Do smartphone apps hold the key to safer drivers? (AAA Foundation)

In 2023, over 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States, fueled by risky behaviors like speeding, impairment and aggressive driving. Although this number has decreased from previous years, it remains high compared to pre-pandemic levels, underscoring the need for innovative approaches to improve the safety of our nation’s roads. AAA is committed to finding effective ways to encourage drivers to adopt safer behaviors behind the wheel and curb this unsettling trend.

“This research, with over 1,400 study participants, gauges what motivates individuals to change certain risky driving behaviors,” said Dr. David Yang, president and executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Finding ways to reduce these behaviors can positively impact traffic safety and reduce injuries and fatalities on our roads.”

Research shows that speeding, aggressive driving and distraction contribute to a significant number of crashes. Efforts to change these behaviors often involve driver education, public awareness and legislation. While these approaches can be effective, they often require significant resources and time to yield results, and the crash trends suggest that additional countermeasures are also needed.

Smartphone technology enables the measurement of dangerous driving behaviors, which could pave the way for remedies to help drivers improve their safety. Interestingly, this may already be happening through usage-based insurance (UBI) programs, which are typically used by insurance companies to offer customers incentives for safe driving. However, it is challenging to determine whether UBI programs truly improve safety, as only individuals who opt in are monitored.

To explore this issue further, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examined whether providing feedback and incentives — typical of UBI programs — enhances driver safety. Researchers also explored whether targeted goals, either assigned or self-selected, lead to greater improvements.

The trial examined the use of handheld phones, speeding, hard braking and rapid acceleration. Participants were divided into four groups, with different levels of feedback and advice over a 12-week period. All groups, except the observation group, could earn bonus incentives based on their overall driving safety.

The Results

Among the three feedback groups, there were clear improvements in driver behavior:

• Up to a 13% reduction in speeding.
• Up to a 21% reduction in hard braking.
• Up to a 25% reduction in rapid acceleration.

Surprisingly, the use of handheld phones remained unchanged. It is possible that the baseline safety scores provided to participants at the start of the study for this behavior led drivers to believe that they were being safer than they actually were — and therefore, there was less need for improvement.

Participants also reported how helpful the following tactics were in changing their behaviors:

• 67.4% – the potential to earn extra money.
• 53.9% – weekly driving feedback via text message.
• 45.8% – weekly dashboard (provided detailed driving information for the week).

Learn more about how smartphone apps can improve driver safety here.