UMTRI Project

Pilot Assessment of the Use of a Device for Parent Monitoring of Novice Teen Drivers

Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Investigators: C. Raymond Bingham, Jean T. Shope
08/01/2006 - 07/28/2009

<p>On-board data recording devices are becoming more commonly available, and are increasingly being offered to parents as a means of keeping their teen drivers safe. The type and combination of data captured varies across devices, but generally include some combination of continuous data, such as vehicle velocity and GPS, and event data, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration. Event recording is typically initiated by exceedences of adjustable tolerances set on measures of lateral and longitudinal velocity changes. Additionally, some devices provide video recordings of the external and internal environments of the vehicle for a short interval before and following the exceedence of velocity tolerances, and increasingly, devices are entering the market that harvest a wealth of data from the manufacturer-installed on-board vehicle computer through the OBD II Bus Port. Video and event data are typically reported passively, being stored in the device for later download and viewing using a home computer and software. Continuously recorded data may be reported actively via an Internet or cell phone up-link, or passively.</p> <p>Many of these monitoring devices are intended for use by fleet supervisors, but could be adapted by parents who wish to monitor their children’s driving. Others are produced and marketed to parents. The use of these devices may give some parents peace of mind, while teens, based on limited anecdotal data, are more likely to have mixed reactions. Based on reports in the media, some teens feel safer knowing that they are being monitored, while others feel that the monitoring is an invasion of their privacy. In addition to these immediate reactions of teens and parents, monitoring at the level of intrusiveness allowed by on-board devices could have unexpected negative developmental and psychosocial consequences. For example, some parents may believe they are helping their teens when they use an authoritarian parenting style in which evidence of rule-breaking provided by data from the on-board device is followed by strict punitive consequences. These parents may believe that their behavior will help their teenage child act more responsibly, but instead, research has shown that authoritarian parenting styles interfere with healthy psychosocial development, and the imposition of strict punitive consequences may encourage acting out or open rebellion, or may interfere with the development of healthy autonomy from parents. Technology-assisted monitoring may also be seen by some teens as spying and evidence that their parents do not trust them. The establishment of trust and the exercise of trustworthy behavior is an important element in the healthy psychosocial development of teens. A third example of many that could be given is that the teens may relinquish their responsibility to look judiciously after their own safety and well-being, assuming that their parents will be able to intervene quickly enough to protect them should they wander into a dangerous or threatening situation. Again, the ability to self-monitor, like trust and trustworthiness, and autonomy, is an important element of a healthy adulthood and develops significantly during adolescence as teen individuate and separate from their parents. The bottom line is, to date, there has been insufficient research to ascertain the effects of on-board devices on teen safety, parent-teen relationships, or on teen development. Without more information, it is impossible to evaluate the costs and benefits of on-board devices used to monitor novice teen drivers. In addition, in the absence of empirical data, countermeasures, such as structured protocols to guide parents and teens while using devices, or other interventions that enhance positive effects and limit negative effects of on-board monitoring cannot be developed. To begin addressing these issues, this study is conducting an intense examination of a small sample of parents and teens in order to understand how parents and teens use and react to on-board monitoring devices.</p>