Age vs. Experience: Evaluation of a Video Feedback Intervention for Newly Licensed Teen Drivers, TPF-5(207), 2013

This project examines the effects of age, experience, and video-based feedback on the rate and type of safety-relevant events captured on video event recorders in the vehicles of three groups of newly licensed young drivers: 1. 14.5- to 15.5-year-old drivers who hold a minor school license (see Appendix A for the provisions of the Iowa code governing minor school licenses); 2. 16-year-old drivers with an intermediate license who are driving unsupervised for the first time; 3. 16-year-old drivers with an intermediate license who previously drove unsupervised for at least four months with a school license. METHODS: The young drivers’ vehicles were equipped with an event-triggered video recording device for 24 weeks. Half of the participants received feedback regarding their driving, and the other half received no feedback at all and served as a control group. The number of safety-relevant events per 1,000 miles (i.e., “event rate”) was analyzed for 90 participants who completed the study. RESULTS: On average, the young drivers who received the video-based intervention had significantly lower event rates than those in the control group. This finding was true for all three groups. An effect of experience was seen for drivers in the control group; the 16-year-olds with driving experience had significantly lower event rates than the 16-year-olds without experience. When the intervention concluded, an increase in event rate was seen for the school license holders, but not for either group of 16-year-old drivers. There is strong evidence that giving young drivers video-based feedback, regardless of their age or level of driving experience, is effective in reducing the rate of safety-relevant events relative to a control group who do not receive feedback. Specific comparisons with regard to age and experience indicated that the age of the driver did not have an effect on the rate of safety-events, while experience did. Young drivers with six months or more of additional experience behind the wheel had nearly half as many safety-relevant events as those without that experience.

Evaluation of Virtual Reality Snowplow Simulator Training, January 2007

Each winter, Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) maintenance operators are responsible for plowing snow off federal and state roads in Iowa. Drivers typically work long shifts under treacherous conditions. In addition to properly navigating the vehicle, drivers are required to operate several plowing mechanisms simultaneously, such as plow controls and salt spreaders. There is little opportunity for practicing these skills in real-world situations. A virtual reality training program would provide operators with the opportunity to practice these skills under realistic yet safe conditions, as well as provide basic training to novice or less-experienced operators. In order to provide such training to snowplow operators in Iowa, the Iowa DOT purchased a snowplow simulator. The Iowa DOT commissioned a study through Iowa State University designed to (1) assess the use of this simulator as a training tool and (2) examine personality and other characteristics associated with being an experienced snowplow operator. The results of this study suggest that Iowa DOT operators of all ages and levels of experience enjoyed and seemed to benefit from virtual reality snowplow simulator training. Simulator sickness ratings were relatively low, implying that the simulator is appropriate for training a wide range of Iowa DOT operators. Many reported that simulator training was the most useful aspect of training for them.

Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System 2001-2005 Experience Study, June 2006

The purpose of an actuarial valuation is to provide a timely best estimate of the ultimate costs of a retirement system. Actuarial valuations of IPERS are prepared annually to determine whether the statutory contribution rate will be sufficient to fund the System on an actuarial basis, i.e. the current assets plus future contributions, along with investment earnings will be sufficient to provide the benefits promised by the System to current members. The valuation requires the use of certain assumptions with respect to the occurrence of future events, such as rates of death, termination of employment, retirement age and salary changes to estimate the obligations of the System. The basic purpose of an experience study is to determine whether the actuarial assumptions currently in use are accurately predicting actual emerging experience. This information, along with the professional judgment of System personnel and advisors, is used to evaluate the appropriateness of continued use of the current actuarial assumptions. When analyzing experience and assumptions, it is important to realize that actual experience is reported short term while assumptions are intended to be long term estimates of experience.

Slip-Form Paving as Developed and Pioneered in Iowa,1961.

Summarizes Iowa's 14 years of experience in pioneering and developing slip-form paving methods

Stand Out In A Crowd! Merchandising Your Job Talents,

You want a job. And you believe that somewhere, some employer has precisely the job you want - one that fully utilizes your knowledge and abilities and provides challenge and opportunities for advancement. To find that job, you need to perform a well-planned job search. You have a product to sell - your knowledge, skills and experience . . . YOURSELF! What you need to know is how to market yourself most effectively. Whether you are just out of school and ready to start your career or looking for a new position after 20 years of experience, some of the techniques presented in this booklet may help you. NOTE: ENGLISH

Modified Sheet Pile Abutments for Low-Volume Road Bridges: Tech Transfer Summary, January 2012

Iowa has about 22,936 bridges on low-volume roads (LVRs). Based on the National Bridge Inventory data, 22 percent of the LVR bridges in Iowa are structurally deficient, while 5 percent of them are functionally obsolete. The substructure components (abutment and foundation elements) are known to be contributing factors for some of these poor ratings. Steel sheet piling was identified as a possible long-term option for LVR bridge substructures; but, due to lack of experience, Iowa needed investigation with regard to vertical and lateral load resistance, construction methods, design methodology, and load test performance. This project was initiated in January 2007 to investigate use of sheet pile abutments. *************Tech Transfer Summary. For full report see: http://publications.iowa.gov/id/eprint/14832*************

Roadway Lighting on Secondary Roads in Iowa, HR-251, 1984

There are approximately 800 installations of destination lighting at secondary road intersections in Iowa. Approximately 90% of these have only a single luminaire. The other installations have two luminaires. No warrants currently exist for justifying the use of this type of lighting. Previous research has examined the safety benefits from full lighting of rural intersections that generally serve substantially higher traffic volumes than secondary road intersections in Iowa. However, the safety benefit of destination lighting at intersections carrying relatively low volumes has not been the subject of previous research. The research reported here, sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation, was undertaken to identify locations where destination lighting could be expected to improve highway safety. If destination lighting were shown to reduce accident frequency, warrants for its use on secondary roads could be developed. An inventory of secondary road lighting installations in Iowa was assembled. From this inventory, two samples were constituted that would permit two separate comparisons of the accident experience with and without destination lighting. Before and after comparisons were made for the same locations if accident records were available for at least one full year both preceding and following the installation of destination lighting. Accident records for this purpose were available from a statewide computerized record system covering the period from 1977 through 1982. The accident experience at locations having destination lighting installed before 1978 was compared with a sample of comparable locations not having destination lighting. The sample of secondary road intersections used for the before and after comparison included 91 locations. The sample of continuously lighted locations included 102 intersections. Accident experience at these locations was compared with the experience at 102 intersections that were not lighted. The intersections included in these samples averaged only 0.31 accidents per year. The accident rate at secondary road intersections that had destination lighting did not differ significantly from the accident rate at intersections that were not lighted. This conclusion was derived from both comparisons, the before and after experience and the comparison of experience at intersections that were continuously lighted with that at unlighted locations. Furthermore, no significant differences were noted between lighted and unlighted locations in the proportion of accidents that occurred at night. The distribution of accidents by type also did not differ between unlighted intersections and those having destination lighting. It was not possible to formulate warrants for destination lighting since analyses directed toward identifying specific characteristics of an intersection that could be correlated with highway safety did not yield any useful relationships. However, it was noted that the average damages for night accidents that occurred at lighted intersections were lower than for accidents at unlighted intersections. Even in the absence of a more definitive demonstration of beneficial effects, destination lighting is perceived by officials in most of the counties having such installations as yielding desirable effects and is recognized as helpful to motorists in performing the guidance function in driving. Given this benefit and a relatively low cost (an average of $74 per year for one luminaire), and given that the subjective criteria that have been used in the past to justify the installation of destination lighting have led to a high degree of public acceptance and satisfaction, it is recommended that the same subjective criteria continue to be used in lieu of definitive warrants.