University of Iowa Driving Safety Research Institute

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) owns the NADS-1 simulator, while the University of Iowa takes responsibility for operation and maintenance.

In 2024, the institute received funding from NHTSA for a project assessing driver monitoring systems' effectiveness at determining the level of impairment.

The NADS-1 was developed from 1996 through 2001 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to conduct human factors research on driver behavior.

Forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems are designed, developed, and tested for NHTSA.

2005 NADS builds a portable simulator for outreach to high school students, which eventually leads to the creation of the miniSim program in 2009.

DOT awards NADS a $7 million grant for the Automated Driving Systems for Rural America project.