David Martinelli, professor of civil and environmental engineering at West Virginia University, has secured research grants from the West Virginia Division of Highways and the U.S. Department of Transportation to continue into the second phase of two projects dealing with highway safety.
The first project deals with the evaluation of school zone traffic control strategies, while the second focuses on the state’s graduated driver’s license program.
“Highway safety is one of the top priorities of West Virginia and the federal government,” explained Martinelli. “It’s a good sign that the WVDOH and USDOT turned to us at WVU for expertise in these areas of research.”
Donny Williams, head of research and special studies for WVDOH, recognizes the importance of academic researchers in finding solutions in highway safety.
“Dr. Martinelli and his staff have great experience in these areas and have shown their expertise in the phase one studies,” he said. “We have great confidence in their research abilities and the University as a whole. WVU has a long and trusted reputation in evaluating and solving transportation needs in our state.”
Phase one of the school zone project explored possible issues associated with emerging travel patterns in modern-day school commutes including schools located along high-speed routes, increases in student driving and driver distraction. School consolidation in West Virginia, for example, may result in more schools being built along major highways instead of in residential areas.
In phase two, the team will be evaluating the effectiveness of different traffic control devices for selected high-risk situations identified in phase one. Martinelli said coming up with an engineering solution, which is better studied and will likely take less time to conceive and implement, is preferable to a legislative solution.
“We will conduct field studies to examine the devices and record accident data around the schools,” he said.
Joining Martinelli in these efforts is Avinash Unnikrishnan, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at WVU.
“As transportation engineers, we are trained to look at the social and human angle to real-world problems,” Unnikrishnan explained. “Our job is to look at both the engineering and human angle and come up with the best solution.
“I am extremely grateful to the WVDOH and the USDOT for funding these research projects,” he added. “Working on these projects has provided an opportunity for me to contribute to improving the quality of life for the people in this region.”
The second study aims to build supplemental programs to the state’s graduated driver’s license program. The GDL program limits driving privileges to drivers 15-18 years of age, allowing them to drive independently under somewhat controlled conditions such as limiting the number of passengers allowed in the car and placing driving restrictions during certain hours of the day.
The study will include a comprehensive survey of parents, students, teachers and law enforcement personnel. In the first phase of the project, Martinelli surveyed these same groups to fully understand the reasons the GDL program works in West Virginia.
“We found that the GDL program empowers parents and gives them the legal authority to create boundaries for teen drivers,” said Martinelli. “This second phase hopes to develop or identify programs and materials that enhance this important feature of the GDL.”
Assisting the engineering researchers in this study is Diana Martinelli, associate dean of the WVU Reed College of Media and Widmeyer Professor of Public Relations. She brought her survey design and analysis expertise to the first phase of the study. In the second phase, she’ll help determine possible new educational components to reinforce and complement the GDL program.
“We highly value the opportunity to collaborate across colleges and we learn from each other,” Diana Martinelli said. “The data obtained will allow me to evaluate our respective target audiences’ levels of awareness, knowledge and understanding, attitude saliency and self-reporting behaviors, and then to make recommendations accordingly for educational messages and mechanisms to distribute them.”
Though every state has a GDL program, this type of study is unique to West Virginia because it was designed in response to the needs of parents and law enforcement officers.
“They aren’t doing this type of research in other states as far as we know. From an academic standpoint, this is very significant,” David Martinelli said. “We are on the cutting edge to propose these research ideas, but we were able to do so because we listened to the needs of the WVDOH and USDOT and responded to them.”
-WVU-
wbk/11/17/14
CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
304.293.4086, Mary.Dillon@mail.wvu.edu
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