Tsippy Lotan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tsippy Lotan

The objective of this research was to examine expected benefits from the introduction of motorist... more The objective of this research was to examine expected benefits from the introduction of motorist information systems and identify important research issues. This report summarizes the results obtained so far on the effectiveness of motorist information systems in reducing recurrent congestion. The focus of the research has been on analyzing the effects of motorist information systems on recurrent congestion and the sensitivity of expected benefits to various important parameters such as percentage of informed users, amount of information provided and spatial distribution of available information. The choice of these parameters facilitates the evaluation of a wide range of available motorist information systems from radio broadcasting, where information is only available for selected major routes or intersections, to dynamic in vehicle systems which provide and display real time information on the entire network. The model used is based on the assumption that users have different perceptions on actual travel times on links and their perceptions are normally distributed. Provision of information affects the distribution of perceived travel times. The model was applied on two networks, one representing a small suburban town, and the other representing the Boston Metropolitan area. The results obtained from these case studies indicate: modest reduction in average travel times due to introduction of motorist information systems (less than previously reported in other studies); and benefits sensitive to parameters of the problem with implications on system design and hardware requirements.

Transportation Research Part F-traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Nov 1, 2017

Abstract An indispensable issue in contemporary research on risk-taking by young drivers is paren... more Abstract An indispensable issue in contemporary research on risk-taking by young drivers is parents’ influence on their offspring’s driving behavior. The current study measures this influence by using a risk index of parents’ driving behavior measured via in-vehicle data recorders together with young drivers’ self-reported answers to a set of questionnaires. Both parents and young drivers participated in one of three intervention program groups to enhance safe driving within a longitudinal study, and the outcome of this intervention was measured 15 months following licensure. The aim of the current study was thus to assess the contribution of parents’ actual driving behavior, participation in the intervention, and teen drivers’ attitudes towards accompanied driving (measured six months after licensure), to the reported risky driving of the young drivers fifteen months after receiving their driving license. The data consist of a sample of 78 parent-young driver dyads who were originally randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups (receiving different forms of feedback) or a control group (with no feedback). Findings indicate that the feedback and training to parents intervention group, as well as parents’ risky driving events rate, were positively associated with the reported proneness to reckless driving and the reckless driving habits of the young drivers. In addition, lower perception of accompanied driving as enabling a sense of relatedness with parents, and higher negative perceptions of this period, were related to higher reported risky driving among young drivers fifteen months after licensure. The results highlight the importance of parents’ behavior and relationships with their offspring as key concepts in moderating risky driving among young drivers. Practical implications for road safety are discussed.

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual MeetingTransportation Research Board, 2014

In-vehicle technologies could facilitate safe driving by providing monitoring and feedback on dri... more In-vehicle technologies could facilitate safe driving by providing monitoring and feedback on driving behavior. Several studies have already shown that feedback from technologies can be used to moderate risky behavior of young drivers. However, it is still unclear how to motivate young drivers to adopt such technologies outside the “research laboratory”, and whether parents’ presence is a “must”. The exponential growth in smartphones’ use, and especially among young drivers, holds great opportunities and potential; as these devices incorporate sensors such as global positioning system (GPS), accelerometers, and camera - they can serve as in-vehicle monitoring and feedback devices and thus reduce adaptation barriers related to installation complexity and cost. Still, the question remains: will young drivers download and use it in real life? This paper describes an attempt to motivate young drivers to do so. The authors describe lessons learned from a small-scale field experiment involving teen drivers. In this experiment, teens were offered to participate in the pilot and drive safer. Although it was a voluntary action, all 24 teens meeting the participation conditions chose to participate when offered an appealing incentive. Their driving information, recorded by a specialized smartphone application and their attitudes, as conveyed in interviews, are described. It was interesting to note the overwhelming acceptance and use of the application, however, once the rewards have been claimed – participants stopped using the application. The advantages and disadvantages of smartphone based feedback compared with traditional in-vehicle data recorders, as well as suggestions for large scale experiments are discussed.

KfV Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit A | Recommendations for a large-scale European naturalistic... more KfV Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit A | Recommendations for a large-scale European naturalistic driving observation study | | PROLOGUE Deliverable D4.

Smartphone usage while driving is a worldwide phenomenon which is acknowledged as a major concern... more Smartphone usage while driving is a worldwide phenomenon which is acknowledged as a major concern for road safety. While being a major cause of risk, smartphones apps may also serve as a means to control and reduce risky driving behavior. However, it is still unclear what features and functions compose a valuable safe driving app. This paper paves the way to establish a blueprint for a "safety suit" for smartphone apps that will have the greatest potential to reduce injury crashes. The methodology used was based on experts opinions retrieved through an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. Twenty six experts participated in the study and individually graded all the alternatives according to various criteria. When weighing safety versus social support considerations – social support turns out to be more important than safety (by a factor of almost 3). The results clearly define the safe type of applications: texting prevention, call limitation, collision warning and IVDR. However, while texting prevention and call limitations are not expected to be widely accepted and used collision warning and IVDR are considered to be.

ABSTRACT The problem of winter gritting, which involves salt spreading to ensure the safety of ro... more ABSTRACT The problem of winter gritting, which involves salt spreading to ensure the safety of road users, is described in detail for the Province of Antwerp. Other than location of main depots, at which all salt spreading tours originate and terminate, the problem also includes location decisions with respect to supplementary depots. Existence of supplementary depots allows trucks to refill during a tour, and thus enables tours to have double-capacity. Location decisions and the subsequent routings are further constrained by partition into districts, and by priorities associated with the roads of the network. In this paper, a two-stage framework for analysis is suggested. It bonds location of main depots with routings on high-priority roads at the first stage, and location of supplementary with routings, which can include double-capacity tours, at the second stage. A small example demonstrates the potential savings involved in implementing the new approach.

Animal-assisted reading is a form of animal-assisted activity where children interact with and re... more Animal-assisted reading is a form of animal-assisted activity where children interact with and read aloud to specially trained therapy dogs. Such activities have been shown to have positive impact on literacy skills, reading motivation and sense of empowerment and self-esteem in children. Mobile technologies and facets of engagement in digital reading are increasingly studied in the context of child learning and education. This short paper presents some first results of our ongoing study exploring potential ways in which mobile technology can be used to enhance and support animal-assisted reading activities for children. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI).

It is well known that many factors contribute sequentially and in parallel to the occurrence of r... more It is well known that many factors contribute sequentially and in parallel to the occurrence of road crashes. In order to address this multi-dimensionality, the authors are building a geographic information system (GIS) that will allow a visual as well as analytical monitoring and analysis of parameters and data related to traffic safety. In particular, the system will be capable of receiving data from various sources: infrastructure detailed data, traffic counts, travel speed data, data from road-installed sensors, camera data, driving events obtained from advanced technologies, as well as road crash and injury data. Among the main factors affecting injuries from road crashes - speed is considered a leading cause and contributing factor. There are numerous studies linking travel speeds and road crashes. Hence an essential part of every road safety plan is speed management. In order to manage speed – it has to be systematically and consistently monitored and analyzed. In this study ...

Route choice behavior of familiar and unfamiliar drivers is explored and compared. The results ob... more Route choice behavior of familiar and unfamiliar drivers is explored and compared. The results obtained indicate larger homogeneity among the unfamiliar drivers in terms of their switching and diverting behavior, while familiar drivers demonstrate larger taste and preferences variations. Two choice models are implemented and compared: the appropriate reasoning model and a multinominal logit model.

Research on route choice behavior in the presence of information is currently receiving a lot of ... more Research on route choice behavior in the presence of information is currently receiving a lot of attention due to the emergence of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). This paper reviews the relevant methodology and applies the proposed methodology to a route choice problem in the presence of information. Different formulation and hypotheses regarding driver behavior are tested using data from both familiar and unfamiliar drivers. Empirical evidence concerning the validity of the assumptions on which the methodology is build is also provided. The paper also provides directions for further research on drivers response.

Proceedings of the 6th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design : driving assessment 2011, 2011

This study explored the use of two types of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as tools fo... more This study explored the use of two types of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as tools for observing driving behavior. The first was a kinematic-based ADAS that uses speed and acceleration data to detect driving events such as hard braking, speeding and sharp turning. The second was a visionbased ADAS that uses video data to provide lane departure warnings (LDW), headway warnings (HW) and forward collision warnings (FCW). Data was collected for more than 4,500 trips and 2,200 driving hours during a period of 70 days. The sample consisted of 10 drivers that used both types of ADAS simultaneously. The information collected also included more than 17,000 records of various types of driving events. First, the events rates were estimated by the Poisson and the Poisson-lognormal models. Then, Pearson correlation and factor analysis were implemented to study the relationships among the events and to evaluate whether different types of events converged to describe the same behaviors. Significant correlations were observed between the braking and turning kinematic-based events and the FCW vision-based event, which converged under the same factor. High rates of these events may indicate that the person is driving in an urban style. The LDW, HW and speeding events converged to the second factor, which is more relevant in inter-urban areas. These findings, although based on a small-scale study, point to a potential for the use of commercial ADAS for driving behavior analysis. The integration of kinematic-based and vision-based information can provide deeper understanding of the measured behavior.

IET Intelligent Transport Systems, 2018

Smartphone usage, and particularly texting, poses a major concern for road safety. The goal of th... more Smartphone usage, and particularly texting, poses a major concern for road safety. The goal of this paper is to suggest a novel and objective means to measure the occurrence of texting while driving among young drivers. A naturalistic study was conducted with 254 Israeli young drivers who installed a research oriented smartphone app which continuously monitors smartphones usage while driving. The app captures the actual number of times drivers are "touching" their smartphone screens, the speed at which these screen-touches occur, foreground apps and time stamps. The results, which are based on 3,304 hours of driving performed in 11,528 trips, indicate that young drivers touch their smartphone screen on average 1.6 times per minute of driving. Alarmingly, more than half of the screen-touches are performed while the vehicle is in motion, and some touches occur even at speeds higher than 100 km/h. The screen-touches occurred throughout the trip regardless of trip duration, but more intensively during the beginning of the trip. These findings provide evidence to actual and objective intensive usage of smartphones while driving.

This paper evaluates the driving behavior of young drivers few years after licensure. The evaluat... more This paper evaluates the driving behavior of young drivers few years after licensure. The evaluation is based on two data collection approaches, which were compiled for the same trips. The first, In Vehicle Data Recorders (IVDR), which were installed in the young drivers’ vehicles for a study period of 8 months. The second, Self-Reports (SR), which were provided by the young drivers at random times throughout the study period. These data have been compared and used in a complementary manner in order to provide an understanding of participants’ driving behavior. The results show that young drivers clearly perceived themselves as being safer drivers than they are, according to IVDR findings. The results also suggest, based on the two approaches, that young drivers significantly improved their driving behavior during the study period. The analysis obtained should be considered as exemplifying the potential of what may be accomplished and understood using these evaluation approaches.

UDrive Consortium, 2017

This variable describes what is the SV driver action or intention towards the intersection.

Within UDRIVE there has been a specific focus on pedestrians, cyclists and Powered Two Wheelers (... more Within UDRIVE there has been a specific focus on pedestrians, cyclists and Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs). These groups of road users are particularly vulnerable in traffic because they lack the protective shell that helps preventing serious injury once involved in a collision. In addition, these transport modes have several features that make them more prone to getting involved in a crash, e.g. related to reduced conspicuity and for the two-wheelers the difficulty to remain in balance, either or not in combination with high speeds. This type of factors make that pedestrians, cyclists and PTWs have a high risk of getting fatally or seriously injured in traffic. Within UDRIVE, a large amount of ‘naturalistic’ data was collected to get more in-depth insight in the interactions of these groups with passenger cars and trucks. The aim was to identify and understand the everyday behavioural patterns in these interactions as well as the circumstances of conflicts or safety critical events in ...

Smartphone usage while driving is a source of increased risk stemming from the engagement in a se... more Smartphone usage while driving is a source of increased risk stemming from the engagement in a secondary task. Answers of 757 Israeli respondents (57% males) to a web survey were analyzed to investigate: (1) patterns of usage (how frequently, on what circumstances) of various Smartphone features and apps while driving, (2) drivers’ views about the safety and necessity of usage (whether the user feels "bothered" if usage was disabled), and (3) willingness to use a technology that limits usage. The authors found that a high percentage of respondents use phone calls (73%) and texting (35%, illegal in Israel) while driving. Respondents who mainly use the phone for work purposes are more commonly frequent users. While phone calls were perceived to compromise safety by 34% of users, texting was perceived to compromise safety by 84% of users. Perceived necessity among frequent users was slightly higher for phone calls (76%) than for texting (69%). Using a logistic regression, the...

Accident; analysis and prevention, 2018

The present study examines reported pre-license driving among youth from the population of Arab c... more The present study examines reported pre-license driving among youth from the population of Arab citizens of Israel. The purpose of the present study is to examine which sociodemographic variables, attitudes and perceptions about safe driving and individual and societal behavioral norms are associated with pre-license driving. The research distinguished between the factors that actually contribute to pre-license driving (reported behavior, peer norms, gender and parents' messages) and the factors that explain the intention (parental authority, social norms, parents' messages and fear of road crashes). Even though there was a significant partial overlap (84%) between those who intend to drive without a license and those who reported driving without a license, the main factors that distinguish pre-license driving groups are different from the factors that distinguish the intention to drive before receiving a license. What is unique about the findings is the identification of th...

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2016

The study investigated the relation between the risky driving behavior of young male drivers and ... more The study investigated the relation between the risky driving behavior of young male drivers and their personality traits, familial attitudes and conduct in respect to road safety, intentions to drive recklessly, and driving anger. In-vehicle data recorders were used to measure the actual driving of 163 young male drivers, who also completed self-report instruments tapping traits and perceptions. Personality traits were assessed near in time to receipt of the driving license, and actual risky driving and driving-related variables were measured 9-12 months after licensure to examine relatively stable driving behavior and attitudes. Findings indicate that (a) young male drivers' personality traits and tendencies play a major role in predicting risky behavior; (b) intentions to drive recklessly are translated into actual behavior; and (c) the parental role is extremely relevant and counteracts risky tendencies. Moreover, the results suggest that although trait anger and driving anger both contribute to risky driving, they represent different aspects of anger. Thus, for safety interventions to be effective, they must not only teach drivers how to cope with angerprovoking driving situations, but also address underlying personality traits and environmental factors.