National Consumer Survey of Driving Safety

The National Consumer Survey of Driving Safety Technologies (National Survey) served as the first significant component of a national education campaign dedicated, titled My Car Does What, dedicated to informing consumers about life-saving advanced vehicle safety technologies.

The National Survey was conducted to examine drivers’ knowledge of vehicle safety systems, as well as their understanding and use of defensive driving techniques. The National Survey’s findings are guiding the My Car Does What campaign with regard to current consumer and public knowledge, and awareness of vehicle safety technologies.

The Center developed and deployed the first ever National Survey of Consumer Driving Safety Technologies to measure the average American’s knowledge of vehicle safety systems. The Center developed the National Survey instrument by engaging prominent academic and industry vehicle safety experts across the world to assist with identifying the key issues in regard to vehicle safety technologies and driver understanding.

The data collection took place during the early Fall of 2014 and included response from more than 2,000 adult drivers across the United States. 

The National Survey dataset is the first of its kind to measure driver understanding of in-vehicle technologies, measure gaps in driver knowledge and awareness, and gather information regarding how consumers might consume information.

The National Survey results show that there are generally low levels of knowledge, not only about emerging safety technologies such as adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning systems, but also about technologies that have significant market penetration or are standard, such as anti-lock braking systems and tire pressure monitoring systems. 

For additional data findings and information of the National Survey please reference the Key Findings and Technical Report below.

National Survey Key Findings
National Survey Technical Report

The Center is hoping to continue a longitudinal analysis of consumer understanding about vehicle safety technologies as these technologies continue to become more prevalent in the American fleet. 

For more information about the study or to discuss the study’s findings, please contact the Transportation and Vehicle Safety Director, Daniel McGehee at daniel-mcgehee@uiowa.edu or 319-335-6819.