Teen Feedback Study
Thank you for your interest in the feedback study with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. With support from General Motors (GM) and the Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM), this study will examine the effect of monetary incentives on teen driver behavior in normal day to day operations. This research has been approved by the Virginia Tech's Internal Review Board (IRB #23-032).
Contact
To start the enrollment process or to obtain more information on the study, please contact VTTI:
Eligibility
The research is being conducted in urban and suburban areas across the United States and will require participation by up to 30 volunteer teen drivers who meet criteria chosen for the study. Eligible teens who choose to participate, will be compensated for their time — more details are included below.
Eligibility requirements for teens include:
must hold a valid U.S. driver's license
must be 16 to 18 years of age
must drive a vehicle equipped with OnStar and be willing to have OnStar activated while participating in the study.
must drive a GM, Chevrolet, Cadillac, or Buick model that is 2015 or newer
must live at home while participating
Participation
Vehicle data will be recorded by OnStar using equipment already in the vehicle such as speed and seat belt usage. No audio or video data will be collected or recorded, and any personally identifying information will not be stored with any data that is collected.
After initial intake is completed, the eligible vehicle will receive a free year of OnStar Safety and Security package. In addition to a free year of OnStar, the participating teen will also be compensated with monetary incentives. Compensation will be performance based and will range from a minimum of $320 to a maximum of $600.
Should a teen in your household choose to participate, a parent/guardian and teen will both take part in a short (approximately 30 minute) private video conference to go over consent paperwork and parental permission if the teen is a minor. In addition to consent, the participating teen will also be asked to complete a W-9 tax form, and a brief demographics questionnaire.
Families choosing to participate will also be provided with login information for an app that will provide general feedback on the performance of the teen driver that will be accessible to both the participating parent/guardian and their teen. This app will provide feedback on positive behaviors, and areas of improvement.
The privacy of participant data is very important, and a variety of methods will be used to keep data secure. Study data will be used only by qualified researchers with the expectation that the data will improve teen driving safety in the future through the design of incentive-based applications.