway … it’s everyone’s responsibility to work together,” McAvoy said.
OU’s facility is only one of three in the state of Ohio that examines human driving behavior. The others are housed at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University.
There have been an investigated 56,552 motor vehicle accidents in the state of Ohio in 2013, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol; that’s an increase of more than 600 crashes from 2012.
There were about 5,000 fatal crashes this year, according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
Sarah Owens, a senior studying child and family studies, was almost in an accident of her own when she almost hit another car in October driving on Union Street.
“I don’t really have a problem with drivers in general,” she said. “I have a problem with the people on the sidewalks walking right in front of moving cars. The drivers are good for the most part because we are constantly slamming our breaks to avoid hitting people.”
Owens said she was hesitant to drive near campus because of all the walking students.
“(Students) literally walk right in front of moving vehicles,” Owens said. “What if I’m not able to brake in time? That wouldn’t be my fault, but I’d still feel terrible if I hit someone. So, they’re the ones who put the driver in that position.”
hy135010@ohiou.edu
@HannahMYang
