Public Education about Occupant Protection Technologies and Protecting Occupants with Disabilities

Abstract

Occupant protection is the foundation of any traffic safety program. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates, improvements in vehicle safety have helped increase the number of lives saved annually from 115 in 1960 to 27,621 in 2012. Therefore, educating drivers about advanced new technologies in vehicle occupant protection is very important. However, these technologies are not useful or efficient unless drivers are aware of them and use them accordingly. The purpose of this project was first to comprehensively review all the technologies related to occupant protection and also all the technologies related to occupant protection for people with disabilities using all available websites and related articles. Overall, 26 active safety technologies and 8 passive safety technologies were found regarding general occupant protection technologies. Also,  19 technologies were found related to occupant protection for people with disabilities. Another goal of this project was to promote a culture of safety through public education and training about occupant protection technologies, especially for people with disabilities. To reach this goal, two educational webinars about available technologies that protect occupants and people with disabilities were held. In both webinars, the research team tried to emphasize the importance of occupant protection by providing facts about the safety of passengers and drivers during a crash and the potential severity of injuries. The first webinar was held on April 15, 2022. The general occupant protection technologies in this webinar were categorized into two main categories: 1. Active Safety Technologies (e.g., Blind Sport Detection, Forward Collision Warning, etc.); and 2. Passive Safety Technologies (e.g., Airbags, Seatbelts, Belt bags, Child Safety Seats, etc.). In the end, a summary of the technologies was presented to the audience. Moreover, a section was dedicated to Q&A with the audience. Overall, 24 people joined the webinar. Some of the audience expressed their feelings about learning more about “child safety seats” and other new safety technologies. Moreover, some participants mentioned that the webinar introduced them to new technologies such as backseat airbags, belt bags, and turn assist. Moreover, to educate Maryland drivers about the advantages of new occupant protection technologies, an informative fact sheet was developed by the research team and distributed online and through social media. The second webinar was held on September 16, 2022, and focused on occupant protection technologies for people with disabilities. The first section of the webinar was a review of all the general occupant protection technologies that were presented in the first webinar. The second part of the webinar was about occupant protection for people with disabilities. First, some facts about the challenges that people with disabilities face in transportation were mentioned. Then, occupant protection technologies for people with disabilities were categorized into four main sections: 1. Safety Technologies for Visual Impairment Drivers (e.g., bioptic glasses, AV cars, etc.); 2. Safety Technologies for Hearing Impairment Drivers (Audio-Tactile Conversion, Audio-Visual Conversion, etc.); 3. Safety Technologies for Physical Impairment Drivers (hand controls, steering, handicap accessible vehicles, etc.); and 4. Smartphone Applications that Help Drivers with Disabilities (e.g., Wheelmap, FuelService, etc.). In the end, a summary of all the technologies was presented to the audience. Again, a section was dedicated to Q&A with the audience. Overall, 44 people joined the webinar. Some of the audience expressed their feelings about learning more in-depth about “Waymo AV cars” and some additional new safety technologies.

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Universities Involved

Morgan State University

Principle Investigator(s)

Mansoureh Jeihani 
Ramina Javid
Eazaz Sadeghvaziri

Expected Completion Date

October 25, 2022

Subject Areas

Distracted Driving, Intelligent Vehicles, Transportation Education and Outreach