"If they say go faster or something I'll probably go faster" - peer influence upon the risky driving behaviour of young novice drivers

Purpose Young novice drivers are at considerable risk of injury on the road, and their behaviour appears vulnerable to the social influence of their friends. Research was undertaken to identify the nature and mechanisms of peer influence upon novice driver (16-25 years) behaviour to inform the design of more effective young driver countermeasures. Methods. Peer influence was explored in small group interviews (n = 21) and three surveys (n1 = 761, n2 = 1170, n3 = 390) as part of a larger Queensland-wide study. Surveys two and three were part of a six-month longitudinal study. Results Peer influence was reported from the pre-Licence to the Provisional (intermediate) periods. Young novice drivers who experienced or expected social punishments including ‘being told off’ for risky driving reported less riskiness. Conversely young novice drivers who experienced or expected social rewards such as being ‘cheered on’ by their friends – who were also more risky drivers – reported more risky driving including crashes and offences. Conclusions Peers appear influential in the risky behaviour of young novice drivers, and influence occurs through social mechanisms of reinforcement and sanction. Interventions enhancing positive influence and curtailing negative influence may improve road safety outcomes not only for young novice drivers, but for all persons who share the road with them. Among the interventions warranting further development and evaluation are programs to encourage the modelling of safe driving behaviour and attitudes by young drivers; and minimisation of social reinforcement and promotion of social sanctions for risky driving behaviour in particular.

Mothers vs fathers as learner driver supervisors : time commitment, driving activities and perceptions of risk

The learner licence, within a graduated driver licensing system, provides new drivers with the opportunity to learn to drive under the supervision of a more experienced driver. The Queensland graduated driver licensing system requires learner drivers to record a minimum of 100 logbook hours of supervised practice with the support of parents appearing critical to ensure that this is achieved. This paper examines differences between mothers and fathers who supervise learner drivers. Mothers and fathers from Queensland who had recently supervised their child while they learnt to drive completed an internet survey about their experiences. It appears that one strategy that parents use to provide practice hours is for the child to drive themselves or their parents to or from activities that they would have attended anyway in addition to undertaking special trips in the car for the purposes of practising. The results suggest that mothers, when compared with fathers, consider driving at all stages of licensure riskier and that mothers provided more hours of supervision than fathers. However, despite this, there are limited differences between how frequently mothers and fathers provide different driving experiences such as deliberately practising in suburban areas or with passengers in the car. This research fills a gap in the literature by providing important information about the way in which parents supervise their children while they are driving on a learner licence as well as identifying some of the differences and similarities between mothers and fathers.

Driver perceptions of the benefits of reducing their driving speed on safety, emissions, and stress and road rage

The existing literature shows driving speed significantly affects levels of safety, emissions, and stress in driving. In addition, drivers who feel tense when driving have been found to drive more slowly than others. These findings were mostly obtained from crash data analyses or field studies, and less is known regarding driver perceptions of the extent to which reducing their driving speed would improve road safety, reduce their car’s emissions, and reduce stress and road rage. This paper uses ordered probit regression models to analyse responses from 3538 Queensland drivers who completed an online RACQ survey. Drivers most strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would improve road safety, less strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would reduce their car’s emissions and least strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would reduce stress and road rage. Younger drivers less strongly agreed that these benefits would occur than older drivers. Drivers of automatic cars and those who are bicycle commuters agreed more to these benefits than other drivers. Female drivers agreed more strongly than males on improving safety and reducing stress and road rage. Type of fuel used, engine size, driving experience, and distance driven per week were also found to be associated with driver perceptions, although these were not found to be significant in all of the regression models. The findings from this study may help in developing targeted training or educational measures to improve drivers’ willingness to reduce their driving speed.

What are the offence and offender risk factors for Indigenous repeat drink drivers in Queensland Australia?

Background Road crashes contribute to high injury rates in Indigenous population in Aust, NZ, Canada and USA Alcohol one of the leading risk factors for road crashes: 31.5% Indigenous drivers in remote areas over 0.05mg/100ml, compared to 7.4 percent of non-Indigenous counterparts 17.5% Indigenous drivers in regional areas over 0.05mg/100ml compared to 3.8 percent of non-Indigenous counterparts Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in alcohol-related fatality rates, with this group 40% more likely to be killed

Developing targets and strategies for school-based injury prevention programs to reduce alcohol associated transport risks

Background There is considerable and ongoing debate about the role and effectiveness of school-based injury prevention programs in reducing students’ later involvement in alcohol associated transport injuries. Most relevant literature is concerned with pre-driving and licensing programs for middle age range adolescents (15-17 years). This research team is concerned with prevention at an earlier stage by targeting interventions to young adolescents (13-14 years). There is strong evidence that young adolescents who engage in unsafe and illegal alcohol associated transport risks are significantly likely to incur serious related injuries in longitudinal follow up. For example, a state-wide representative sample of male adolescents (mean age 14.5 years) who reported being passengers of drink drivers were significantly more likely to have incurred a hospitalised injury related to traffic events at a 20 year follow up. Aim This paper reports on first aid training integrated with peer protection and school connectedness within the Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) program. A component of the intervention is concerned with providing strategies to reduce the likelihood of being a passenger of a drink driver and effectiveness is followed up at six months post-intervention. Method In early 2012 the study was undertaken in 35 high schools throughout Queensland that were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. A total of 2,521 Year 9 students (mean age 13.5years, 43% male) completed surveys prior to the intervention. Results Of these students 316 (13.7%) reported having ridden in a car with someone who has been drinking. This is a traffic safety behaviour that is particularly relevant to a peer protection intervention and the findings of the six month follow up will be reported. Discussion and conclusions This research will provide evidence as to whether this approach to the introduction of first aid skills within a school-based health education curriculum has traffic safety implications.

Evaluating ITS interventions at railway level crossings using a driving simulator

This paper assesses Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to identify safety systems that are most likely to reduce driver errors at railway crossings. ITS technologies have been integrated in order to develop improved evaluation tools to reduce crashes at railway crossings. Although emerging technologies, knowledge, innovative interventions have been introduced to change driver behaviour, there is a lack of research on the impact of integrating ITS technologies and transportation simulation on drivers. The outcomes of ITS technologies for complementing traditional signage were compared with those of current safety systems (passive and active) at railway crossings. Three ITS technologies are compared with current treatments, in terms of compliance rate and vehicle speed profiles. It is found that ITS technologies improve compliance rate by 17~30% and also encourage drivers to slow down earlier compared to current passive and active crossings when there is a train approaching the railway crossings.

Moderate sleep restriction in treated older male OSA participants: Greater impairment during monotonous driving compared with controls

Objectives To examine the effects on monotonous driving of normal sleep versus one night of sleep restriction in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treated obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients compared with age matched healthy controls. Methods Nineteen CPAP treated compliant male OSA patients (OSA-treated patients (OPs)), aged 50–75 years, and 20 healthy age-matched controls underwent both a normal night’s sleep and sleep restriction to 5 h (OPs remained on CPAP) in a counterbalanced design. All participants completed a 2 h afternoon monotonous drive in a realistic car simulator. Driving was monitored for sleepiness-related minor and major lane deviations, with ‘safe’ driving time being total time driven prior to first major lane deviation. EEGs were recorded continuously, and subjective sleepiness ratings were taken at regular intervals throughout the drive. Results After a normal night’s sleep, OPs and controls did not differ in terms of driving performance or in their ability to assess the levels of their own sleepiness, with both groups driving ‘safely’ for approximately 90 min. However, after sleep restriction, OPs had a significantly shorter (65 min) safe driving time and had to apply more compensatory effort to maintain their alertness compared with controls. They also underestimated the enhanced sleepiness. Nevertheless, apart from this caveat, there were generally close associations between subjective sleepiness, likelihood of a major lane deviation and EEG changes indicative of sleepiness. Conclusions With a normal night’s sleep, effectively treated older men with OSA drive as safely as healthy men of the same age. However, after restricted sleep, driving impairment is worse than that of controls. This suggests that, although successful CPAP treatment can alleviate potential detrimental effects of OSA on monotonous driving following normal sleep, these patients remain more vulnerable to sleep restriction.

One night’s CPAP withdrawal in otherwise compliant OSA patients: marked driving impairment but good awareness of increased sleepiness

Purpose Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients effectively treated by and compliant with continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) occasionally miss a night’s treatment. The purpose of this study was to use a real car interactive driving simulator to assess the effects of such an occurrence on the next day’s driving, including the extent to which these drivers are aware of increased sleepiness. Methods Eleven long-term compliant CPAP-treated 50–75-year-old male OSA participants completed a 2-h afternoon, simulated, realistic monotonous drive in an instrumented car, twice, following one night: (1) normal sleep with CPAP and (2) nil CPAP. Drifting out of road lane (‘incidents’), subjective sleepiness every 200 s and continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) activities indicative of sleepiness and compensatory effort were monitored. Results Withdrawal of CPAP markedly increased sleep disturbance and led to significantly more incidents, a shorter ‘safe’ driving duration, increased alpha and theta EEG power and greater subjective sleepiness. However, increased EEG beta activity indicated that more compensatory effort was being applied. Importantly, under both conditions, there was a highly significant correlation between subjective and EEG measures of sleepiness, to the extent that participants were well aware of the effects of nil CPAP. Conclusions Patients should be aware that compliance with treatment every night is crucial for safe driving.

Assessment of police subjective workload and preference for using a voice-based interface during simulated driving

Police in-vehicle systems include a visual output mobile data terminal (MDT) with manual input via touch screen and keyboard. This study investigated the potential for voice-based input and output modalities for reducing subjective workload of police officers while driving. Nineteen experienced drivers of police vehicles (one female) from New South Wales (NSW) Police completed four simulated urban drives. Three drives included a concurrent secondary task: an imitation licence number search using an emulated MDT. Three different interface output-input modalities were examined: Visual-Manual, Visual-Voice, and Audio-Voice. Following each drive, participants rated their subjective workload using the NASA - Raw Task Load Index and completed questions on acceptability. A questionnaire on interface preferences was completed by participants at the end of their session. Engaging in secondary tasks while driving significantly increased subjective workload. The Visual-Manual interface resulted in higher time demand than either of the voice-based interfaces and greater physical demand than the Audio-Voice interface. The Visual-Voice and Audio-Voice interfaces were rated easier to use and more useful than the Visual-Manual interface, although not significantly different from each other. Findings largely echoed those deriving from the analysis of the objective driving performance data. It is acknowledged that under standard procedures, officers should not drive while performing tasks concurrently with certain invehicle policing systems; however, in practice this sometimes occurs. Taking action now to develop voice-based technology for police in-vehicle systems has potential to realise visions for potentially safer and more efficient vehicle-based police work.

On-road driving studies to understand why drivers behave as they do at regional rail level crossings

Improving safety at rail level crossings is an important part of both road and rail safety strategies. While low in number, crashes between vehicles and trains at level crossings are catastrophic events typically involving multiple fatalities and serious injuries. Advances in driving assessment methods, such as the provision of on-road instrumented test vehicles with eye and head tracking, provide researchers with the opportunity to further understand driver behaviour at such crossings in ways not previously possible. This paper describes a study conducted to further understand the factors that shape driver behaviour at rail level crossings using instrumented vehicles. Twenty-two participants drove an On-Road Test Vehicle (ORTeV) on a predefined route in regional Victoria with a mix of both active (flashing lights with/without boom barriers) and passively controlled (stop, give way) crossings. Data collected included driving performance data, head checks, and interview data to capture driver strategies. The data from an integrated suite of methods demonstrated clearly how behaviour differs at active and passive level crossings, particularly for inexperienced drivers. For example, the head check data clearly show the reliance and expectancies of inexperienced drivers for active warnings even when approaching passively controlled crossings. These studies provide very novel and unique insights into how level crossing design and warnings shape driver behaviour.

Fuel consumption and gas emissions of an automatic transmission vehicle following simple eco-driving instructions on urban roads

Following eco-driving instructions can reduce fuel consumption between 5 to 20% on urban roads with manual cars. The majority of Australian cars have an automatic transmission gear-box. It is therefore of interest to verify whether current eco-driving instructions are e cient for such vehicles. In this pilot study, participants (N=13) drove an instrumented vehicle (Toyota Camry 2007) with an automatic transmission. Fuel consumption of the participants was compared before and after they received simple eco-driving instructions. Participants drove the same vehicle on the same urban route under similar tra c conditions. We found that participants drove at similar speeds during their baseline and eco-friendly drives, and reduced the level of their accelerations and decelerations during eco-driving. Fuel consumption decreased for the complete drive by 7%, but not on the motorway and inclined sections of the study. Gas emissions were estimated with the VT-micro model, and emissions of the studied pollutants (CO2, CO, NOX and HC) were reduced, but no di erence was observed for CO2 on the motorway and inclined sections. The di erence for the complete lap is 3% for CO2. We have found evidence showing that simple eco-driving instructions are e cient in the case of automatic transmission in an urban environment, but towards the lowest values of the spectrum of fuel consumption reduction from the di erent eco-driving studies.

Mobile phone use and driving : the message is just not getting through

Previous research has shown that mobile phone use while driving can increase crash risk fourfold while texting results in 23 times greater crash risk for heavy vehicle drivers. However, mobile phone use has changed in recent years with the functional capabilities of smart phones to now also include a range of other common behaviours while driving such as using Facebook, emailing, the use of ‘apps’, and GPS. Research continues to show performance decrements for many such behaviours while driving, however many Australians still openly admit to illegal mobile phone use while driving despite ongoing enforcement efforts and public awareness campaigns. Of most concern are young drivers. ‘Apps’ available to restrict mobile phone use while in motion do not prevent use while a driver is stopped at traffic lights, so are therefore not a wholly viable solution. Vehicle manufacturers continue to develop in-vehicle technology to minimise distraction, however communication with the ‘outside world’ while driving is also perhaps a strong selling point for vehicles. Hence, the safety message that drivers should focus on the driving task solely and not use communication devices is unlikely to ever be internalised by many drivers. This paper reviews the available literature on the topic and argues that a better understanding of perceptions of mobile phone use while driving and motives for use are required to inform public awareness campaign development for specific road user groups. Additionally, illegal phone use while driving may be reinforced by not being apprehended (punishment avoidance), therefore stronger deterrence-focussed messages may also be beneficial.

How realistic are older drivers’ ratings of their driving ability?

One strategy that can be used by older drivers to guard against age-related declines in driving capability is to regulate their driving. This strategy presumes that self-judgments of driving capability are realistic. We found no significant relationships between older drivers’ hazard perception skill ratings and performance on an objective and validated video-based hazard perception test, even when self-ratings of performance on specific scenarios in the test were used. Self-enhancement biases were found across all components of driving skill, including hazard perception. If older drivers’ judgments of their driving capability are unrealistic, then this may compromise the effectiveness of any self-restriction strategies to reduce crash risk.

Identifying the determinants of concealed and obvious texting while driving : are they distinct behaviours?

Concealed texting (CT) while driving involves a conscious effort to hide one’s texting while obvious texting (OT) does not involve such efforts to conceal the behaviour. Young drivers are the most frequent users of mobile phones while driving which is associated with heightened crash risk. This study investigated the extent to which CT and OT may be discrete behaviours to ascertain whether countermeasures would need to utilise distinct approaches. An extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) including moral norm, mobile phone involvement, and anticipated regret guided the research. Participants (n = 171) were aged 17 to 25 years, owned a mobile phone, had a current driver’s licence, and resided in Queensland. A repeated measures MANOVA found significant differences between CT and OT on all standard and extended TPB constructs. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed the standard TPB constructs accounted for 68.7% and 54.6% of the variance in intentions to engage in CT and OT, respectively. The extended predictors contributed additional variance in intentions over and above the standard TPB constructs. Further, in the final regression model, differences emerged in the significant predictors of each type of texting. These findings provide initial evidence that CT and OT are distinct behaviours. This distinction is important to the extent that it may influence the nature of advertising countermeasures aimed at reducing/preventing young drivers’ engagement in these risky behaviours.

Characteristics of on-road driving performance of persons with central vision loss who use bioptic telescopes

Purpose. To compare the on-road driving performance of visually impaired drivers using bioptic telescopes with age-matched controls. Methods. Participants included 23 persons (mean age = 33 ± 12 years) with visual acuity of 20/63 to 20/200 who were legally licensed to drive through a state bioptic driving program, and 23 visually normal age-matched controls (mean age = 33 ± 12 years). On-road driving was assessed in an instrumented dual-brake vehicle along 14.6 miles of city, suburban, and controlled-access highways. Two backseat evaluators independently rated driving performance using a standardized scoring system. Vehicle control was assessed through vehicle instrumentation and video recordings used to evaluate head movements, lane-keeping, pedestrian detection, and frequency of bioptic telescope use. Results. Ninety-six percent (22/23) of bioptic drivers and 100% (23/23) of controls were rated as safe to drive by the evaluators. There were no group differences for pedestrian detection, or ratings for scanning, speed, gap judgments, braking, indicator use, or obeying signs/signals. Bioptic drivers received worse ratings than controls for lane position and steering steadiness and had lower rates of correct sign and traffic signal recognition. Bioptic drivers made significantly more right head movements, drove more often over the right-hand lane marking, and exhibited more sudden braking than controls. Conclusions. Drivers with central vision loss who are licensed to drive through a bioptic driving program can display proficient on-road driving skills. This raises questions regarding the validity of denying such drivers a license without the opportunity to train with a bioptic telescope and undergo on-road evaluation.