Publication

Introduction - The second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) is conducting the largest and most comprehensive naturalistic driving study (NDS) ever imagined. The study recruited 2,800 volunteer drivers, ages 16–80, across six sites: two counties surrounding Tampa, Florida; ten counties in central Indiana containing Indianapolis; Erie County, New York containing Buffalo; four counties in North Carolina containing Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill; ten counties in central Pennsylvania containing State College; and four counties in Washington containing Seattle. All of their trips are recorded for 1 to 2 years. Data include vehicle speed, acceleration, and braking; all vehicle controls; lane position; forward radar; and video views forward, to the rear, and on the driver’s face and hands. When complete in early 2014, the NDS data set will contain over 33,000,000 travel miles from over 3,800 vehicle-years of driving, totaling over four petabytes of data. In parallel, the Roadway Information Database (RID) will contain detailed roadway data collected on approximately 12,000 centerline miles of highways in and around the study sites plus additional information about crash histories, traffic and weather conditions, work zones, and active safety campaigns in the study areas. The NDS and RID data can be linked to associate driving behavior with the roadway environment. Campbell (2012) provides an excellent overview of the study. Additional details may be found at the study websites www.shrp2nds.us/ and http://forums.shrp2nds.us/. The study’s central goal is to produce unparalleled data from which to study the role of driver performance and behavior in traffic safety and how driver behavior affects the risk of crashes. This involves understanding how the driver interacts with and adapts to the vehicle, the traffic environment, roadway characteristics, traffic control devices, and other environmental features. After-the-fact crash investigations can do this only indirectly. The NDS data record how drivers really drive and what they are doing just before the crash or near crash. The NDS and RID data will be used for years to come to develop and evaluate safety countermeasures that will prevent traffic crashes and injuries.