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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT05554614

Behind the Wheel (BTW) Smartphone Application

The purpose of this study is to find out if a phone app can help the learning-to-drive process among teenagers and novice drivers.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

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Key information

Conditions

High-risk Driving Events

Age range

15 year–17 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Columbus, Ohio, 43205, United States

About this study

This project will assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an app (BTW) to quantify driving behaviors and promote safe driving in adolescents who are beginning their learner period of licensure. 90 teens and their corresponding parents/guardians will be randomized into one of three study groups. Researchers aim to test the feasibility of the BTW app on acceptance and retention, evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the BTW app with a teen-parent dyad intervention on driving performance after using the BTW app for six months, and investigate the long-term effects of the BTW app intervention on driving performance and safety attitudes among teens.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Teen participants must be between the ages of 15.5-17 years old at the time of enrollment
  • Participants must have one parent and/or legal guardian who agrees to participate in the study.
  • Participants' parents must possess car insurance with at least state-minimum coverage.
  • Participants must be willing to fulfill the minimum requirements of the Ohio GDL system.
  • Driver must complete a driver education class at a licensed driver training school with 24 hours of classroom or online instruction and 8 hours of driving time; driver must complete 50 hours of driving with at least 10 hours of night driving; driver must hold the permit for at least 6 months.
  • Participants must have a functioning smartphone and active smartphone account compatible for the BTW app.
  • To prevent any interference from another driving-related study, participants must agree not to enroll in other driving-related research/driving performance app during the study period.
  • Participants must be willing to be randomized and comply with study requirements.
  • Participants must speak and read English.
  • Participants must be a US citizen or have permanent resident status.

Exclusion criteria

  • Drivers younger than 15.5 will be excluded because Ohio does not issue a temporary instruction driving permit identification card (i.e., learner's driving permit) starting the GDL process until age 15.5.

Treatment and study plan

BTW app with reward-based feedback

Behavioral

Teen drivers will be notified of their weekly driving performance via a driving safety score with information on the types of high-risk driving behaviors committed as well as progress on maintaining and/or improving weekly safe driving behaviors. Educational materials on different driving situations and scenarios associated with the high-risk driving behaviors (e.g. 90-second videos) will be provided for the driver to review at any point and time. Information on these driving behaviors and the education material will be provided via push notifications from the BTW app. Weekly leader boards will show the driver's driving safety score in comparison to other drivers of the same age. Consistently high driver safety scores in certain driving skill areas (e.g., cornering) and a total overall score above 70% of other users on that skill or total score will unlock gamification-based rewards (e.g., driving safety badges, driving safety score leader board, group challenges with winners).

BTW app with situational supervised driving practice

Behavioral

Teen drivers will be provided bi-weekly push-notifications from the BTW app notifying them of situational supervised driving practice activities that are to be completed during the assigned week. There are 12 situational supervised driving activities and six skill-building driving activities (Table 1). Skill-building sessions are assigned for off weeks during the first half of the six months (weeks 2-12), allowing for skills to be further developed when the situations are encountered for a second time (weeks 15-23). Parents will be prompted to directly log situational supervised and skill-building driving activities in the app after the session within the BTW app to obtain the module completion date and duration time.

Sham BTW app

Behavioral

Teens will be provided links to passive education materials and information on car maintenance every week. They will not be given feedback on their driving performances.

Primary outcomes

  1. High-risk driving events

    Time frame: Baseline to 6 months post randomization

    Number of high-risk driving events (harsh breaking, accelerating, and cornering events) per 1,000 miles driven. Higher numbers signify more high-risk driving events.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Speeding and near-crash events

    Time frame: Baseline to 6 months post randomization

    Instances of speeding and number of near crashes and crashes per 1,000 miles driven. Higher numbers signify more near-crash events.

Other outcomes

  1. Self-reported high risk driving behaviors

    Time frame: 18-month study period

    Self-reported frequency of high risk driving behaviors including speeding, distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  2. Self-reported driving safety attitudes

    Time frame: 18-month study period

    The distribution of attitudes towards traffic safety behaviors, including speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, measured through self-report on 4-point Likert scales.

  3. Self-reported traffic violations

    Time frame: 18-month study period

    The number of traffic violations, including speeding, intoxicated driving, and distracted driving, measured through self-report on a questionnaire.

  4. Police-reported traffic violations

    Time frame: 18-month study period

    Number of police-reported crashes and traffic violations. Higher numbers signify more crashes and violations.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Motao Zhu

Other

Collaborators

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Registry information

Official study title

Behind the Wheel (BTW) Smartphone Application: Utilizing Technology to Quantify Driving Behaviors

Acronym: BTW

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2025
First posted
Sep 26, 2022
Registry last updated
Jun 19, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.