Experienced Drivers Wanted: You Can Always Learn Something New
The Question
We had a client who needed to understand how more experienced drivers handled unexpected vehicle malfunctions. What was the typical response, and could we better train drivers to respond correctly even if they thought they already knew what to do?
The Who*
Our Utah team was part of a larger group of experts across the nation who prepared the research vehicle and collaborated on defining the exact parameters of the test. We made it happen.
The Design*
To meet the project deadline, we needed a representative sample of over 100 drivers with 15+ years driving experience, lined up across two days of testing, in another state.
I worked with a peer to develop the screening interview, coordinated with senior living and community centers to post flyers to obtain our users, and interviewed and scheduled prospective users to get at our desired population. We had two weeks to identify and gather the needed supplies, get them shipped to site, and consider how to ensure our users’ experience provided the needed data, but also a learning moment.
To ensure participant safety while re-creating the desired event conditions, we selected a large, wide tract of land for the test site. Users arrived at one tent for intake and instructions. After driving in the car for several minutes with a research co-conspirator, they were asked to maintain an even speed then come to a stop at a “wall” of cones. Suddenly, an unexpected event occurred and drivers had to respond to the best of their ability. After their initial reactions were recorded and the vehicle came to a stop, the researcher talked the driver through how to safely respond to such an event. The driver practiced the proper, safe reaction before moving to the check out tent for the closing interview.
The Lessons
We conducted an error analysis, coding the users’ foot movements, hand responses, and time to react to the unexpected event.
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Nearly everyone reacted incorrectly to the unexpected driving event. Even more shocking, many drivers didn’t have the physical strength to make that incorrect response successful.
To understand why the drivers thought to react in the manner they did, we asked them think aloud their process, parsing their comments to determine their reasoning behind the series of incorrect actions.
Because of the targeted sample of more experienced drivers, we realized that many of them had a view of the brake system that did not align with current technologies (i.e., “pumping the brakes”). Because we allowed the drivers to experienced the event again empowered with the correct knowledge, we provided our end users with up to date knowledge that could save their lives and that knowledge could be shared with friends and family in an engaging story about their experience in our study.
The Solution
This experimental study produced findings that our client needed to advocate for changes in both the vehicle technology used to stop this type of unexpected driving events and to educate drivers how to handle them should they occur.
Additionally, we gave every driver the “correct response” instructions, and allowed them to try again, this time knowing how to handle the unexpected event. We made sure they not only knew what to do, but how to do it.
Next Steps
Because we discovered that a more experienced driver population might have outdated information on the way certain vehicle systems functioned, a follow-up study would examine if drivers with 2–10 years driving experience might have re-acted differently to the unexpected event and/or had the physical strength to make their reaction successful.
*some details omitted to respect privacy documents.
