Transportation, Visibility, and Aging. What are the factors that make transportation more risky? How well do people think they see relative to how they actually see. How does our mobility change as we age? These are just some of the questions being investigated by our interdisciplinary research team in an effort to improve the safety of both drivers and pedestrians of all generations. Johnell Brooks

Driving Distraction. Does talking on a cell phone, talking with a passenger, or using an in-vehicle navigation system really distract drivers’ attention from the road? We use both low and high-fidelity driving simulators to understand how drivers maintain attention and situation awareness in the face of distraction. Lee Gugerty

Fatigue and Driving. One part of my stress and fatigue research program includes investigating the effects of sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness on driving skills under a variety of driving conditions (e.g., different types of roads, traffic conditions, and weather conditions). The goal of this research is to document the effects of fatigue on driving and to develop potential methods of monitoring and preventing sleepiness while driving. June J. Pilcher

Night Vision and Driving. Driving at night is substantially more dangerous than driving in daylight. We research how well drivers see at night and how our night vision affects our ability to drive safely. For example, we are studying how visible and conspicuous pedestrians are to drivers at night, and we’re exploring new ways to make pedestrians safer at night. We do experiments outdoors at night and indoors using a driving simulator. Rick Tyrrell

Vision in Challenging Conditions. How well do we see in fog? Is the glare from the headlights of oncoming vehicles debilitating or just annoying? And when should we use our high beams? How does our ability to see change as we grow older? We study the limitations of human vision, ways to compensate for our visual limitations, and the extent to which we are aware of our own visual limitations. Rick Tyrrell & Johnell Brooks