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A Randomized Field Trial of Smartphone-Based Feedback Designed to Encourage Safe Driving
Risky driving behaviors, such as speeding and distraction, are prominent contributing factors in motor vehicle crashes. Finding ways to reduce such behaviors is paramount and will have a positive impact on traffic safety. One such avenue, smartphone apps, can monitor and track these behaviors as well as deliver timely and tailored feedback to drivers. Indeed, many monitoring and feedback apps exist, often under the auspices of insurance programs. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety commissioned research, presented in this report, to examine whether a safe driving app can reduce rates of speeding, hard acceleration and braking, and cellphone use among a representative sample of drivers. The current study employs a large-scale randomized controlled trial to examine how different strategies for delivering feedback to drivers affect safety outcomes during an intervention period and whether the benefits persist several weeks after the feedback is removed. The results should be of interest to safety advocates and stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, including those in the insurance industry.
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