Effectiveness of technology-based brief intervention to reduce teen driver crash risk

INTRODUCTION: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading public health threat to teens. It is the leading cause of deaths in this age group and contributes to large numbers of non-fatal injuries. Hard acceleration, turning, and hard braking generate elevated g-forces and elevated crash risk. Feedback linked to these events could modify driving behavior and reduce crash risk among teenage drivers. Studies using technologies that provide immediate feedback in the form of a light or sound, and/or a brief intervention message to teens and their parents have been associated with declines in teenage drivers' elevated g-force events, but has not been previously tested using a randomized experimental design. We evaluated the effectiveness of two forms of feedback in reducing newly licensed teenage drivers' rates of high g-force events. METHODS: Ninety parent-teen dyads were randomly assigned to either a lights-only group (LO), in which teen drivers received feedback as a blinking light when events occurred, or a lights-plus group (L+) in which teen drivers received feedback from a blinking light when events occurred, and parents and teens received a weekly report including a risk score, event video footage, and coaching. Weeks 1-2 were baseline (no feedback) and weeks 3-15 included condition-specific feedback. RESULTS: Growth curve analysis showed significant reductions (p=0.037) in events for L+ (B=-0.11, p=0.004), while no change was found for LO (B=0.08, p=0.61). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that technologies providing appropriate feedback may be useful in limiting risky driving and reducing crash risk among new teenage drivers.