Researchers from Deakin University’s Faculty of Science, Engineering & Built Environment (SEBE) have received funding of approximately $1.4 million in Category 1 funding for three new projects under the National Road Safety Action Grants Program.
Led by Associate Professor Ashim Debnath, Associate Head of School (Research) and Director of the Safe Future Mobility Research Lab at the School of Engineering, these three projects partner with top industry bodies to improve road safety in Australia across school zones and roadworks, improve safety for cyclists, and explore the potential of newer transport data in road safety evaluation.
'By harnessing new data and technologies, these multidisciplinary projects aim to generate actionable road safety insights at both local and network levels. Through strong partnerships with key transport departments and agencies in Victoria and New South Wales, we seek to provide practical guidance to the broader road safety industry to support efforts to improve road user behaviour and safety outcomes', says Associate Professor Debnath.
The National Road Safety Action Grants Program provides non-infrastructure grants to help implement the National Road Safety Action Plan 2023-2025 focusing on five areas:
- Community education and awareness
- Vulnerable road users
- First Nations road safety
- Technology and innovation
- Research and data.
Deakin’s successful projects are:
The relevance and reliability of Connected Vehicle data in road safety – $609,898
On our roads, traffic and safety data are key to informing safety, but traditional data collection methods can be costly and doesn’t allow for prompt and proactive diagnosis of safety deficiencies.
Newer forms of traffic data from Connected Vehicles (CVs) (any vehicle equipped with technology to communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure) show promise as an alternative to traditional data forms.
This project aims to assess the validity and reliability of different types of CV data in pinpointing network-level issues, evaluating road safety procedures and conducting post-completion assessments.
Through partnering with the Victoria Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) and Transport Accident Commission (TAC), the team intends to provide practical guidance for the federal, state and local governments around undertaking quick, proactive and targeted actions to manage safety outcomes and improve efficiency on Australian roads.
The research team includes Associate Professor Ashim Debnath, Dr Sajani Siriwardene and Dr Amir Sobhani from the School of Engineering and Dr Blair Turner from Road Safety Advisory Services Pty Ltd.
Using naturalistic data to measure the contributors to serious bicycle crashes – $399,949
In 2021-22, cyclists made up approximately a quarter of all transport injury hospitalisations across Australia, but most bicyclist injury crashes aren’t reported to police. As such, little is known about their total numbers or causes.
Partnering with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), this project aims to leverage data from the Light Insights Trial (LiT), the world’s largest trial of a smart bicycle light undertaken by Deakin University, TAC, See.Sense and the iMOVE CRC.
The trial involved more than 800 Victorian cyclists over a 12-month period and the resulting naturalistic dataset, data collected from observations of subjects in their natural environment, will be used to derive new road safety insights and actions. The LiT dataset provides rich description of everyday riding which provides context for understanding the factors in crashes and near-misses, helping quantify the factors that contribute to risk.
The project will produce practical industry guidelines and road safety insights for reducing cycling crashes which have strong potential to revolutionise how cycling safety actions are developed, planned and evaluated for both metro and regional areas.
The research team includes Associate Professor Ashim Debnath, Deakin Distinguished Professor Doug Creighton and Professor Chee Peng Lim from the Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI), Professor Arkady Zaslavsky from School of Information Technology and Professor Narelle Haworth AM from Queensland University of Technology.
Collecting better data on risky driver actions to improve safety at school zones and roadworks – $407,847
Very little is known about which driver actions and behaviours cause serious crashes in school and roadwork zones in Australia as detailed data isn’t collected in the same way as it is at major intersections and urban motorways.
In collaboration with Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), this project aims to improve safety in school and roadwork zones by collecting and analysing new data about risky driver actions that lead to serious road crashes.
The team will undertake a nationwide driver survey, a semi-naturalistic driving study in the targeted road areas using an instrumented vehicle with advanced eye-tracking capabilities, verbal protocol analysis of driver thoughts and actions, and an evaluation of a driver training programs to reduce risky driver actions using Virtual Reality.
The project will inform new data and insights about crash causation processes, including risky driver actions that lead to fatal and serious injury crashes in school zones and roadworks, helping to improve driver behaviour and reduce crashes in these areas.
The research team includes Associate Professor Ashim Debnath, Professor Ben Horan, Dr Ross Blackman and Dr Michael Mortimer from the School of Engineering and Professor Narelle Haworth AM from Queensland University of Technology.
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