The Big Impact
Winter 2015
From the Acting Director
AS I step into the role of Acting Director
of MUARC in 2015, there is considerable
energy and enthusiasm to continue to
deliver high impact research and training,
and to reinvigorate engagement with our
stakeholders, locally and globally. In this
edition of the Big Impact, we introduce
to you a major new collaboration in the
Australian Naturalistic Driving Study
(ANDS) and feature an article on our
Human Factors work in aviation safety.
This year commenced with a highly
successful Road Safety Seminar event
with top international road safety experts,
hosted by MUARC’s Enhanced Crash
Investigation team in partnership with
the TAC. We summarise highlights
from this event in this issue. We were
very pleased with diversity of interest
with 176 registrants representing more
than 62 organisations. This indicates a
strong demand for high quality scientific
evidence across many sectors of the
road safety community.
I am pleased to announce the
appointment of Tim Horberry to
Professor, Human Factors Research at
MUARC. Tim’s primary areas of research
are transport safety and workplace/
industrial safety. He has led projects in
driver distraction, fatigue, visual search,
highway design and new in-vehicle
technologies. Tim’s appointment will
broaden the Centre’s research capacity
for developing safe system approaches.
Tim will also retain his position as Visiting
Senior Research Associate at Cambridge
University, England.
Other senior appointments include
Dr Jennie Oxley who has taken over
my former role as Associate Director
Graduate Research. I take this
opportunity to highlight the Centre’s
specialist capacity for post-graduate
studies and professional training.
We have the capacity to work with
government and industry partners to
offer individualised study and/or group
training opportunities and welcome
enquires about our programs.
Farewell to
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Stevenson
Professor
Mark Stevenson
Earlier this year Professor Mark
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Associate Professor Judith Charlton
(Acting Director, MUARC)
www.monash.edu/miri/muarc
Game changer for road safety
About 1300 people die and 33,000 more are seriously injured each
year on Australian roads. The subsequent estimated cost of road
trauma to the Australian community is about $27 billion a year.
MOST evidence about crashes and road
trauma comes from data collected after
the event by police, coroners, hospitals,
and licencing and registration authorities.
MUARC is proud to be a leading partner
in a ground-breaking new national
collaborative study which will use advanced
sensors and data logging technologies to
study the behaviour of drivers, their cars
and other road users in the real world,
during every day driving situations. The
study is a potential game changer for road
safety, and will inform the strategies that
will reduce the incidence and impact of
injury from crashes on Australian roads.
In an Australian-first study into everyday
driving behaviour, the $4 million Australian
Naturalistic Driving Study (ANDS) will
determine how drivers deal with hazards
including busy intersections that have no
traffic lights and difficult driving situations
such as pedestrians unexpectedly crossing
the road or other drivers engaging in risky
behaviour. Through this research we will
learn how people avoid collisions or other
safety-related incidents in everyday driving.
The study will also reveal new information
about human factors such as distraction,
inattention, speeding, aggression and
tiredness, which are implicated in many
collisions. The results will provide critical
new insights for improving driver training,
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licensing procedures, and vehicle and road
infrastructure design.
Volunteer drivers are being sought
to participate in the innovative research
and have their cars fitted with a Data
Acquisition System (DAS) to record their
driving over a four-month period. The
DAS is a unique system of sensors and
dataloggers including video, acceleration in
multiple axes, gyroscopic motion, indicator
status, speed, radar, and GPS position that
allows the continuous recording of vehicleand driver-based data. MUARC will lead
the data collection in Victoria, enrolling 180
male and female drivers from Victoria, aged
between 20 and 70, who hold a full driver’s
licence. A parallel cohort of 180 drivers will
be followed in NSW. Associate Professor
Jude Charlton heads up the MUARCbased team with project Chief Investigator,
Dr Kristie Young, Technical Officers Yik Hue
and Andrew Lyberopoulos, and Research
Assistant Rachel Osborne.
The study is led by UNSW in
collaboration with Monash University,
Queensland University of Technology,
the University of Adelaide and Virginia
Tech (USA). Government and industry
partners include the Centre for Road
Safety at Transport for NSW, NRMA,
the Transport Accident Commission in
Victoria, VicRoads, the Motor Accident
Commission in South Australia and the
Western Australian Office of Road Safety.
Additionally, Hyundai Australia have
donated two cars to the project which
will become demonstration vehicles to
showcase the study technologies and
promote the project. The project receives
funding from the Australian Research
Council through the Linkage Scheme.
More information about the study
is at http://ands.unsw.edu.au/ and
http://monash.edu.au/miri/research/
research-areas/transport-safety/
australian-naturalistic-driving-study/
MIRI expert helps swing “colour-blind” pilot case
A MIRI researcher’s expert evidence has played a key role in a legal ruling that paves the way for
pilots with impaired colour vision to become airline captains.
THE decision by the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal of Australia has set a precedent
that a clear safety case must be made,
rather than assuming that a person with
a disability is incapable of performing a
safety-critical task.
Associate Professor Geoff Stuart, who
works in the Human Factors team, was
an expert witness in the three-day case in
Brisbane before the Honourable Justice
Benjamin.
Commercial pilot John O’Brien, pictured
right, who has more than 6000 flying hours,
appealed to the tribunal after the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) rejected
his request for a class 1 medical certificate
to allow him to fly as an airline captain or
pilot in command.
The tribunal heard that CASA had for
years been aware of Mr O’Brien’s colour
vision deficiency (CVD) and had, over a
number of years, conditionally approved
him to fly regular public transport aircraft as
a first officer.
Under CASA’s previous rulings, pilots
with CVD had been unable to progress
further than first officer. Mr O’Brien has poor
red/green colour vision due to a condition
called protanopia, the absence of the longwavelength sensitive pigment in the retina.
CASA called several witnesses expert in
colour vision and its disorders.
After hearing expert evidence from
CASA and from Mr O’Brien, Justice
Benjamin and Member William Isles said
they were satisfied that with the conditions
imposed, Mr O’Brien would not be a
risk to the safety of air navigation as a
consequence of his sight deficiency.
The dispute largely rested on CASA
making a clear safety case for their refusal
to allow Mr O’Brien to undertake the role of
captain. CASA did not dispute Mr O’Brien’s
competency and accepted he had flown
commercial aircraft for many years, without
incident.
Justice Benjamin said that Mr O’Brien’s
ability to operate aircraft was not at issue
and his skills were very well regarded
by colleagues. In fact, his employer had
promoted him to be a flight simulator
instructor for both flight captains and
first officers.
A/Prof Stuart said the case showed
that while safety was certainly the absolute
priority, regulators had to “make a
safety case” in order to avoid workplace
discrimination.
“I took the position that most MIRI
experts do – we look at the whole system,
including the human operator,” he said.
“CASA’s position, consistent with that
of many overseas regulators, is that some
aircraft and landing systems employ colour
codes and this represents a safety risk
in the case of pilots with impaired colour
vision.
“This does not take into account the fact
that many colours can be discriminated in
context by such pilots. In addition, there
may be other sources of information within
a system that allow an operator to conduct
a given task safely”.
The tribunal accepted Mr O’Brien’s
detailed submission that despite his
acknowledged colour vision deficiency he
had demonstrated his practical ability to
safely handle an aircraft.
Mr O’Brien’s clearance only applies to
flights within Australia, he must fly with a
co-pilot at night and he must inform
employers and other crew members of
his colour vision deficiency.
Mr O’Brien says that CASA has not
lodged an appeal within the 30 day
statutory period.
For more information, contact:
Geoffrey.stuart@monash.edu
www.monash.edu/miri/muarc
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MUARC and TAC Road Safety Seminar
Top international road safety experts and local road safety partners came together at the
Annual TAC-MUARC Road Safety Seminar in March.
REPRESENTATIVES from state and local
government, industry bodies, and research
institutes were among the 176 participants
at the ‘Innovative Thinking in Reducing
Road Trauma’ event at Docklands in
Melbourne.
In opening the seminar, Acting MIRI
Director Professor Lesley Day and Mr Joe
Calafiore of the Transport Accident
Commission said the seminar aimed to
advance thinking in road safety through a
safe systems approach incorporating
human behaviour, road design and vehicle
technology.
Presentations at the seminar included:
• ‘Development and evaluation of an
evidence based parent coaching guide
for learner teen drivers’ - Professor Ray
Bingham, University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute
• ‘Sorry Officer, I wasn’t driving – my car
was: Some legal and regulatory
implications for automated vehicle
technologies and driverless cars’ Associate Professor Diana Bowman,
University of Michigan
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• ‘Opportunities for the reduction of
serious-to-fatal injuries in vehicle –
guardrail collisions’ - Professor Clay
Gabler, Virginia Tech
• ‘From one-to-many: applying insights
from in-depth crash investigations from
ECIS to the development of safe
systems infrastructure solutions’ Dr Bruce Corben, Corben Consulting
• ‘Optimising the post-crash response’
- Professor Russell Gruen, Director
National Trauma Research Institute,
The Alfred
• ‘The Road to recovery: the impact of
serious injury and the ‘hidden’ road toll’
- Associate Professor Michael Fitzharris,
MIRI
A panel discussion, facilitated by Samantha
Cockfield (TAC), brought together the
presenters and Adjunct Professor Mike
Lenné and Professor Mark Stevenson to
discuss road safety related topics and
answer questions from the audience.
Topics addressed included road design
for motorbike and bicycle safety, the role
of speed in serious injury accidents,
education of learner drivers, role and timing
of technology advances, reporting of
serious injury road toll and some of the
technical and legal issues surrounding
automated vehicle technology.
Developing strategies to provide
short-term improvements in road safety
while looking for longer-term
transformations in vehicle and road system
design, were highlighted as critical
components of reducing the serious injury
and fatal road toll in the future.
The seminar was recorded, and an audio
and video will be made available to
invited guests.
TAC Seminar summaries
Development and evaluation of an
evidence-based parent coaching guide
for learner teen drivers
C. Raymond Bingham, PhD
Professor Raymond Bingham leads the
Young Driver Behavior and Injury Prevention
group at the University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), .
Professor Bingham explained that teens
were at greatest risk of being injured in
a car crash in the first months and years
of independent driving. In the US, car
accidents are the leading cause of death
in this age group. Research in numerous
countries has shown that crash risk for
teenagers is low while driving is supervised
by parents, and then skyrockets when the
teenage qualifies for an independent or
provisional licence.
According to Professor Bingham a
graduated licensing system – such as
Victoria’s Ls (learner permit/supervised
licence), P1 and P2 – is effective in
reducing crash risk. However the research
conducted at UMTRI showed that
the driver curriculum could be further
strengthened by the addition of driving
requirements in a range of different on-road
scenarios
Professor Bingham’s presentation
outlined that parent supervised driving,
such as the required 120 hours of
supervised driving for Victorian L-platers, as
a great opportunity to help teens become
safer drivers. However in the US, parents
have no guidance nor evidence-based
resources, leaving many US parents
uncertain how best to help their teens.
Professor Bingham currently leads
a research project at UMTRI aimed at
developing and evaluating a coaching
guide for US parents.
In the development phase, road
safety experts, 21 parents with teens
at various licence stages, along with 10
independent parent reviewers, assisted
in the development of the guide’s content
and presentation. This guide highlighted 3
principles:
1. Start with the simplest, safety driving
conditions
2. Progress slowly to more challenging and
complex driving conditions
3. Practice driving skills repeatedly and
with focus.
Graphics (below left) were incorporated to
guide driving practice, by highlighting the
conditions of low risk driving and those that
are more complex and higher risk.
During the evaluation phase, this parent
guide was tested in the field through
naturalistic and survey based assessment.
Based on random assignment, some
parents were given the parent coaching
guide, while others were given the Michigan
State Government’s guide for parents.
For the naturalistic arm, event-triggered
DriveCams were installed in some of
the parents’ cars. For the survey based
assessment, parents’ were asked to
complete three surveys: pretest, at the end
of the supervised driving, and three months
later.
Challenges of the project included
budget, recruitment, arranging baseline
assessment and an unwillingness to
install DriveCams. The evaluation phase is
ongoing, but slated to end later this year.
‘Sorry officer, I wasn’t driving – my
car was’: Some legal and regulatory
implications for automated vehicle
technologies and driverless cars
Associate Professor Diana Bowman,
University of Michigan
Associate Professor Bowman looked
at issues arising from new autonomous
vehicle (AV) technologies.
Dr Bowman said the many potential
benefits of Level 3 and 4 automation
included
• a decrease in human error
• the potential to reduce the number
of crashes, and therefore deaths and
injuries, and
• reduced congestion on the roads due to
‘connected vehicles’.
However there are also potential risks
with increasing levels of AV. These include
increasing reliance on systems that
may fail under certain conditions, lighter
www.monash.edu/miri/muarc
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TAC Seminar summaries continued
vehicles that could mean an increase in
risks of certain injuries, and environmental
concerns due to an increase in the number
of vehicles and their emissions.
The US is leading the field in AV
regulations, with four states already passing
laws about testing and/or operation of AVs.
The legislation, in general, seeks to define
AVs and define the operator. In the US,
questions about potential civil and criminal
liability are still to be resolved.
Associate Professor Bowman pointed
out that in Victoria, key questions need to
be considered:
• Should Victorian policymakers
encourage the adoption of AV?
• What are the potential implications
of a state-by-state approach to their
adoption?
• What are the infrastructure requirements
for AV?
• Does the current Victorian regulatory
environment allow for fully autonomous
vehicles?
• Should there be limits on who can own/
operate fully autonomous vehicles?
• Will uncertainties regarding potential
liability delay the commercialisation of
AVs?
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www.monash.edu/miri/muarc
From one-to-many: Applying insights
from in-depth crash investigations
to the development of Safe System
infrastructure solutions
Dr Bruce Corben
The Safe System Road Infrastructure
Program (SSRIP) is the third generation of a
TAC-funded, large-scale, safe infrastructure
investment programs in Victoria.
The program has an ambitious vision
of a road transport system free of fatalities
and permanent losses of health.
The MUARC Enhanced Crash
Investigation Study (ECIS) is major TAC
funded research program, investigating
and collecting data from 400 vehicle
accidents in Victoria. ECIS aims to identify
and understand the human, vehicle and
infrastructure factors leading to serious
injury accidents.
Dr Corben said there would be many
opportunities for ECIS and SSRIP to
work together given the programs were
investigating mostly the same types of
crashes.
The SSRIP program’s top priorities were:
• Intersection crashes (40% of serious
casualties)
• Lane departure crashes (35% of serious
casualties)
• Pedestrian and cyclist crashes (20% of
serious casualties).
Dr Corben said red-light running was a
concerning source of serious casualties
at intersections and could be an early
example of how ECIS and SSRIP could
work together.
He said while every crash was unique,
outcomes were repeated. The challenge,
he said, was to gain a deep understanding
from ECIS of contributing factors to crash
and injury risk, and to develop generic,
affordable and practical solutions.
“Innovation and a ‘forgiving’ system are
critical to success,” he said. “The benefits
can multiply through systemic application.”
Opportunities for the reduction of
serious injuries in vehicle-guardrail
collisions
H. Clay Gabler, Center for Injury
Biomechanics, Virginia Tech
In both the US and Australia, there are
many different designs for guardrail. The
one characteristic that they all share is to
keep drivers who leave the road away from
hazards located behind the barrier. When
designing these barriers, one concern is
that they do not harm. Ideally, a crash into
a barrier should be less harmful than a
collision with the object behind the barrier.
In the U.S. however, there are over
450 fatalities each year involving collisions
with guardrail. Professor Gabler posed
the questions: what is the nature of this
problem and what are the priorities in
designing and applying countermeasures?
To ensure safety, guardrail systems are
crash tested with passenger cars, light
trucks, and heavy vehicles. A typical crash
test for a passenger car is a 100 km/
hr frontal angled impact into a guardrail
system. Professor Gabler asked how
relevant these crash tests are to the actual
TAC Seminar summaries continued
problems being experienced in the real
world.
Professor Gabler’s research showed that
were that nearly half (43%) of all fatalities in
guardrail collisions are motorcyclists. For
fatally-injured passenger vehicle occupants,
40% experienced either a side impact or
a rollover. None of these crash types are
the subject of the current NCHRP-350/
MASH/EN-1317 crash tests of guardrails.
Professor Gabler asked whether we
should consider different, more appropriate
guardrail crash tests.
In summary Professor Gabler, outlined
that the priorities for injury reduction
through countermeasures should include:
• Motorcycles - motorcycle barrier under
ride protection
• Side impacts - ESC equipped vehicles
and improved side crash designs
• Rollovers – higher barriers (increase from
705mm to 800mm)
• End terminals – NCHRP-350/MASH/
EN-1317, compliant designs.
Optimising the post-crash response
Professor Russell Gruen, Director,
The National Trauma Research Institute,
Professor of Surgery and Public Health,
The Alfred Hospital and Monash
University
Professor Gruen discussed the importance
of trauma care, and the history of the
Victorian State Trauma System.
His presentation included a timeline on
road trauma deaths in Victoria from 1952
until 2013, including the introduction of
• Compulsory seatbelt legislation in 1970
• Random breath testing in 1976
• Red light cameras in 1983
• Mobile speed cameras in 1989
• Booze buses in 1990
• Fixed speed cameras in 2000
• Random drug testing and impounding
of hoons’ cars in 2006
The Victorian State Trauma System was
implemented in 2001, aiming to deliver the
patient to the right hospital as quickly as
possible, and to best match resources with
patients’ needs.
The system was born out of a ministerial
review and bipartisan political, professional
and public support.
Professor Gruen said that today
the system was moving towards higher
performance
• using failsafe systems
• looking to long-term outcomes,
non-mortality recovery, and system
outcomes
• listening to patients’ voices on disability
and providing personalised medicine
• expediting interventions and pre-hospital
care
• advocating for trauma care, and
• the best equitable care for low and
middle income countries.
The road to recovery: the impact of
serious injury and the ‘hidden road toll’
Associate Professor Michael Fitzharris
Associate Professor Michael Fitzharris
argued that the community needed a
greater understanding of the scale and
impact of serious injuries from road
crashes.
His presentation showed that media
coverage focused on deaths on the roads
and questioned if this left serious injuries as
an ‘unspoken, invisible epidemic’.
Associate Professor Fitzharris explained
that the impact of serious injury from road
trauma went far beyond hospitalisation
and rehabilitation. Serious injury from
road trauma could result in PTSD,
depression, travel phobia, pain, high
alcohol consumption as well as social
impacts including financial difficulties, limits
on family, leisure and work options, and
discrimination.
He presented the scenario of a driver who
ran into a pole, resulting in injuries including
concussion, collapsed lung and internal
chest injuries, multiple fractures, and a
psychological reaction. The consequences
of the injury are immense, including
• Impairment - limping, permanent
scarring, depression and thoughts of
self-harm, anxiety
• Resource use – air ambulance,
hospitalisation
• Loss of quality of life – stops running his
business, starts gambling, withdraws
socially
• TAC compensation costs of up to
$750,000
• Threat to life, with 50% chance of death
• Pain and suffering, including marital
separation.
Associate Professor Fitzharris said road
safety needed to be seen as an investment
in people and a societal obligation. He
said that government needed ‘courageous
patience’ to truly make a difference.
“As a civil society, we can no longer
ignore the suffering experienced by
people seriously injured,” he said. ‘So our
challenge is to start a conversation about
‘serious injury’ with the whole community.”
www.monash.edu/miri/muarc
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Below are MUARC publications this quarter:
Candappa, N., Logan, D., Van
Nes, N., Corben, B., 2015,
An exploration of alternative
intersection designs in the
context of Safe System,
Accident Analysis and
Prevention, 74, pp 314-323
Fitzharris M, Cripps R A, Lee B B.
Estimating the global incidence
of traumatic spinal cord injury.
Spinal Cord. 2014; 52, 117–122.
Hughes, B.P., Newstead, S.,
Anund. A., Shu, C.C., Falkmer,
T., 2015, A review of models
relevant to road safety, Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 74:
250-270
Koppel, S., Kuo, J., BereckiGisolf, J., Boag, R., Hue, Y.-X.,
Charlton, J.L., 2015, Examining
Physiological Responses Across
Different Driving Maneuvers
During an On-road Driving Task:
A Pilot Study Comparing Older
and Younger Drivers, Traffic
Injury Prevention, 16:3, pp 225233
Lansdown, T.C., Stephens, A.N.,
Walker, G.H., 2015, Multiple
driver distractions: A systemic
transport problem, Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 74, pp
360-367
Lee B B, Cripps R A, Fitzharris
M, Wing P C. The global map
for traumatic spinal cord injury
epidemiology: Update 2011,
global incidence rate. Spinal
Cord. 2014,52:110–116
McClure R J, Adriazola-Steil
C, Mulvihill C, Fitzharris M,
Bonnington, C.P, Salmon P,
Stevenson M. Simulating the
dynamic effect of land use
and transport policies on
the development and health
of populations. Submitted
to the American Journal of
Public Health. 2015; 105 (S2),
S223-S229.
Meredith L, Baldock M,
Fitzharris M, Brown J.
Pelvic Injury Mechanisms
among Motorcyclists [short
communication]. IRCOBI
Conference Proceedings 2014.
Newman, S., Goode, N., 2015,
Do not blame the driver: A
systems analysis of the causes
of road freight crashes, Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 76, pp
141-151
Read, G.M., Salmon, P.M., Lenne,
M.G., 2015, Cognitive work
analysis and design: current
practice and future practitioner
requirements, Theoretical Issues
in Ergonomics Science, 16:2, pp
154-173
Rizzi, M., Strandroth, J.,Kullgren,
A., Tingvall, S., Fildes, B., 2015,
‘Effectiveness of Motorcycle
Antilock Braking Systems (ABS)
in Reducing Crashes, the First
Cross-National Study, Traffic
Injury Prevention, 16:2, pp 177183
Savino, G., Rizzi, M., Brown,
J., Piantini, S., Meredith, L.,
Albanese, B., Pierini, M.,
Fitzharris, M., 2014, Further
Development of Motorcycle
Autonomous Emergency
Braking (MAEB), What Can
In-Depth Studies Tell Us? A
Multinational Study, Traffic Injury
Prevention, 15:sup1, S165-S172
Thai, K.T., McIntosh, A.S., Toh Yen
Pang, 2015, Bicycle Helmet
Size, Adjustment, and Stability,
Traffic Injury Prevention, 16:3, pp
268-275
Thompson, .J, Savino, G.,
Stevenson, S., 2015,
Reconsidering the Safety in
Numbers Effect for Vulnerable
Road Users: An Application of
Agent-Based Modeling, Traffic
Injury Prevention, pp 147-153.
Further information
Monash University Accident
Research Centre (MUARC)
Building 70, Clayton Campus
Monash University, VIC 3800
Telephone: +61 3 9905 4371
Email: miri-enquiry@monash.edu
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