Eye tracking may enable researchers to determine the cause of crashes

Researchers at Montana State University's Western Transportation Institute (Bozeman, MT, USA) are outfitting a new vehicle with eye-tracking sensors to help them understand why young drivers are unable to perceive road hazards.

A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation is funding the research, says Laura Stanley, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the MSU College of Engineering.

Stanley says that when a person is relatively new to driving, their ability to identify potential hazards often isn't fully developed. The researchers hope that by using the eye-tracking technology they will be able to better understand the major causes of car crashes among teenager drivers, which involve the failure to anticipate such hazards.

Stanley says an additional $500,000 grant from the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust helped purchase and equip the new research vehicle, a Chevy Impala, as an intelligent transportation system.

-- By Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design