Improving teen driver safety with virtual driving assessments

Tragically, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of adolescent mortality and injury in the United States with new, inexperienced drivers at particular risk. The risk is under-recognized in health care. One way forward could be virtual driving simulations.Recently, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, through its spun out business Diagnostic Driving, partnered with the state of Ohio to assess a virtual driving simulation in driver education courses. Initial findings were recently published in the October 2020 edition of Health Affairs.At this time, the partnership’s work is informing policy changes around integrating the virtual driving assessment system into licensing and driver training with the aim of reducing crashes in the first months of independent driving. The system can be developed to identify deficits in safety-critical skills that lead to crashes in new drivers and to address challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced to driver testing and training. Co-authors Dr. Flaura Winston and Dr. Elizabeth Walshe from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia sit down with Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss their research.