54th CIECA Congress: Call for papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

Driver training and testing: finding the balance between mobility and safety through the use of innovative technology, improved curricula and data analysis 

The 54th CIECA General Assembly and Congress will take place in Naples, Italy, on Wednesday 8 June and Thursday 9 of June 2022. The Assembly and Congress will be hosted by CIECA, and held in the Royal Continental Hotel, which is situated in Naples city centre.

The knowledge and skill that a novice driver possesses, is very much dependant on the training process that the learner has been through. Training and testing have been introduced around the world in an attempt to improve the ability of novice drivers and reduce the risk of them being involved in a collision. These changes are mainly designed to address both the inexperience and immaturity of (mostly young) novice drivers, but as technology improves, and the drivers in-car experience evolves with the introduction of more sophisticated ADAS, how can we keep pace with this change whilst ensuring that all drivers, particularly older drivers, continue to have the skills needed to remain mobile and drive safely.

The driving test is deliberately focused on ensuring that a novice driver possesses the skills, and to some extent, the correct attitude, to drive safely unsupervised. However, with the rapid pace of technological change, which policy makers and legislators struggle can keep up with, how can research and data analytics influence our thinking to design and optimise a driver training and testing curricula better suited to a technological age?

  • What lessons can we learn from ADAS and ADS in driver training and testing?
  • How would we measure the safety benefits of driver training and testing across all age groups?
  • Older people generally struggle with new technology, how can we assist older people to continue to drive safely and remain mobile?

For those of us dedicated to advancing the importance of driver training and testing it can be frustrating to see how little value is attributed to our work in helping reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads every year. However, providing evidence that driver training and testing has a positive societal benefit would be motivational.

Our entitlement to drive, regardless of the category, is often taken for granted. Nevertheless, we all remember how difficult acquiring that licence was, but with it came great responsibility. We all must continue to ensure that only those people who meet the requirements for a driving licence acquire one, but with an aging population and significant technological change, we must understand how to design and develop the curricula so that it balances the need for mobility with the demands of living in a modern society.

Abstracts are invited from potential speakers to review these and related questions.

Please note that the deadline for the submission of the abstracts is 10 December 2021. You will find more information in the submission guidelines. Please follow them carefully when preparing your contribution.