Driver Education Research Study

NCT ID: NCT06413927

Last Updated: 2025-08-11

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

1300 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-08-08

Study Completion Date

2027-12-31

Brief Summary

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This study will test the effectiveness of different types of driver training interventions for reducing young new driver crash risk early after licensure.

Detailed Description

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Motor vehicle crashes remain high in young drivers, despite graduated driver licensing laws that put restrictions on driving and delay licensure. Typically, data trends show that crash risk is highest right after licensure, in the early months of independent driving. Additional studies of different driver training interventions have shown some evidence that it is possible to improve skills and reduce crashes early in licensure for young drivers. However, Pennsylvania and many other states have no professional training requirements for young drivers.

This study will test the effectiveness of different types of driver training programs for reducing young new driver crash risk early after licensure.

Up to 1,200 adolescent learner drivers in Pennsylvania will be recruited for this trial (to get up to 1,000 evaluable participants). Participants will be recruited through Primary Care Clinics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and from the surrounding community to take part in a study that will continue through the learner phase and for 6 months after licensure. Participants will give informed consent and be asked to complete some baseline surveys and cognitive tasks, and a virtual driving assessment in-person during a clinical or other visit. All will receive care-as-usual.

Participants will also be followed through the learner phase with a smartphone app that monitors driving trips and monthly surveys that can be completed at home. In the learner phase, participants will randomly receive one of three interventions. One group of participants will receive professional behind-the-wheel training with a local driving school instructor. Another group will receive a modern online driver training course. Another group will receive an online vehicle and driver safety education. Participants randomly assigned to the behind-the-wheel training group will be required to download and use an app to log and track their driving practice hours. Use of this app will be optional for participants randomly assigned to the other groups.

After the learner phase, participants will be given an online hazard skills test, online surveys, and second virtual driving assessment, and state license examination and will be followed for 6 months after licensure, with online surveys at 2, 4, and 6 months after licensure, and with continued driver trip monitoring through the smartphone app.

Conditions

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Risk Reduction Behavior Injuries Accident, Traffic Development, Adolescent

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Caregivers Outcome Assessors
The research staff who are unblinded will deliver the electronic surveys and cognitive battery (which is automatically scored) at baseline before participants are randomly assigned to an arm. The primary outcome variables are automatically scored, thus blindly to intervention arm. The Virtual Driving Assessment is a self-guided tool and is automatically scored. The smartphone app automatically records hard braking events and other behaviors without knowledge of intervention arm. Licensing tests will be conducted by state-sanctioned licensing examiners who will be blinded to which arm the participant is in (per state mandate).

Study Groups

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Active Control: Online Vehicle and Driver Safety Education

Participants in this arm will receive care as usual, and also complete an online video training module on vehicle and driver safety, with a short quiz at the end to determine compliance. The training content will not teach driving skills, as in the other online driver training arm. It requires up to two hours to complete and can be done from any internet-connected computer (at home, at school, etc.).

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Online Vehicle and Driver Safety Education

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

This online video education program provides education in vehicle and driver safety (e.g. vehicle maintenance, adjusting car seats and seatbelts). This online training will take up to 2 hours to complete and will have a short quiz at the end to determine compliance with this online training.

Online Driver Skills Training

Participants in the Online Driver Skills Training arm will complete an online driver skill training program known as Accelerated Curriculum to Create Effective Learning (ACCEL) for novice drivers. It requires up to two hours to complete and can be done from any internet-connected computer (at home, at school, etc.).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Online Driver Skills Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The online driver training is the Accelerated Curriculum to Create Effective Learning (ACCEL) is designed to enhance the ability to anticipate, recognize and respond to hazards and to maintain attention to the road. The training is delivered online via a computer and can be done from home or at a school or other site that has a computer with internet access. It requires up to two hours to complete, and will be hosted on a platform that will track progress and completion through the training (such as accuracy, duration in modules, time to complete) and a short quiz will be provided at the end to assess learning.

Behind-the-Wheel Driver Training

Participants in the Behind-the-Wheel training arm will receive professional behind-the-wheel training course delivered in-person on the road by a local driving school instructor through our partnership with a local driving school Coastline Academy.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Behind-the-Wheel Driver Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The professional behind-the-wheel training course will be conducted in-person, delivered by local driving school partner Coastline Academy. The curriculum consists of 6 hours of training with assigned practice between lessons, and meets Pennsylvania and national standards. Post-lesson forms completed by the instructors will record adherence and consistency (intervention fidelity).

Interventions

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Online Vehicle and Driver Safety Education

This online video education program provides education in vehicle and driver safety (e.g. vehicle maintenance, adjusting car seats and seatbelts). This online training will take up to 2 hours to complete and will have a short quiz at the end to determine compliance with this online training.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Online Driver Skills Training

The online driver training is the Accelerated Curriculum to Create Effective Learning (ACCEL) is designed to enhance the ability to anticipate, recognize and respond to hazards and to maintain attention to the road. The training is delivered online via a computer and can be done from home or at a school or other site that has a computer with internet access. It requires up to two hours to complete, and will be hosted on a platform that will track progress and completion through the training (such as accuracy, duration in modules, time to complete) and a short quiz will be provided at the end to assess learning.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Behind-the-Wheel Driver Training

The professional behind-the-wheel training course will be conducted in-person, delivered by local driving school partner Coastline Academy. The curriculum consists of 6 hours of training with assigned practice between lessons, and meets Pennsylvania and national standards. Post-lesson forms completed by the instructors will record adherence and consistency (intervention fidelity).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Adolescents ages 16-17 years old who reside in Pennsylvania
* Have an active Pennsylvania learner's permit
* Have \<30 hours of driving practice during permit phase
* Have never taken an on-road licensing exam, in any state
* Plan to get a license within the next 12 months in Pennsylvania
* Plan to have access to a vehicle to drive after licensure
* Have a personal cell phone and access to a smartphone/tablet/computer with internet access
* Download and use the RoadReady app (only required for participants randomized to the behind-the-wheel training arm; optional for participants randomized to the online vehicle and driver safety and online driver skills training arms)
* Are able to read/write in English
* Provide informed consent/assent
* Are not also taking part in another learner driver study

Exclusion Criteria

* Non-Pennsylvania resident
* Participants who do not pass the license exam will not be able to complete the post-license monitoring until the license is obtained
* Enrolled in another learner driver study
Minimum Eligible Age

16 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

17 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Pennsylvania

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Michigan

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Elizabeth A Walshe, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Flaura Winston, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dan Romer, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Locations

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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Elizabeth A Walshe, PhD

Role: CONTACT

267-425-1583

Jamillah T Millner, MPH

Role: CONTACT

267-425-0375

Facility Contacts

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Elizabeth A Walshe, PhD

Role: primary

267-425-1583

Jamillah T Millner, MPH

Role: backup

267-425-0375

Other Identifiers

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1R01HD108249-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

21-019445

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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