Presentation
Immediate and Delayed Recall of Simulated L2 Motor Vehicle Accident Details
SessionWednesday Poster Session
DescriptionEyewitness testimony following an automobile incident is often collected in stages of minutes, months, and years, after the event. Delaying memory retrieval generally decreases the amount of information that is likely to be recollected. This study examined immediate and delayed recall of motor vehicle accident details by placing twenty-eight licensed drivers in a virtual reality driving simulator in an imminent head-on sideswipe collision while supervising an SAE Level 2 system. All participants reported details immediately after the experiment and two months later. Results showed that recall accuracy declined over time, particularly for details such as vehicle speed (93% immediate vs. 48% delayed) and evasive actions (57% vs. 41%). Participants consistently overestimated time-to-collision, with both immediate and delayed estimates significantly exceeding the actual value of one second (p < .01). Trial duration was underestimated during immediate recall, but not significantly different from delayed estimates. While memory for whether a collision occurred improved slightly over time, no participant accurately recalled all details across both surveys. Notably, some participants shifted fault attribution from themselves during immediate recall to the other vehicle during delayed recall. These findings suggest that initial reports are likely to be more accurate than later accounts.
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 21st5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Location