1. A Hypermedia Simulation that
Teaches Defensive Driving Skills
Educational Psychology and Counseling
University of Kentucky
Borchyi Lin
Director: Dr. Henry P. Cole
November 18, 2005
This research was supported (in part) by a pilot project research training grant from the University of Cincinnati. The
University of Cincinnati, an Education and Research Center, is supported by Training Grant No. T42/CCT510420 from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The contents are solely the
responsibility of the author's) and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.

2. Background and Significant
 Automobiles travel faster and quieter, and rural road
surface improved
 Farms being split by highways
 Misconceptions about the concept of speed
FOR MORE INFO...
KY ROPS Notebook, KY FACE project, Iowa and Ohio Studies
Collision between motor vehicles and farm equipment have
increased in frequency and severity
Frequency of these types of collisions is increasing for multiple reasons:

3. Educational Interventions
 Multimedia narrative simulation
exercise “No Way to Meet a Neighbor”
(MM NWX)
 Reaction Time and Stopping Time
Game (RTST)

4. Purpose of this Study
 Determine the effect of the multimedia
NWX simulation exercise on students’
defensive driving strategies
 Determine the effect of the RTST game
on students’ accurate estimates of
reaction and stopping time distances
 Determine the combined effects of both
the NWX simulation and the RTST game.

5. Performance Measurements
 HAZCUE test measured students’ ability to
recognize cues of potential collision hazards
and selection of defensive driving alternatives to
avoid collisions
 Perceived Reaction Time and Stopping Time test
(PRTST), measures students’ perception of
whether they could stop to avoid a collision at
different vehicle speeds as well as their reaction
time/distance and stopping time/distance to
avoid a collision

6. Hypothesis
 RTST game either alone or with the NWX
exercise would score better than students not
receiving the RTST as measured by the PRTST
posttest
 Receiving both the RTST game and the MM NWX
simulation would score higher on the HAZCUE
test than students who received either one or
the other
 RTST game alone would significantly improve
students’ PRTST posttest performance compared
to the group that received the MM NWX
simulation as treatment
 The effect of not applying any of the treatments

7. Experimental Design

8. Design treatments/measures
Group Pretests Intervention Posttests
Control Demographics
Exposure
PRTST pretest
None PRTST posttest
HAZCUE test
NWX Demographics
Exposure
PRTST pretest
MM NWX simulation alone PRTST posttest
HAZCUE test
NWX PER score
USEREVAL
RTST Demographics
Exposure
PRTST pretest
RTST Game alone PRTST posttest
HAZCUE test
NWX PER score
USEREVAL
NWX +
RTST
Demographics
Exposure
PRTST pretest
MM NWX simulation + RTST game PRTST posttest
HAZCUE test
NWX PER score
USEREVAL

9. Subjects
 123 high school students from four
different high schools was utilized for
this study
 The study sample was selected to include
students age 16 years and older who
attended Kentucky rural and suburban
county high schools

10. One-Way Interaction for Perceived Reaction
time/Distance
Pretest Posttest
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
Control Group
PerceivedReactionTime/Distance(feet)
Pretest Posttest
NWX Group
Pretest Posttest
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
RTST Group
Pretest Posttest
Time (Pre-/Posttest)
NWX + RTST Group

11. Three-way Interaction for Perceived Stopping
time/Distance
RTST (No) RTST (Yes)
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
Pretest
PerceivedStoppingTime/Distance(feet)
RTST (No) RTST (Yes)
Not Receiving MM NWX simulation
Received MM NWX simulation
Posttest
Not Receiving MM NWX simulation
Received MM NWX simulation

12. Three-way interaction for Proportion “Yes”
response to “I could Avoid a Collision”
RTST (No) RTST (Yes)
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Not Receiving MM NWX simulation
Receiving MM NWX simulation
Not Receiving MM NWX simulation
Receiving MM NWX simulation
Not Receiving MM NWX simulation
Receiving MM NWX simulation
35 mph
Proportion"Yes"Responseto
"ICouldAvoidaCollision"
RTST (No) RTST (Yes)
45 mph
RTST (No) RTST (Yes)
55 mph

13. HAZCUE performance score for each group
Control NWX RTST NWX + RTST
0
10
20
30
40
50
HAZCUEPerformanceScore(%)
Group

14. User Evaluation
 Depicted a real-life situation
 Taught them how to prevent collisions
 Provided useful safety information regarding
ROPS and farm tractors
 Helped them to be a more alert and cautious
driver
 Enjoyable activity
 Easy to use
 Easy to read

15. User Evaluation - Comparison between
Groups
 No significant differences for the students’
rating of the program when compared with RTST
group and NWX + RTST group
 NWX group judged the program significantly
higher than other treatment groups on most
items in the evaluation questionnaire
– Observation of the four study groups also suggested
that the students in the NWX group were more
engaged in the simulation
– Mean years of driving experience, both car and tractor,
for the NWX group is higher than the other three
groups

16. Hypothesis 1
RTST game either alone or with the NWX
exercise would score better than students not
receiving the RTST as measured by the PRTST
posttest
Statistically significant results were obtained on two indicators:
 Accurate response (fewer unrealistic “yes” responses) to the
question, “I could avoid a collision”
 Group that received both MM NWX simulation and the RTST
game predicted longer stopping distances/times during the
posttest

17. Hypothesis 2
Receiving both the RTST game and the MM
NWX simulation would score higher on the
HAZCUE test than students who received
either one or the other
This hypothesis was strongly supported with students
receiving both treatments performing significantly better
on the HAZCUE test than those receiving only one
treatment.

18. Hypothesis 3
RTST game alone would significantly improve
students’ PRTST posttest performance
compared to the group that received the MM
NWX simulation as treatment
RTST game scored significantly more accurately than
groups that received the MM NWX simulation on the PRTST
question “I could avoid a collision“.

19. Hypothesis 4
The effect of not applying any of the
treatments
Results revealed that there was a statically significant
improvement on HAZCUE measurement for students
receiving either the MM NWX simulation alone, or
combination of the MM NWX simulation and the RTST
game than control group students who did not

20. Limitations
 sample size
 availability of the senior class students
 low completion rates for groups exposed to MM
NWX simulation
 Instrumentation (user interface)
 the way the program was delivered
 selection of schools
 reactive arrangements, students not knowing
what they were to do and why until they had
completed the activities

21. Summary
 Increase students’ awareness of visual cues during
driving, accuracy in estimating reaction time/distance and
stopping time/distance, and use of defensive driving skills
to reduce farm and non-farm vehicle collisions on rural
roads
 Awareness of the difficulty for avoiding a collision and
awareness of roadway hazards could be improved with
classroom teaching methods
 Students’ awareness of increasing stopping time/distance
with increasing vehicle speed, and the ability to predict
reaction time/distance, may be more difficult to address

22. Summary -
 Use of MM NWX simulation increase the awareness of
hazard cues on the roadway and more aware of the
difficulty of avoiding collisions with farm equipment
 RTST game did increase students’ awareness that they
might not be able to stop a motor vehicle in time to avoid
a collision when an object pops into a roadway
 programming changes to the MM NWX simulation and
PRTST test computer program and interface including
adding an introduction and improved feedback for the
program and lesson plan could significantly increase the
benefits received from this method of instruction
continued