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.
A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at s ....A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at speeds between 60 to over a 100 kilometres per hour. Installation of the new road safety barrier systems in high accident zones will save lives by reducing the severity of accidents involving road barriers. This will significantly benefit the community by reducing injury, medical, rehabilitation and property damage costs, and improve quality of life for all road users.Read moreRead less
Work related road safety countermeasures in a large fleet (QFleet). Despite accounting for more than 20% of the road crashes, relatively little research has been conducted on fleet safety in Australia. This research will develop guidelines for current best practice and design, implement and evaluate several new countermeasures. More importantly, it will develop a comprehensive model for future design, implementation and evaluation of fleet safety that will extend the frontier of knowledge in cra ....Work related road safety countermeasures in a large fleet (QFleet). Despite accounting for more than 20% of the road crashes, relatively little research has been conducted on fleet safety in Australia. This research will develop guidelines for current best practice and design, implement and evaluate several new countermeasures. More importantly, it will develop a comprehensive model for future design, implementation and evaluation of fleet safety that will extend the frontier of knowledge in crash analysis and prevention. By working closely with QFleet, current fleet safety thinking will be advanced to reduce the frequency and severity of road crashes thereby reducing road trauma and increasing business effectiveness.Read moreRead less
Improving Road Safety and Driver Security: The Case of High Risk Fleet (Taxi) Drivers in Australia. Road crashes constitute a major cause of death and injury in Australia and taxis have a 22 times higher crash rate compared to private passenger vehicles. In addition to their high crash risks, 1/3 of all taxi drivers have experienced physical assaults. This innovative study will examine the circumstances that contribute toward taxi crashes and assaults on drivers and more importantly, it will des ....Improving Road Safety and Driver Security: The Case of High Risk Fleet (Taxi) Drivers in Australia. Road crashes constitute a major cause of death and injury in Australia and taxis have a 22 times higher crash rate compared to private passenger vehicles. In addition to their high crash risks, 1/3 of all taxi drivers have experienced physical assaults. This innovative study will examine the circumstances that contribute toward taxi crashes and assaults on drivers and more importantly, it will design, implement and evaluate a program of countermeasures to improve the safety and security of taxi drivers, which will contribute significantly toward reducing the truma related to road crashes in Australia and assaults on public transport drivers.Read moreRead less
Next-generation ocean current forecasting to improve maritime safety . This project aims to measure upper ocean currents at scales of 10-100 km in Australia's marine estate using pioneering satellite radar technology. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will map currents at 10 times the resolution of present-day satellites and revolutionise our understanding of ocean dynamics. Expected outcomes include validation of SWOT data in Australian waters and merging this data into Bure ....Next-generation ocean current forecasting to improve maritime safety . This project aims to measure upper ocean currents at scales of 10-100 km in Australia's marine estate using pioneering satellite radar technology. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will map currents at 10 times the resolution of present-day satellites and revolutionise our understanding of ocean dynamics. Expected outcomes include validation of SWOT data in Australian waters and merging this data into Bureau of Meteorology ocean models. Downstream benefits include improved ocean forecasts for maritime safety, search-and-rescue, spill modelling, and marine conservation. At the same time, the project will build sovereign capability in emerging remote sensing technology with a legacy beyond the life of the SWOT mission.Read moreRead less
Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such ve ....Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such vehicles in regional centres by producing: (1) an assessment methodology to deal with options for network efficiency gains which will capture the full impacts; and (2) a computer modelling tool based on fundamental research to quantify those impacts, in terms of delays and accident rates.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
Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. This project aims to develop an automated suicide risk detection system to reduce the incidence and impact of railway suicide, which has a devastating effect on victims’ families, station staff, train drivers, emergency workers, and bystanders. This project will use open-systems theory to develop two complementary information systems for more effective detection and reporting of suic ....Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. This project aims to develop an automated suicide risk detection system to reduce the incidence and impact of railway suicide, which has a devastating effect on victims’ families, station staff, train drivers, emergency workers, and bystanders. This project will use open-systems theory to develop two complementary information systems for more effective detection and reporting of suicide risk; use these systems to investigate how different situational factors interact with different combinations of service interventions to influence suicide risk; and share the findings to reduce railway suicide in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Developing Contemporary Driving Risk Assessment Tools to Improve Fleet Safety. The development of effective driving risk management tools will provide valuable insight into methods to reduce a significant community and national problem, as work-related road crashes cost Australia $15 billion a year. Importantly, the project has the potential to benefit both urban and rural areas of Queensland and Australia, as road crashes are a national problem. The research study also has the potential to cr ....Developing Contemporary Driving Risk Assessment Tools to Improve Fleet Safety. The development of effective driving risk management tools will provide valuable insight into methods to reduce a significant community and national problem, as work-related road crashes cost Australia $15 billion a year. Importantly, the project has the potential to benefit both urban and rural areas of Queensland and Australia, as road crashes are a national problem. The research study also has the potential to create business cost savings from reductions in productivity loss and medical expenses, as well as flow through to the general population in terms of better (a) fleet management, and (b) driver attitudes and behaviour.Read moreRead less