Robert D. Foss, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist and Director, Center for the Study of Young Drivers
Since coming to HSRC in 1993, Dr. Robert Foss’ research has focused primarily on the role of alcohol in transportation-related injury and factors contributing to the high crash risks of teen drivers. As a social psychologists, his work tends to focus on the behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of traffic injury prevention, with an eye toward developing effective social policies to enhance transportation safety.
In addition to studies to evaluate North Carolina’s drinking driver laws, he and several other HSRC researchers have recently completed a unique study of the nature and extent of alcohol use among college students. This was done by using hand-held breathalyzers to measure breath-alcohol concentration levels (BACs) among more than 6,300 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Based on surveys in 1997, 1999 and 2002 the principle findings are that (1) students drink far less than is generally assumed, and (2) the University’s program to acquaint students with this fact has resulted in further declines in student drinking, especially heavier drinking. This study was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, and the U.S. Department of Education.
In another ground-breaking study Foss and other HSRC colleagues collaborated
with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to measure the prevalence and
amount of drinking among representative sample of recreational boaters in
North Carolina and Maryland. The initial findings from this study determined,
for the first time, the shape of the “risk curve” for dying while
boating as a function of the amount of alcohol a person has consumed. Most
boating deaths involve drowning, not collisions, and the risk increases at
very low BAC levels – the equivalent of about 1-2 drinks. Interestingly,
the risk is the same for passengers as for operators. See full article at:
JAMA 2001b. Funded by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Since the early 1990s, Rob and his colleagues have worked on
research with the goal of discovering ways to reduce teen driver crash rates,
which are much higher than those for drivers in their 20s and older. They
designed and recommend North Carolina’s new Graduated Driver Licensing
system, which has since been emulated by 33 other states. The benefits of
GDL have been dramatic, reducing crashes among 16- and 17-year-old drivers
by 34% and 21% respectively. See initial report on the early effects of GDL
at: JAMA 2001a
Research on GDL continue, with a recent study of crash risks due to multiple passengers riding with teens, which resulted in an amendment to the NC GDL system. Current studies are examining the role of parents in helping teens to become better drivers during the early stages of their licensing process. Funded by Governor’s Highway Safety Program and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Foss’ research spills into other areas of transportation safety. He and his colleagues are just completing a study of bicycle helmet use in British Columbia, Canada, after the province became the first North American jurisdiction to require bicycle helmets by riders of all ages (Funded by U.S. Centers for Disease Control). He and other researchers have also completed two studies of bicycle helmet use in North Carolina to examine the effects of North Carolina’s recently enacted child helmet use law (Funded by NC GHSP).
