A new approach for assessing and training drivers' speed management

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for teens and speeding is a major contributor, particularly driving too fast for conditions (CDC, 2015, 2013; NHTSA, 2012; Lam, 2003; McKnight & McKnight, 2003). Speed management is a type of tacit knowledge learned through experience that combines speed perception with decisions about safety. Effective training and assessment of speed management requires a safe method for accumulating practice that includes realistic perceptual cues. This study investigated whether speed can be manipulated in an online environment using special effects technology without distorting speed perception. A forced-choice experiment revealed that drivers' perception of speed was not influenced by the special effects technology, indicating that critical perceptual information was not altered by the speed manipulation of the videos. The experiment also looked at the role of experience in detecting speed differences and found that experienced drivers were able to make judgments about speed more quickly than inexperienced drivers. Implications of these findings for training and assessment are discussed.