| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/M017877/1 |
| Title: |
A New Metric for the Assessment of Driver Crash Risks |
| Principal Investigator: |
Rolison, Dr J J |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Psychology |
| Organisation: |
Queen's University of Belfast |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research |
| Starts: |
01 May 2015 |
Ends: |
31 December 2015 |
Value (£): |
198,635
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Transport Ops & Management |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Transport Systems and Vehicles |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Road accidents account for thousands of deaths and injuries each year in Great Britain. Central to concerns for road safety are younger and older drivers who are reported to have crash rates per mile driven or per trip made that are much greater than drivers of other ages. Policymakers in Great Britain and around the world have responded to the high crash rates of these two groups of drivers by proposing initiatives to reduce their exposure to risk. Graduated licensing systems in the United States and other countries impose restrictions on young drivers (e.g., carrying passengers, curfews). The Department for Transport has recommended similar graduated licensing in Great Britain. At present, license renewal regulations are imposed on older drivers to identify visual, cognitive, and physical impairment among older adults that might put them at increased risk as drivers.
This research project will investigate a bias in driver crash risks that potentially exaggerates the risks of young and elderly drivers, leading to inaccurate reports of driver crash risks as well as misinforming road safety policies designed to safeguard road users. We will develop a new metric for the assessment of driver crash risk that overcomes previous bias with a view to better informing road safety policies and the general public. Public misconceptions about driver crash risks impact on people's lives such as by discouraging older drivers from renewing their driver license, which directly affects their mobility, health, and well-being.
Shared beliefs and misconceptions about the risks of young and elderly drivers have the potential to influence eye-witness accounts and police officers' reporting of road accidents, especially with regard to the allocation of driver blame. Age bias in police reporting has direct implications for the reliability of police reported accident data on which estimates of crash risk are based. This project investigates the potential for police reporting bias with a series of psychological studies that identify situations where reporting bias is most likely to occur, enabling recommendations to be made for how such bias can be reduced in road accident assessment.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.qub.ac.uk |