REPORT—PEDAL APPLICATION ERRORS
March 2012
This project examined the prevalence of pedal application errors and the driver, vehicle, roadway, and/or environmental characteristics associated with pedal misapplication crashes based on a literature review, analysis of news media reports, a panel of driver rehabilitation specialists, analysis of multiple crash databases, and case studies. An analysis of crashes attributed to pedal-related vehicle equipment malfunction, rather than to a driver error, was also carried out based on a media scan.
"TRAFFIC TECH"—TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SERIES PUBLICATION: PEDAL ERROR CRASHES
Technical literature published between 1980 and 2009 included few studies regarding pedal application errors. Studies conducted using driving simulators identified two predictors of pedal errors: increased driver age and impairments in drivers’ executive function as measured by clinical tests of cognitive functioning.