Translating vision research into policy and practice to improve visibility, and hence safety, of road workers at night

This case study report describes the stages involved in the translation of research on night-time visibility into standards for the safety clothing worn by roadworkers. Vision research demonstrates that when lights are placed on the moveable joints of the body and the person moves in a dark setting, the phenomenon known as “biological motion or biomotion” occurs, enabling rapid and accurate recognition of the human form although only the lights can be seen. QUT was successful in gaining funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage grant due to the support of the predecessors of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to research the biomotion effect in on-road settings using materials that feature in roadworker clothing. Although positive results were gained, the process of translating the research results into policy, practices and standards relied strongly on the supportive efforts of TMR staff engaged in the review and promulgation of national standards. The ultimate result was the incorporation of biomotion marking into AS/NZS 4602.1 2011. The experiences gained in this case provide insights into the processes involved in translating research into practice.

Redland city council fleet safety initiative : the road to recovery

Due to the propensity of fleet incidents, poor organisational survey results and a lack of fleet safety systems, it was evident that Redland City Council were underperforming, experiencing a variety of work related road safety issues and possessed a low fleet safety culture. As a result of an audit process, and the identification of gaps in organisational process within the fleet safety area Redland City Council embarked upon the enormous task of strategically implementing initiatives and improving fleet safety across the organisation. The strategies utilised within the Redland City Council Fleet Safety Initiative were implemented utilising a systematic process and adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to improve overall fleet safety. Organisational initiatives targeting fleet safety aspects have benefited the Council by the development of an improved organisational culture, including safer driver attitudes and behaviour. This paper outlines the road to recovery for Redland City Council in relation to its fleet safety initiatives.

Reconceptualising policy integration in road safety management

Unless sustained, coordinated action is generated in road safety, road traffic deaths are poised to rise from approximately 1.3 to 1.9 million a year by 2020 (Krug, 2012). To generate this harmonised response, road safety management agencies are being urged to adopt multisectoral collaboration (WHO, 2009b), which is achievable through the principle of policy integration. Yet policy integration, in its current hierarchical format, is marred by a lack of universality of its interpretation, a failure to anticipate the complexities of coordinated effort, dearth of information about its design and the absence of a normative perspective to share responsibility. This paper addresses this ill-conception of policy integration by reconceptualising it through a qualitative examination of 16 road safety stakeholders’ written submissions, lodged with the Australian Transport Council in 2011. The resulting, new principle of policy integration, Participatory Deliberative Integration, provides a conceptual framework for the alignment of effort across stakeholders in transport, health, traffic law enforcement, relevant trades and the community. With the adoption of Participatory Deliberative Integration, road safety management agencies should secure the commitment of key stakeholders in the development and implementation of, amongst other policy measures, National Road Safety Strategies and Mix Mode Integrated Timetabling.

Video-based road commentary training improves hazard perception of young drivers in a dual task

This study used a video-based hazard perception dual task to compare the hazard perception skills of young drivers with middle aged, more experienced drivers and to determine if these skills can be improved with video-based road commentary training. The primary task required the participants to detect and verbally identify immediate hazard on video-based traffic scenarios while concurrently performing a secondary tracking task, simulating the steering of real driving. The results showed that the young drivers perceived fewer immediate hazards (mean = 75.2%, n = 24, 19 females) than the more experienced drivers (mean = 87.5%, n = 8, all females), and had longer hazard perception times, but performed better in the secondary tracking task. After the road commentary training, the mean percentage of hazards detected and identified by the young drivers improved to the level of the experienced drivers and was significantly higher than that of an age and driving experience matched control group. The results will be discussed in the context of psychological theories of hazard perception and in relation to road commentary as an evidence-based training intervention that seems to improve many aspects of unsafe driving behaviour in young drivers.

Port of Bundaberg Futures

This exhibition showcases the work of Postgraduate Landscape Architecture and final year Undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Port of Bundaberg. The Port of Bundaberg project site, just north of Bargara, is a complex mix of port facilities, urban development, coastal conservation and agriculture. The project brief was to prepare a range of strategic planning and environmental management options for future urban and infrastructure development in the Port area. Postgraduate Landscape Architecture and final year Undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering students worked over one teaching semester with guidance from QUT academics and partner organisations to produce strategic planning, environmental management planning and design options for managing future growth in the area. Specifically, these make recommendations regarding: • Interface between Port lands and residential settlement; • Future residential/urban development; • Transport accessibility and mobility – road, rail, tramway and maritime for personal and freight movement; • Local and regional connectivity - both physical and perceptual- between urban settlements of Port of Bundaberg – Burnett Heads and the surrounding area; • Recreational and tourism development; • Public/private space mix and access; • Ecological conservation assets; • Natural and cultural heritage assets The project process involved three visits to the site by QUT students and staff. The first visit at the project’s commencement included a formal briefing session with project partners the Burnett Mary Regional Group, Port of Brisbane Corporation, and Queensland Department of Local Government and Planning. Formal and informal community engagement facilitated by the Burnett Heads Progress Association also allowed students to gain some understanding of local values. A second visit mid-project involved a ‘Futures Workshop’ with students and community. This enabled the students to gain the benefit of local knowledge and experience in response to their work-in-progress, and to establish priorities for project completion. It strengthened the relationship between the community and the students. A final exhibition, ‘Port of Bundaberg Futures' was held at the Port TAFE Campus upon the completion of the project. The student work exhibited offers a diverse number of alternative options for the future urban development, infrastructure and environmental planning that the partner organisations have used for ongoing consultation.

Estimating health related costs and savings from balcony acoustic design for road traffic noise

A multi-faceted study is conducted with the objective of estimating the potential fiscal savings in annoyance and sleep disturbance related health costs due to providing improved building acoustic design standards. This study uses balcony acoustic treatments in response to road traffic noise as an example. The study area is the State of Queensland in Australia, where regional road traffic noise mapping data is used in conjunction with standard dose–response curves to estimate the population exposure levels. The background and the importance of using the selected road traffic noise indicators are discussed. In order to achieve the objective, correlations between the mapping indicator (LA10 (18 hour)) and the dose response curve indicators (Lden and Lnight) are established via analysis on a large database of road traffic noise measurement data. The existing noise exposure of the study area is used to estimate the fiscal reductions in health related costs through the application of simple estimations of costs per person per year per degree of annoyance or sleep disturbance. The results demonstrate that balcony acoustic treatments may provide a significant benefit towards reducing the health related costs of road traffic noise in a community.

The significance of balcony acoustic treatments in mitigating urban road traffic noise

Urban road traffic noise in cities is an ongoing and increasing problem across much of the world. Consequently a large amount of effort is expended in attempts to address this problem, especially in the area of acoustic design of buildings. Acoustic design policies developed by government authorities will typically focus on required transport noise reductions through a building façade to meet a specified internal noise levels. The significance of balcony acoustic treatments has been highlighted in recent decades yet this area has potentially been considered less important than the need for acoustic isolation of building facades. This paper outlines recent research that has been conducted in determining the significance of balcony acoustic treatments in mitigating urban road traffic noise. It summarizes recent literature, some of which focuses on technological advances in the knowledge of balcony acoustic design and some literature discusses the overall aims and benefits of balcony acoustic design. The aim of this paper is to promote the use of balcony acoustic design as a significant element in the overall solution towards mitigating road traffic noise in modern cities.

Speech interference and transmission on residential balconies with road traffic noise

Balcony acoustic treatments can mitigate the effects of community road traffic noise. To further investigate, a theoretical study into the effects of balcony acoustic treatment combinations on speech interference and transmission is conducted for various street geometries. Nine different balcony types are investigated using a combined specular and diffuse reflection computer model. Diffusion in the model is calculated using the radiosity technique. The balcony types include a standard balcony with or without a ceiling and with various combinations of parapet, ceiling absorption and ceiling shield. A total of 70 balcony and street geometrical configurations are analyzed with each balcony type, resulting in 630 scenarios. In each scenario the reverberation time, speech interference level (SIL) and speech transmission index (STI) are calculated. These indicators are compared to determine trends based on the effects of propagation path, inclusion of opposite buildings and difference with a reference position outside the balcony. The results demonstrate trends in SIL and STI with different balcony types. It is found that an acoustically treated balcony reduces speech interference. A parapet provides the largest improvement, followed by absorption on the ceiling. The largest reductions in speech interference arise when a combination of balcony acoustic treatments are applied.

Carbonate cementation in sandstones of the Plover Formation, North West Shelf, W.A

Ancient sandstones include important reservoirs for hydrocarbons (oil and gas), but, in many cases, their ability to serve as reservoirs is heavily constrained by the effects of carbonate cements on porosity and permeability. This study investigated the controls on distribution and abundance of carbonate cements within the Jurassic Plover Formation, Browse Basin, North West Shelf, Australia. Samples were analysed petrographically with point counting of 59 thin sections and mineralogically with x-ray diffraction from two wells within the Torosa Gas Field. Selected samples were also analysed for stable isotopes of O and C. Sandstones are classified into eleven groups. Most abundant are quartzarenites and then calcareous quartzarenites. Lithology ranged between sandstones consisting of mostly quartz with scant or no carbonate in the form of cement or allochems, to sandstones with as much as 40% carbonate. The major sources of carbonate cement in Torosa 1 and Torosa 4 sandstones were found to be early, shallow marine diagenetic processes (including cementation), followed by calcite cementation and recrystallisation of cements and allochems during redistribution by meteoric waters. Blocky and sparry calcite cements, indicative of meteoric environments on the basis of stable isotope values and palaeotemperature assessment, overprinted the initial shallow marine cement phase in all cases and meteoric cements are dominant. Torosa 4 was influenced more by marine settings than Torosa 1, and thus has the greater potential for calcite cement. The relatively low compaction of calcite-cemented sandstones and the stable isotope data suggest deep burial cementation was not a major factor. Insufficient volcanic rock fragments or authigenic clay content infers alteration of feldspars was not a major source of calcite. Very little feldspar is present, altered or otherwise. Hence, increased alkalinity from feldspar dissolution is not a contributing factor in cement formation. Increased alkalinity from bacterial sulphate reduction in organic–rich fine sediments may have driven limited cementation in some samples. The main definable and significant source of diagenetic marine calcite cement originated from original marine cements and the nearby dissolution of biogenic sources (allochems) at relatively shallow depths. Later diagenetic fluids emplaced minor dolomite, but this cement did not greatly affect the reservoir quality in the samples studied.

Observation of bus ridership in the aftermath of the 2011 Floods in Southeast Queensland, Australia

The 2011 floods in Southeast Queensland had a devastating impact on many sectors including transport. Road and rail systems across all flooded areas of Queensland were severely affected and significant economic losses occurred as a result of roadway and railway closures. Travellers were compelled to take alternative routes because of road closures or deteriorated traffic conditions on their regular route. Extreme changes in traffic volume can occur under such scenarios which disrupts the network re-equilibrium and re-stabilisation in the recovery phase as travellers continuously adjust their travel options. This study explores how travellers respond to such a major network disruption. A comprehensive study was undertaken focusing on how bus riders reacted to the floods in Southeast Queensland by comparing the ridership patterns before, during and after the floods. The study outcomes revealed the evolving reactions of transit users to direct and indirect impacts of a natural disaster. A good understanding of this process is crucial for developing appropriate strategies to encourage modal shift of automobile users to public transit and also for modelling of travel behaviours during and after a major network disruption caused by natural disasters.

iRAP Malaysia training course: Decade of Action for Road Safety. Report to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia-Malaysia Institute

The International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) is a not-for-profit organisation that works in partnership with governments and non-government organisations in all parts of the world to make roads safe. The iRAP Malaysia pilot study on 3,700km of road identified the potential to save 31,800 deaths and serious injuries over the next 20 years from proven engineering improvements. To help ensure the iRAP data and results are available to planners and engineers, iRAP, together with staff from the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) developed a 5-day iRAP training course that covers the background, theory and practical application of iRAP protocols, with a special focus on Malaysian case studies. Funding was provided by a competitive grant from the Australian-Malaysia Institute.

Stakeholder engagement by governance networks : a study of stakeholder engagement by road delivery network in Queensland

This thesis explores how governance networks prioritise and engage with their stakeholders, by studying three exemplars of “Regional Road Group” governance networks in Queensland, Australia. In the context of managing regionally significant road works programs, stakeholder prioritisation is a complex activity which is unlikely to influence interactions with stakeholders outside of the network. However, stakeholder priority is more likely to influence stakeholder interactions within the networks themselves. Both stakeholder prioritisation and engagement are strongly influenced by the way that the networks are managed, and in particular network operating rules and continuing access to resources.

A fork in the Australian road? Ownership of patented employee inventions

Employee ownership of inventions is a complex matter in modern R&D involving multiple parties with diverse interests. Presently, Australian courts are struggling to reach equitable results in light of precedent. This article examines recent Australian, American and English decisions that attempt to balance the variables equitably for insights into potential Australian reform.

Under-reporting of road crashes in Pakistan and the role of fate

Objective: Comprehensive, accurate information about road crashes and related trauma is a prerequisite for identification and control of risk factors as well as for identifying faults within the broader road safety system. Quality data and appropriate crash investigation are critical in reducing the road toll that is rapidly growing in much of the developing world, including Pakistan. This qualitative research explored the involvement of social and cultural factors (in particular, fatalism) in risky road use in Pakistan. The findings highlight a significant issue, previously unreported in the road safety literature, namely, the link between fatalistic beliefs and inaccurate reporting of road crashes. Method: Thirty interviews (one-to one) were conducted by the first author with police officers, drivers, policy makers and religious orators in three Pakistani cities. Findings: Evidence emerged of a strong link between fatalism and the under-reporting of road crashes. In many cases, crashes and related road trauma appear to go unreported because a crash is considered to be one’s fate and, therefore, beyond personal control. Fate was also implicated in the practice of reconciliation between parties after a crash without police involvement and the seeking and granting of pardon for a road death. Conclusions: These issues represent additional factors that can contribute to under-reporting of crashes and associated trauma. Together, they highlight complications involved in establishing the true cost of road trauma in a country such as Pakistan and the difficulties faced when attempting to promote scientifically-based road safety information to counteract faith-based beliefs.

Ignition delay in an ethanol fumigated common rail diesel engine

A novel method for determining ignition delay is presented. This method utilises combustion resonance as a means of determining the onset of ignition. Results are shown from an ethanol fumigation study comprising of substitutions up to 50% at full, three-quarter and half load. It has been demonstrated that at full load there is a decrease in ignition delay with increasing ethanol substitutions, whereas at half load there is an increase in ignition delay with increasing ethanol substitutions. It is suggested that this conflicting result is a consequence of the auto ignition of ethanol.