National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS)

Check out some photos from a local Porsche Club's car show we hosted this weekend!

Want to participate in one of our studies? We have some opportunities out there. Check them out now! drivingstudies.com

Thank you Iowa Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for visiting us this morning! We hope you enjoyed learning more about our ADS for Rural America project and its many benefits for rural communities.

Check out our Alumni Spotlight on Shan Bao, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa who researches automotive human factors.
https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/04/alumni-spotlight-shan-bao-phd

If you missed the webinar "Cannabis and Driving Safety – What's new and what's next?" the recording is now available:
https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/04/webinar-recording-cannabis-and-driving-safety-whats-new-and-whats-next

In case you missed it: here's the link to the recording of our first ADS for Rural America webinar "Focus on Safety."

https://youtu.be/TmiFa86njnM

There is still time to join us for our first ADS for Rural America webinar - TOMORROW at 10 a.m. CT.

Register➡https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/news/2022/03/new-webinar-series-begin-april-21

Cannabis and Driving Safety – What's new and what's next? Join us on Wednesday, April 20, at 2 p.m. CT, for a virtual panel discussion of recent research findings on cannabis and driving safety, including what research is needed to better understand how cannabis impacts driving performance and safety, as well how improved technology might be able to detect impaired driving.

Register now: https://uiowa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2hjXoUtbTBKswosgEIqdFA

Our first ADS for Rural America webinar is just over a week away. Join us on Thursday, April 21, from 10 to 11 a.m. CT.

Register➡https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/news/2022/03/new-webinar-series-begin-april-21

EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER: Come see our ADS for Rural America transit van and other community vehicles THIS Wednesday at Mercer Park in Iowa City for the Iowa City Public Library Bookmobile's 5-year birthday celebration!

In 2019, 3,142 people were killed by distracted driving according to the NHTSA. This is a 10% increase from 2018. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Join us in taking the pledge to not drive distracted. #JustDrive

Think first before you drink and drive. Check out our major findings about drugged driving here: https://nads.uiowa.edu/drugged-driving-research

Photos from Southeast Iowa STEM Region's post

We were glad to be represented at the Hawkeye Caucus yesterday, sharing our mission of safe roads!

NADS Receives Historic Grant

While its research goes back to the early 1990s, the National Advanced Driving Simulator is going back to the stone age with this most recent grant: https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/04/nads-receives-historic-grant

NADS Receives Historic Grant While its research goes back to the early 1990s, the National Advanced Driving Simulator is going back to the stone age with this most recent grant.

We are launching a webinar series about our ADS for Rural America project! Join us on Thursday, April 21, from 10 to 11 a.m. CT for our first webinar "Focus on Safety."
Register here: https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/news/2022/03/new-webinar-series-begin-april-21

High-definition (HD) digital maps are essentially the "brain" of an automated vehicle. These maps allow our automated vehicle to locate itself on the road within 10 centimeters. Our ADS for Rural America route uses an HD map created by Mandli Communications: https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/news/2022/02/brain-automated-vehicle

More than 46,000 people died on U.S. Roads in 2021, a 9% increase from 2020—according to early estimates from the National Safety Council.

Learn more about what you can do to prevent motor vehicle fatalities: https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/nsc-analysis-traffic-is-back-to-prepandemic-levels

Drug use in crashes higher during COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, including the prevalence of drugged driving-related crashes: https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/03/drug-use-crashes-higher-during-covid-19-pandemic

Drug use in crashes higher during COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, including the prevalence of drugged driving. The University of Iowa was selected as one of the collection sites to examine the prevalence of drugged driving among seriously and fatally injured road users

PAVE's Virtual Panel “What Does Autonomy Really Mean?” - Full Recording

“On duty vs. off duty” – a great way to explain the difference between driver-assist features vs. fully autonomous vehicles (i.e., “self-driving,” which, contrary to popular belief, are not available for purchase today). Meaning: You’re always “on duty” as a driver, so keep your eyes on the road ahead even when automated features are in use! Great discussion from yesterday’s PAVECampaign panel: https://youtu.be/tCxII_voVKY

PAVE's Virtual Panel “What Does Autonomy Really Mean?” - Full Recording One of the most pressing highway safety issues we face today is helping drivers to understand the difference between autonomous driving – where the car is in...

Sharing the road: Using devices installed on farm equipment, researchers collected data and video on vehicle interactions with on-road farm equipment.

Learn more about this project: https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/03/safertrek-sharing-road

While 19% of Americans live in rural areas, nearly 50% of traffic fatalities occur on rural roads.

Our ADS for Rural America Project aims to represent rural roads and their unique challenges in AV research.

https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/

Did you know?

The initial Iowa Driving Simulator was operational in 1989 and was the first modern driving simulator in the nation. The motion base was added in 1993 and came from a B-52 bomber simulator.

Timeline photos

The University of Iowa was chosen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to house the National Advanced Driving Simulator, which Iowa researchers use to help make the roads a safer place.

If you have driven an electric vehicle, you've likely used regenerative braking, a feature that causes the vehicle to decelerate as soon as the foot is lifted off the accelerator pedal. Funded by SAFER-SIM UTC, researchers at the NADS explored the possible safety benefits of this feature. Learn more about their findings here: https://nads.uiowa.edu/news/2022/02/does-regenerative-braking-have-safety-benefits
University of Iowa College of Engineering

Phase 2 is now underway for our ADS for Rural America project, studying automated vehicles on rural roads. Our goals: safer and more accessible rural roads in the future. https://adsforruralamerica.uiowa.edu/
AutonomouStuff, LLC University of Iowa College of Engineering

Brrr...We are in for a chilly day tomorrow. Ever wonder how your vehicle's temperature warning works? Learn more here: https://mycardoeswhat.org/safety-features/temperature-warning/

IIHS creates safeguard ratings for partial automation

Considering a vehicle with the latest tech? Pay attention to these safety ratings, to come later this year. While none of the vehicles you can buy today are truly “self-driving,” what they do have is partial automation, meaning they have features meant to assist the driver—not replace the driver. The new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rating system will rate the safeguards used in these vehicles to keep you safe:
https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/iihs-creates-safeguard-ratings-for-partial-automation

IIHS creates safeguard ratings for partial automation Vehicles with partial automation need to have safeguards in place to help drivers stay focused on the road. IIHS is developing a ratings program to evaluate attention reminders and other measures.

Get a peek inside our facility with our virtual tour, and learn more about our research. Tour our tech at bit.ly/NADS-TOUR.

I spy some future engineers and researchers in this group. Thanks to local Boy Scouts troop 212 for visiting us!

University of Iowa College of Engineering Boy Scouts of America

In case you missed it: Here's the link to the recording of PAVECampaign's virtual panel "All AVs Are Local: Iowa's Autonomous Rural Shuttle."

https://pavecampaign.org/event/iowa-autonomous-rural-shuttle/

University of Iowa College of Engineering, Iowa Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Highway Administration

Innovative Headlights, Studied by CSRC, Could Help Save Pedestrians, Bicyclists - Toyota USA Newsroom

A new type of headlight may help save pedestrians from getting struck by vehicles at night, studied at University of Iowa with researchers from TOYOTA CSRC.
University of Iowa College of Engineering
https://pressroom.toyota.com/innovative-headlights-studied-by-csrc-could-help-save-pedestrians-bicyclists/

Innovative Headlights, Studied by CSRC, Could Help Save Pedestrians, Bicyclists - Toyota USA Newsroom The first half of 2021 showed a sharp spike in traffic fatalities – the largest in the 46 years since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been tracking the data. Pedestrian deaths are particularly high: more than 6,000 […]