Driving Safety Research Institute | College of Engineering | The University of Iowa

Our Mission

We aim to make roads safer by researching the connection between humans and vehicles. We are home to the National Advanced Driving Simulator, and we now have a new name for our broader institute: the Driving Safety Research Institute.

About Us

Participate

Participate in one of our studies, or join our registry to get notified about new studies.

Rose Schmitt and John Gaspar in NADS-1 control room

Our Research

We partner with researchers around the world to study the connection between humans and vehicles.

The 24-foot NADS-1 simulator is on a six-legged base that rotates up to 330° and moves across the 64-foot square bay floor to simulate driving motions such as accelerating, lane changing, and skidding. There are 23 brakes on the large crossbeam that spans the room, while 42 hydrostatic bearings ride on a thin film of oil across smooth metal belts.

Our Tech

Simulators and Vehicles miniSim

News

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Announces Automated Driving System Demonstration Grant Winners

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced nearly $60 million in federal grant funding to eight projects in seven states to test the safe integration of automated driving systems (ADS) on our nation’s roadways.

Iowa Engineer: Celebrating 20 years of driver safety research

Monday, September 9, 2019

University of Iowa College of Engineering magazine

9 signs you could be a distracted driver

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

The Gazette

This Gazette article asks a big question "Are you a distracted driver?" Learn what distracted driving really means and how you can take the steps to be a more aware and less distracted driver.

Art, science collide in dance

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The Daily Iowan

University of Iowa Dance Department, in collaboration with the National Advanced Driving Simulator, presents There Are No Accidents: Crash Dance, which explores the art and science to human error in a technology-programmed world.

Iowa Senate approves autonomous vehicle regulations

Friday, April 5, 2019

The Iowa Senate has approved legislation that would govern how autonomous vehicles operate in the state.

Tractor simulator studies farm safety

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Farming is the most dangerous domestic job in the United States, nearly a hundred agricultural workers are injured every day. In particular, operating large, heavy machines can hurt or kill farmers but researchers at the University of Iowa are trying to learn more to save lives.

Automated shuttle bus on rural Iowa road

ADS for Rural America

Learn more about our Automated Driving Systems (ADS) for Rural America project, which drove a partially-automated shuttle bus through Iowa City, Hills, Riverside, and Kalona, Iowa.

Tour our tech

Take a 360 degree virtual tour of our facility, and learn more about our technology and expertise.