Safety Policy Implications and Information Dissemination

Project Lead: Beth-Anne Schuelke-Leech (OSU)

Assistant Professor, The John Glenn School of Public Affairs
Email: schuelke-leech.1@osu.edu
Office: 614-247-8798 Fax: 614-247-4868
250B Page Hall; 1810 College Road; Columbus, OH, 43210

Other Investigator: Ümit Özgüner (OSU), Janet Weisenberger (OSU), David Woods (OSU)

First Year Funding: $88,965 (USDOT $71,386; University Cost Share $17,579)

UTC Project information form (Exhibit F)

Project Description

This project has connections to all of the other UTC projects and will include, at the earliest stages, a policy component of the hypothesis testing, experiment planning, and outcomes assessment elements, with the goal of positioning the UTC’s research program to have maximum awareness of, and alignment with, policy needs. This alignment is expected to result in earlier adoption of autonomous and intelligent vehicle technologies, thereby accelerating improvement and impact of US DOT’s safety performance metrics and goals.

We will conduct research on policies and regulations that can either support or hinder the adoption of new safety technologies and intelligent vehicle systems. This research will include widespread interviews with policymakers, engineers, automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and drivers. We will also determine whether there are differences among driver population groups (e.g., by age, race, socio-economic status) in their interactions to and sentiments about autonomous and intelligent vehicle systems. In this way we can identify factors that may affect the adoption and use of these technologies by different segments of drivers.

Research Objectives

• Year 1: Assess the impact of policy and regulatory approaches on proposed pre-crash scenarios and technology development hypotheses to be undertaken by the Center.
• Year 2: Develop and modify pre-crash scenarios and experiment plans to better align with hypotheses and outcome assessments that inform policy recommendations.