Question 2

It is known that driving behavior is the leading factor in most automobile accidents. But which types of inattention are most likely to lead to crashes?

In 2005, the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study tracked the behavior of the drivers of 100 vehicles equipped with video and sensor devices for more than one year. This study was sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and analyzed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Driving data were classified according to driver behavior (such as drowsiness, inattention, traffic violations, aggressive driving, and judgment error) and severity of incident (crash or near-crash).

Which of the following is correct?

A This study is an experiment, since it was based on a random sample.

B This study is an experiment, since each incident was classified into one of the several possible combinations of severity and driving behavior.

C This study is a combination of both an experiment and an observational study.

D This study is an observational study, since researchers did not assign the drivers to be involved in an incident or not, nor to one of the driving behaviors.