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Research from the aviation industry has demonstrated that a cognitive training method, termed episodic training, can improve a pilots' risk management in a simulated environment.  

Experiment one 

Drawing from this research, experiment one aimed to investigate whether episodic training could produce similar improvements in motorists' risk management behaviour, namely in the area of speeding. The results revealed that episodic training was an effective method to reduce young novice drivers' tendency to speed in a simulated driving environment.  

Experiment two 

Experiment two aimed to examine the impact of episodic training on drivers' cognitive resources, with the introduction of a secondary task. The results revealed that implementing a speed management strategy through episodic training was successful in isolation; however, when performed in conjunction with a secondary task, there was a trade-off in terms of how cognitive resources were allocated.  

Experiment three 

This result prompted experiment three to explore the cognitive underpinnings of how young novice drivers distributed cognitive resources when performing a dual-task and whether it was possible to train how these resources were allocated. 

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Cognitive resource allocation was calculated by assessing performance on a dual visual and auditory computer task. The results from this experiment revealed that individuals opted to evenly distribute cognitive resources in the dual-task exercise rather than allocate based on the demand characteristics of the task.  

The results also revealed that cognitive resource allocation can be trained by providing explicit feedback about performance. 

Category: Driver training 

Researcher: Dr Prasannah Prabhakharan 

Supervisor: Dr Brett Molesworth 

Level: PhD 

Status: Completed 

Road related fatalities are a global problem. In NSW, excess speed is thought to be one of the leading contributing factors for fatal motor vehicle crashes. Speed management remains an elusive skill for many young drivers.  

Using lessons learnt from aviation and road domains in Australia, the present research aimed to develop a new practical approach to improve young drivers' speed management behaviour.  

Experiment one 

Experiment one tested the effect of three cognitive-based training approaches, namely: self-explanation, reflection and combined feedback (ie. performance, financial implications, safety implications or combination) in a driving simulator to improve young drivers' speed management behaviour immediately post-training, one-week post-training (short-term) and six months post-training (long-term) in three different speed zones (low, moderate, high).  

The results reflected positively on both self-explanation and combined feedback. Self-explanation improved young drivers' speed management behaviour in the low-speed zone of 40km/h, across all time periods. However, combined feedback led to improvement in all three speed zones across all time periods.  

Experiment two 

Experiment two examined which aspect of the combined feedback (ie. performance, financial implications, safety implications or combination) yielded positive changes in speed management under the same test conditions as in experiment one.  

The results reflected positively on the different aspects of feedback, with the elements of performance, finance and safety feedback yielding the most positive results.  

Experiment three 

Experiment three moved from the laboratory out onto the road and investigated the effect of two cognitive-based training interventions (ie. combined feedback and self-explanation) on young drivers' speed management behaviour in the operational environment. In contrast to the previous two experiments, participants were tested at two post-training time periods, namely: immediately post-training and one-week post-training.  

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The results revealed that combined feedback was the most effective training intervention, followed by the combination of self-explanation and combined feedback, at each time period, and in all three speed zones. The findings from the three experiments provide insight into various training methods and their effectiveness in improving young drivers' speed management behaviour. 

Category: Driver training 

Researcher: Dr Oleksandra Krasnova 

Supervisor: Dr Brett Molesworth 

Level: PhD 

Status: Completed 

An investigation into human factors influencing driver behaviour and traffic law enforcement in Jordan

This dissertation investigates the human factors influencing driver behaviour and traffic law enforcement in Jordan. 

The research was carried out using two separate survey studies that aimed to determine the factors that are significantly associated with receiving traffic fines and being involved in crashes and to investigate the perceptions of drivers and traffic police concerning traffic law enforcement and driver behaviour. A total of 501 drivers and 180 police officers were surveyed.

Study one

Study one focused on driver attitudes, behaviour and compliance factors. The results showed that gender modified the relationship between some independent factors and study outcomes. Crashes for males were significantly associated with previously receiving distraction fines, instances of being stopped by police, being intimidated by other drivers and previously receiving traffic fines. 

Crashes for females were significantly associated with violating traffic signs, being intimidated by other drivers and previously receiving traffic fines. Study one also showed that more than half of drivers reported a sense of unfair treatment and police selectivity and favouritism regarding traffic law enforcement. These factors might be profoundly affecting many Jordanian drivers' motivation to violate traffic rules.

Study two

Study two investigated police officers work environment, enforcement perceptions and practices. The results showed that many police officers complained of their work conditions, life and work pressures and unpleasant treatment when dealing with drivers.

There was some lack of understanding of the role of religion in road safety and an underestimation of the level of risk of some driver behaviour as well as a reduced capacity in assessing crash contributors. Some factors related to a driver's networking, authority, position and nepotism were found to affect police enforcement decisions.

Conclusion

The findings of both studies are discussed, and some recommendations have been suggested regarding drivers and traffic police to improve road safety in Jordan. 

It appears that the role of religion along with Jordanian social culture regarding care for family and individual safety on Jordan’s roads, and respect for road laws and the police who enforce them, can be utilised to improve road safety in Jordan.

Category: Driver training

Researcher: Dr Faisal Magableh

Supervisor: Professor Raphael Grzebieta

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The main objective of this research is to investigate the safety impact of smartphone speech interface on driving performance. This involves the study of three major points:  

• the use of the smartphone speech interface among drivers in Australia 
• the acceptability and usability of the smartphone speech interface 
• the relative impact on performance of smartphone speech interface versus visual/manual for texting and emailing. 

Category: Driver training 

Researcher: Dr Nurul Ibrahim 

Supervisor: Dr Carlo Caponecchia 

Level: PhD 

Status: Completed