Lessons learned from naturalistic driving data processing in a secure data enclave: Preliminary discoveries from analyzing dash camera videos

This paper provides preliminary insights on the challenges of processing Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) videos and data, particularly those with Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Insights and lessons learned are presented from a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of High Visibility Crosswalks (HVCs). Over a one-month period, 15,379 videos were processed in the secure data enclave of Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). As these videos are not available outside of the secure data enclave due to PII restrictions, researchers visiting the secure data enclave for the first time may face several challenges: navigating the software interface; identifying the video views and frames of interest; and identifying and extracting information of interest from the video views, etc. These challenges, the procedures followed to address them, and the process for identifying and classifying distracted driving behaviors are discussed. Lastly, hypothesis tests are conducted to investigate distracted driving behavior, with the results revealing that HVCs have the potential to make drivers more cautious in their proximity. The information presented in this paper is expected to aid researchers who intend to utilize SHRP2 NDS or similar videos for future research, to preemptively plan for the video processing phase.