The project investigated road crashes and traffic offences committed by novice drivers, using lic... more The project investigated road crashes and traffic offences committed by novice drivers, using licensing and crash data from learner and provisionally-licensed drivers in New South Wales. The nature and extent of illegal driving behaviours was established. To address illegal driving behaviours, a novel online novice driver offender intervention was developed and implemented as part of a statutory driver education course. A framework to assess recidivism by novice drivers was developed, focusing on 2-year and 5-year follow-up of repeat offending for novice drivers who had received the intervention.
Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in Oceania. The significant road safety reform... more Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in Oceania. The significant road safety reforms in Australia from the 1970s onward bypassed the island, and most road safety ‘silver bullets’ adopted in other Australian jurisdictions were not introduced. While legislative amendments in 2010 introduced mandatory seat belt wearing for vehicle occupants on Norfolk Island, other critical issues face the community including drink driving by residents and visitors, occupant protection for vehicle passengers, and the provision of a more protective road environment. The release of the first Norfolk Island road safety strategy 2014-2016 proposed, inter alia: a lower BAC of 0.05 and the introduction of compulsory driver alcohol and drug testing by police; targeted enforcement of occupant protection for vehicle passengers, particularly for passengers riding on vehicle tray backs; education interventions to challenge values held by some members of the community that support unsafe road use; en...
Advisory Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) systems are those that integrate data about vehicle locat... more Advisory Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) systems are those that integrate data about vehicle location with information about the speed limit of the current section of road and direction of travel, and which will alert the driver if the speed limit is exceeded. The authors examine the potential of after-market portable navigation devices (e.g., smartphones and portable satellite navigation devices) to inform drivers about posted speed limits and to assist them to travel within the speed limits. Data sources include ISA effectiveness studies, manufacturer's product specifications, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal and device positioning theory, information related to performance characteristics and method of operation of GNSS signal emulators, digital speed limit maps provided with ISA-related software and human factors research associated with in-vehicle alerts. At the time of the research project there were no standards or assessment protocols directly relevant to ...
Electric-motored personal mobility devices (PMDs) are appearing on Australian roads. While legal ... more Electric-motored personal mobility devices (PMDs) are appearing on Australian roads. While legal to import and own, their use is typically illegal for adult riders within the road transport system. However, these devices could provide an answer to traffic congestion by getting people out of cars for short trips (“first-and-last mile” travel). City of Ryde council, Macquarie University, and Transport for NSW examined PMD use within the road transport system. Stage 1 of the project examined PMD use within a controlled pedestrian environment on the Macquarie University campus. Three PMD categories were used: one-wheelers (an electric unicycle, the Solowheel); two-wheelers (an electric scooter, the Egret); and three-wheelers (the Qugo). The two-wheeled PMD was most effective in terms of flexibility. In contrast, the three-wheeled PMD was most effective in terms of speed. One-wheeled PMD riders were very satisfied with their device, especially at speed, but significant training and pract...
This paper reports a study of the performance of in-vehicle navigation devices to assess speed-re... more This paper reports a study of the performance of in-vehicle navigation devices to assess speed-related functionality and the provision of speed information to drivers. There are currently no standards or assessments protocols for navigation devices that are complete and that are directly relevant to the assessment of commercially available intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) devices. Human factors research is not conclusive about the best ways to convey speed limit information and speeding alerts to drivers, and a review of the literature indicated that there are some human-machine-interface methods that should be avoided in the driving task. Protocols for the assessment of navigation devices should avoid being design restrictive, but should discourage poor interface design concerning speed limit information and speeding alerts to drivers. A protocol was developed to evaluate in-vehicle navigation devices offering an ISA capability. The intended outcome from the use of this protocol ...
The Blacktown Traffic Offenders Program (TOP) Inc. is a pre-sentencing educational Program with t... more The Blacktown Traffic Offenders Program (TOP) Inc. is a pre-sentencing educational Program with the mission 'To educate traffic offenders to change their attitudes and demonstrated behaviours to their driving'. Blacktown TOP has been run every year since it was implemented on 5th March 1992 and after it was developed by a concerned NSW Ambulance Officer, Mr Graham Symes. Since then, as Co-ordinator of Blacktown TOP, Graham has seen over 9,600 offenders develop an understanding of the harsh reality of their driving offences. Traffic Offender style programs such as the Blacktown and PCYC TOPs have been shown to be a practical part of the solution to managing the NSW road toll. However, without clear evidence and scientific evaluation, the extension of the effectiveness of all TOPs is limited. Therefore, the impact on reducing the burden on the community is also limited. In October 2006 Blacktown TOP approached the NSW Roads Minister, The Honourable Eric Roozendaal MLC, with pr...
For the records of the papers (or relevant papers) presented, please refer to ITRD abstract nos E... more For the records of the papers (or relevant papers) presented, please refer to ITRD abstract nos E216955 to E216976.
Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most comm... more Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most common secondary tasks that young drivers engage in: conversation and listening to music. The first experiment, by the use of experimental confederates engaged the drivers in a naturalistic conversation either over a mobile phone or as a passenger. The distracting consequences of these conditions had different effects for the male and female drivers. Relative to a silent control condition the female drivers appeared to be more distracted when conversing on a mobile phone than did the male drivers, and the male drivers appeared to be more distracted by the conversation with a passenger. The second experiment examined the effect of listening to music, and whether its tempo was important in determining its role as a source of distraction. Young drivers listened to music that had been chosen on the basis of its current popularity that either had a fast or a slow tempo, and drove a programmed rou...
The objectives of the initiative are: 1. To improve kiss and drop zone safety for children in pri... more The objectives of the initiative are: 1. To improve kiss and drop zone safety for children in primary schools, particularly at home time; 2. To modify and improve driver behaviour in the vicinity of the school; 3. To streamline traffic flow and improve local amenity; 4. Integrated with the current primary school leadership curriculum, to allow senior primary school students to observe and make recommendations on their findings, relating to road safety for themselves and their younger peers; 5. To provide a forum at which these school leaders can discuss issues and broadcast their findings and recommendations in the school newsletter and through other appropriate channels; 6. To prepare years 5 and 6 students for further road safety education such as the young drivers programs offered in high school This article is based on a review, conducted in May 2007, after some nine weeks of operation of the trial scheme. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract n...
Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most comm... more Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most common secondary tasks that young drivers engage in: conversation and listening to music. The first experiment, by the use of experimental confederates engaged the drivers in a naturalistic conversation either over a mobile phone or as a passenger. The distracting consequences of these conditions had different effects for the male and female drivers. Relative to a silent control condition the female drivers appeared to be more distracted when conversing on a mobile phone than did the male drivers, and the male drivers appeared to be more distracted by the conversation with a passenger. The second experiment examined the effect of listening to music, and whether its tempo was important in determining its role as a source of distraction. Young drivers listened to music that had been chosen on the basis of its current popularity that either had a fast or a slow tempo, and drove a programmed route that required both easy and difficult driving maneuvers. Gender influences were again observed in the easy driving environment. Male drivers made more errors listening to slow tempo music, than they did to fast tempo music; whereas the opposite was found for the female drivers. The increased errors made by all drivers in the more difficult driving environment did not reveal any differential effects due to tempo or gender. The results of this study are interpreted in terms of differences in gender susceptibility to optimal mental workloads for driving.
Page 1. T2007 Seattle, Washington Alcohol, drugs, and traffic safety in Australia: Initiatives ... more Page 1. T2007 Seattle, Washington Alcohol, drugs, and traffic safety in Australia: Initiatives and indicators Ian J. Faulks Safety and Policy Analysis International and Julia D. Irwin Department of Psychology, Macquarie University Abstract ...
Traffic policing is about changing driver behaviour through guiding, enforcing and promoting safe... more Traffic policing is about changing driver behaviour through guiding, enforcing and promoting safe road use within the road transport system. Typically, when we think of traffic policing, we think of enforcement alone : the detection, the ticketing, and the penalties. But traffic policing has traditionally been much more than that, partly as a consequence of not having technologies and methods to effectively enforce illegal driver behaviour. Prior to the 1980s and 1990s, interventions with erring drivers were mostly unplanned and arose from observations of an illegal act. Police intervened in person, which allowed for discussion about the illegal behaviour, its causes and consequences, and corrective actions to avoid re-offending. Since then, the availability of enforcement technologies and procedures targeting drink driving, drug driving and speed detection have seen a predominant focus on detection and punishment of drivers on a community-wide basis. As a consequence, traffic polic...
ABSTRACT This paper builds on presentations given at the 2009 Transportation Research Board Occup... more ABSTRACT This paper builds on presentations given at the 2009 Transportation Research Board Occupant Protection Committee meeting in Washington DC; the 2009 Indonesia Transport Safety Assistance Package in Sydney; and the 2010 Road Safety Research, Policing and Education conference in Canberra. The Australian road transport system has to be modified to take better account of the needs, mistakes and vulnerabilities of the diversity of road types, vehicle types, and road users. The design and management of the road transport system, either as built or as modified, must minimize the risk of people dying just because they want or need to travel. That is, there is a need to better regulate the road transport system so that when crashes occur—and they will, it is human fallibility—people don’t die or suffer a lifelong disabling injury. This approach reflects the Vision Zero philosophy - the protection of human life and well-being must be the basis in designing, operating and maintaining a road transport system. In Australia, the newly-formed National Road Safety Council is developing the 2011-2020 National Road Safety Strategy. There will be a particular focus on young drivers, speed management, fleet safety, the safety of indigenous road users, motorcycle safety, and road users impaired by alcohol and other drugs. A draft 2011-2020 National Road Safety Strategy will be released for public consultation in late 2010, and comments will be sought from individuals, families, businesses and community organisations.
The project investigated road crashes and traffic offences committed by novice drivers, using lic... more The project investigated road crashes and traffic offences committed by novice drivers, using licensing and crash data from learner and provisionally-licensed drivers in New South Wales. The nature and extent of illegal driving behaviours was established. To address illegal driving behaviours, a novel online novice driver offender intervention was developed and implemented as part of a statutory driver education course. A framework to assess recidivism by novice drivers was developed, focusing on 2-year and 5-year follow-up of repeat offending for novice drivers who had received the intervention.
Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in Oceania. The significant road safety reform... more Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in Oceania. The significant road safety reforms in Australia from the 1970s onward bypassed the island, and most road safety ‘silver bullets’ adopted in other Australian jurisdictions were not introduced. While legislative amendments in 2010 introduced mandatory seat belt wearing for vehicle occupants on Norfolk Island, other critical issues face the community including drink driving by residents and visitors, occupant protection for vehicle passengers, and the provision of a more protective road environment. The release of the first Norfolk Island road safety strategy 2014-2016 proposed, inter alia: a lower BAC of 0.05 and the introduction of compulsory driver alcohol and drug testing by police; targeted enforcement of occupant protection for vehicle passengers, particularly for passengers riding on vehicle tray backs; education interventions to challenge values held by some members of the community that support unsafe road use; en...
Advisory Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) systems are those that integrate data about vehicle locat... more Advisory Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) systems are those that integrate data about vehicle location with information about the speed limit of the current section of road and direction of travel, and which will alert the driver if the speed limit is exceeded. The authors examine the potential of after-market portable navigation devices (e.g., smartphones and portable satellite navigation devices) to inform drivers about posted speed limits and to assist them to travel within the speed limits. Data sources include ISA effectiveness studies, manufacturer's product specifications, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal and device positioning theory, information related to performance characteristics and method of operation of GNSS signal emulators, digital speed limit maps provided with ISA-related software and human factors research associated with in-vehicle alerts. At the time of the research project there were no standards or assessment protocols directly relevant to ...
Electric-motored personal mobility devices (PMDs) are appearing on Australian roads. While legal ... more Electric-motored personal mobility devices (PMDs) are appearing on Australian roads. While legal to import and own, their use is typically illegal for adult riders within the road transport system. However, these devices could provide an answer to traffic congestion by getting people out of cars for short trips (“first-and-last mile” travel). City of Ryde council, Macquarie University, and Transport for NSW examined PMD use within the road transport system. Stage 1 of the project examined PMD use within a controlled pedestrian environment on the Macquarie University campus. Three PMD categories were used: one-wheelers (an electric unicycle, the Solowheel); two-wheelers (an electric scooter, the Egret); and three-wheelers (the Qugo). The two-wheeled PMD was most effective in terms of flexibility. In contrast, the three-wheeled PMD was most effective in terms of speed. One-wheeled PMD riders were very satisfied with their device, especially at speed, but significant training and pract...
This paper reports a study of the performance of in-vehicle navigation devices to assess speed-re... more This paper reports a study of the performance of in-vehicle navigation devices to assess speed-related functionality and the provision of speed information to drivers. There are currently no standards or assessments protocols for navigation devices that are complete and that are directly relevant to the assessment of commercially available intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) devices. Human factors research is not conclusive about the best ways to convey speed limit information and speeding alerts to drivers, and a review of the literature indicated that there are some human-machine-interface methods that should be avoided in the driving task. Protocols for the assessment of navigation devices should avoid being design restrictive, but should discourage poor interface design concerning speed limit information and speeding alerts to drivers. A protocol was developed to evaluate in-vehicle navigation devices offering an ISA capability. The intended outcome from the use of this protocol ...
The Blacktown Traffic Offenders Program (TOP) Inc. is a pre-sentencing educational Program with t... more The Blacktown Traffic Offenders Program (TOP) Inc. is a pre-sentencing educational Program with the mission 'To educate traffic offenders to change their attitudes and demonstrated behaviours to their driving'. Blacktown TOP has been run every year since it was implemented on 5th March 1992 and after it was developed by a concerned NSW Ambulance Officer, Mr Graham Symes. Since then, as Co-ordinator of Blacktown TOP, Graham has seen over 9,600 offenders develop an understanding of the harsh reality of their driving offences. Traffic Offender style programs such as the Blacktown and PCYC TOPs have been shown to be a practical part of the solution to managing the NSW road toll. However, without clear evidence and scientific evaluation, the extension of the effectiveness of all TOPs is limited. Therefore, the impact on reducing the burden on the community is also limited. In October 2006 Blacktown TOP approached the NSW Roads Minister, The Honourable Eric Roozendaal MLC, with pr...
For the records of the papers (or relevant papers) presented, please refer to ITRD abstract nos E... more For the records of the papers (or relevant papers) presented, please refer to ITRD abstract nos E216955 to E216976.
Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most comm... more Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most common secondary tasks that young drivers engage in: conversation and listening to music. The first experiment, by the use of experimental confederates engaged the drivers in a naturalistic conversation either over a mobile phone or as a passenger. The distracting consequences of these conditions had different effects for the male and female drivers. Relative to a silent control condition the female drivers appeared to be more distracted when conversing on a mobile phone than did the male drivers, and the male drivers appeared to be more distracted by the conversation with a passenger. The second experiment examined the effect of listening to music, and whether its tempo was important in determining its role as a source of distraction. Young drivers listened to music that had been chosen on the basis of its current popularity that either had a fast or a slow tempo, and drove a programmed rou...
The objectives of the initiative are: 1. To improve kiss and drop zone safety for children in pri... more The objectives of the initiative are: 1. To improve kiss and drop zone safety for children in primary schools, particularly at home time; 2. To modify and improve driver behaviour in the vicinity of the school; 3. To streamline traffic flow and improve local amenity; 4. Integrated with the current primary school leadership curriculum, to allow senior primary school students to observe and make recommendations on their findings, relating to road safety for themselves and their younger peers; 5. To provide a forum at which these school leaders can discuss issues and broadcast their findings and recommendations in the school newsletter and through other appropriate channels; 6. To prepare years 5 and 6 students for further road safety education such as the young drivers programs offered in high school This article is based on a review, conducted in May 2007, after some nine weeks of operation of the trial scheme. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract n...
Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most comm... more Two experiments using a driving simulation task examined the distracting effects of the most common secondary tasks that young drivers engage in: conversation and listening to music. The first experiment, by the use of experimental confederates engaged the drivers in a naturalistic conversation either over a mobile phone or as a passenger. The distracting consequences of these conditions had different effects for the male and female drivers. Relative to a silent control condition the female drivers appeared to be more distracted when conversing on a mobile phone than did the male drivers, and the male drivers appeared to be more distracted by the conversation with a passenger. The second experiment examined the effect of listening to music, and whether its tempo was important in determining its role as a source of distraction. Young drivers listened to music that had been chosen on the basis of its current popularity that either had a fast or a slow tempo, and drove a programmed route that required both easy and difficult driving maneuvers. Gender influences were again observed in the easy driving environment. Male drivers made more errors listening to slow tempo music, than they did to fast tempo music; whereas the opposite was found for the female drivers. The increased errors made by all drivers in the more difficult driving environment did not reveal any differential effects due to tempo or gender. The results of this study are interpreted in terms of differences in gender susceptibility to optimal mental workloads for driving.
Page 1. T2007 Seattle, Washington Alcohol, drugs, and traffic safety in Australia: Initiatives ... more Page 1. T2007 Seattle, Washington Alcohol, drugs, and traffic safety in Australia: Initiatives and indicators Ian J. Faulks Safety and Policy Analysis International and Julia D. Irwin Department of Psychology, Macquarie University Abstract ...
Traffic policing is about changing driver behaviour through guiding, enforcing and promoting safe... more Traffic policing is about changing driver behaviour through guiding, enforcing and promoting safe road use within the road transport system. Typically, when we think of traffic policing, we think of enforcement alone : the detection, the ticketing, and the penalties. But traffic policing has traditionally been much more than that, partly as a consequence of not having technologies and methods to effectively enforce illegal driver behaviour. Prior to the 1980s and 1990s, interventions with erring drivers were mostly unplanned and arose from observations of an illegal act. Police intervened in person, which allowed for discussion about the illegal behaviour, its causes and consequences, and corrective actions to avoid re-offending. Since then, the availability of enforcement technologies and procedures targeting drink driving, drug driving and speed detection have seen a predominant focus on detection and punishment of drivers on a community-wide basis. As a consequence, traffic polic...
ABSTRACT This paper builds on presentations given at the 2009 Transportation Research Board Occup... more ABSTRACT This paper builds on presentations given at the 2009 Transportation Research Board Occupant Protection Committee meeting in Washington DC; the 2009 Indonesia Transport Safety Assistance Package in Sydney; and the 2010 Road Safety Research, Policing and Education conference in Canberra. The Australian road transport system has to be modified to take better account of the needs, mistakes and vulnerabilities of the diversity of road types, vehicle types, and road users. The design and management of the road transport system, either as built or as modified, must minimize the risk of people dying just because they want or need to travel. That is, there is a need to better regulate the road transport system so that when crashes occur—and they will, it is human fallibility—people don’t die or suffer a lifelong disabling injury. This approach reflects the Vision Zero philosophy - the protection of human life and well-being must be the basis in designing, operating and maintaining a road transport system. In Australia, the newly-formed National Road Safety Council is developing the 2011-2020 National Road Safety Strategy. There will be a particular focus on young drivers, speed management, fleet safety, the safety of indigenous road users, motorcycle safety, and road users impaired by alcohol and other drugs. A draft 2011-2020 National Road Safety Strategy will be released for public consultation in late 2010, and comments will be sought from individuals, families, businesses and community organisations.
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