Application of contemporary systems-based methods to reduce trauma at rail level crossings. Crashes at railway level crossings continue to cause significant trauma across Australia. Despite being a longstanding safety problem, the design and operation of level crossings has not changed considerably for decades. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of road user, environmental and infrastructure-related factors that influence safety and performance at rail level crossings. This wil ....Application of contemporary systems-based methods to reduce trauma at rail level crossings. Crashes at railway level crossings continue to cause significant trauma across Australia. Despite being a longstanding safety problem, the design and operation of level crossings has not changed considerably for decades. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of road user, environmental and infrastructure-related factors that influence safety and performance at rail level crossings. This will be used to develop a world-first model of the level crossing system that is needed to support the development of innovative countermeasures that will improve safety. Reductions in the levels of significant trauma at level crossings, and new public policy for level crossing upgrades, are the intended real-world outcomes.Read moreRead less
The Australian naturalistic driving study: innovation in road safety research and policy. A revolutionary new approach, the naturalistic driving study, will investigate what people actually do when they drive, in normal and safety-critical situations. It will provide Australia with answers to some intractable, high priority, road safety problems that cannot be answered using current methods, thereby saving hundreds of lives.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$570,000.00
Summary
Integrated facility for recording driver and road user behaviour. The integrated facility will be used to record and analyse data on driver and road user behaviour, in normal and safety-critical situations, for thousands of Australian drivers. The data yielded will be used to develop new and improved countermeasures for reducing road deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101449
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$361,996.00
Summary
Human factors approaches for the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles. This project aims to address potential safety risks arising from the introduction of advanced autonomous vehicles through a novel integration of human factors and computer-based simulation techniques. While automation promises to reduce crashes, the project expects to generate new knowledge about the emergence of risks through interactions between human road users and autonomous vehicles, particularly in the initial trans ....Human factors approaches for the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles. This project aims to address potential safety risks arising from the introduction of advanced autonomous vehicles through a novel integration of human factors and computer-based simulation techniques. While automation promises to reduce crashes, the project expects to generate new knowledge about the emergence of risks through interactions between human road users and autonomous vehicles, particularly in the initial transition period. The expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to understand how risks emerge in complex systems, and the development of specific policy and regulatory interventions. The project expects to provide significant safety benefits by preventing new types of road crash events.Read moreRead less
Developing and evaluating a theoretically grounded novice driver education program incorporating simulators. Australian young drivers are 13 per cent of the population but account for nearly a quarter of road deaths. This project aims to develop a research informed, theory-driven education intervention that includes a simulator component to improve their driving skills and attitudes. A process and outcome evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of the training including the impact on how ind ....Developing and evaluating a theoretically grounded novice driver education program incorporating simulators. Australian young drivers are 13 per cent of the population but account for nearly a quarter of road deaths. This project aims to develop a research informed, theory-driven education intervention that includes a simulator component to improve their driving skills and attitudes. A process and outcome evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of the training including the impact on how individuals learn to drive, changes in skill and attitudes as well as the influence on crashes and offences. It is intended that a second parallel study will adapt the intervention for Indigenous Australians and examine the effectiveness of this adaptation.Read moreRead less
Establishing safe driving practice: Improving young learner driver training. This project plans to develop a best-practice model to enable professional instructors to teach essential higher-order skills (e.g. hazard perception) to young learner drivers to establish safe driving behaviours. Australian young drivers aged 17–25 years comprise 13 per cent of the population but 22 per cent of road deaths. More effective teaching models are expected to reduce young drivers’ crash risk when they drive ....Establishing safe driving practice: Improving young learner driver training. This project plans to develop a best-practice model to enable professional instructors to teach essential higher-order skills (e.g. hazard perception) to young learner drivers to establish safe driving behaviours. Australian young drivers aged 17–25 years comprise 13 per cent of the population but 22 per cent of road deaths. More effective teaching models are expected to reduce young drivers’ crash risk when they drive unsupervised. The project aims to develop and assess the effectiveness of the model including the impact on instructor teaching practices, and changes in young driver skills, attitudes, and driving behaviours including crashes and offences. It also aims to assess instructor and young driver perceptions of the model.Read moreRead less
Reducing aggression on our roads: testing a comprehensive model of aggressive driving. This project aims to increase our understanding of driver aggression, its causes and how it can be prevented. This will inform development of more effective educational and enforcement measures to reduce driver aggression and resultant road crashes, which have significant social and economic impacts on the Australian community.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101137
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,536.00
Summary
The whole is greater than its parts: Improving rail safety through teamwork. This project seeks to develop a train driving risk model that includes human factors, to enable rail organisations to better identify and mitigate safety risks. Train driving is a cognitively demanding task in which errors can quickly lead to catastrophic consequences. Signals passed at danger (SPADs) occur when a train goes past a red light. Despite significant investment in better signalling and communications infrast ....The whole is greater than its parts: Improving rail safety through teamwork. This project seeks to develop a train driving risk model that includes human factors, to enable rail organisations to better identify and mitigate safety risks. Train driving is a cognitively demanding task in which errors can quickly lead to catastrophic consequences. Signals passed at danger (SPADs) occur when a train goes past a red light. Despite significant investment in better signalling and communications infrastructure, SPAD rates remain unacceptably high and are projected to rise. SPAD risk is currently managed with a retrospective approach that fails to consider non-technical human factors such as time pressure, workload and team communications. By including non-technical dimensions, this project seeks to develop a comprehensive model to explain and prevent SPADs.Read moreRead less
The initiation and control of action in motor vehicle driving. Every time we pull up to a traffic light or overtake another vehicle our brain is making a whole series of critical decisions about when and how to carry out the manoeuvre accurately and safely. This project seeks to better understand the processes involved. Using the latest, high fidelity GPS and accelerometer technology, highly accurate measurements of driver behaviour and vehicle dynamics will be made in a real vehicle. Understand ....The initiation and control of action in motor vehicle driving. Every time we pull up to a traffic light or overtake another vehicle our brain is making a whole series of critical decisions about when and how to carry out the manoeuvre accurately and safely. This project seeks to better understand the processes involved. Using the latest, high fidelity GPS and accelerometer technology, highly accurate measurements of driver behaviour and vehicle dynamics will be made in a real vehicle. Understanding when and how we carry out these types of basic tasks will play a central role in future brake, suspension and steering system design; will help guide the specifications of road and road sign design; and will help motivate additions or alterations to current driver training programmes.Read moreRead less
Designing work roles for crew operating multiple unmanned aircraft. The aim of this project is to identify how work roles should be designed for crew operating multiple Unmanned Aircraft (UA). Industry expects that the introduction of higher levels of automation in next-generation UA systems will reduce the operational costs associated with UA by enabling human crews to simultaneously manage multiple aircraft. The current project examines the safety and effectiveness of different types of work d ....Designing work roles for crew operating multiple unmanned aircraft. The aim of this project is to identify how work roles should be designed for crew operating multiple Unmanned Aircraft (UA). Industry expects that the introduction of higher levels of automation in next-generation UA systems will reduce the operational costs associated with UA by enabling human crews to simultaneously manage multiple aircraft. The current project examines the safety and effectiveness of different types of work designs for these systems. The primary outcome will be a set of recommendations regarding the design of work roles for the crew of next-generation UA systems. Expected benefits include improvements in safety and cost-effectiveness of next-generation UA systems.Read moreRead less