title: Predicting Motor Vehicle Collisions in a Driving Simulator in Young Adults Using the Useful Field of View Assessment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Being involved in motor vehicle collisions is the leading cause of death in 1- to 34-year-olds, and risk is particularly high in young adults. The Useful Field of View (UFOV) task, a cognitive measure of processing speed, divided attention, and selective attention, has been shown to be predictive of motor vehicle collisions in older adults, but its use as a predictor of driving performance in a young adult population has not been investigated. The present study examined whether UFOV was a predictive measure of motor vehicle collisions in a driving simulator in a young adult population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 3-subtest version of UFOV (lower scores measured in milliseconds indicate better performance) was administered to 60 college students. Participants also completed an 11-mile simulated drive to provide driving performance metrics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings suggested that subtests 1 and 2 suffered from a ceiling effect. UFOV subtest 3 significantly predicted collisions in the simulated drive. Each 30 ms slower on the subtest was associated with nearly a 10% increase in the risk of a simulated collision. Post hoc analyses revealed a small partially mediating effect of subtest 3 on the relationship between driving experience and collisions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The selective attention component of UFOV subtest 3 may be a predictive measure of crash involvement in a young adult population. Improvements in selective attention may be the underlying mechanism in how driving experience improves driving performance.
authors: a Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.|b Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: McManus
authors: a Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.
authors: Molly K
authors: MK
authors: Cox
authors: c School of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.
authors: David E
authors: DE
authors: Vance
authors: a Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.|b Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , Alabama.
authors: Despina
authors: D
authors: Stavrinos
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: driving experience; driving simulator; selective attention; top-down processing; useful field of view