40 research outputs found
Heavy vehicle road safety: A scan of recent literature
No full textThe number of registered heavy vehicles (HV) in Australia has risen by 22% since 2005 and, with the national freight task projected to double by 2030, the number of HVs on Australian roads will continue to increase. In the 12 months to the end of June 2010 crashes involving heavy vehicles resulted in 239 fatalities and around one third of all work-related road crash fatalities occur within the freight industry. Heavy vehicle safety for both the trucking industry and the general community remains an important issue. In recognition of this the Australian Trucking Association commissioned the Centre for Automotive Safety Research to undertake a research scan to develop a knowledge base that may be used to guide the strategic direction and development of effective outcomes in the area of heavy vehicle safety. The scan focussed on five key areas: factors associated with HV crashes, road and vehicle design, human and social factors, speed management and enforcement, and the effectiveness of accreditation schemes. Gaps in knowledge were identified and recommendations for future research in the areas of fatigue, seatbelt use, traffic management, and technology are suggested.SJ Raftery, JAL Grigo and JE Woolle
Heavy vehicle road safety: research scan
No full textThe number of registered heavy vehicles (HV) in Australia has risen 22% since 2005 and, with the national freight task projected to double by 2030, the number of HVs on Australian roads is set to continue to increase. In the 12 months to the end of June 2010 crashes involving heavy vehicles resulted in 239 fatalities while around one third of all work-related road crash fatalities occur within the freight industry. Heavy vehicle safety for both the trucking industry and the general community remains an important issue. In recognition of this the Australian Trucking Association has commissioned a research scan to develop a knowledge base that may be used to guide the strategic direction and development of effective outcomes in the area of heavy vehicle safety. The scan focussed on five key areas: factors associated with HV crashes, road and vehicle design, human and social factors, speed management and enforcement, and the effectiveness of accreditation schemes. This scan identified a number of gaps in knowledge and recommendations for future research were suggested in the areas of fatigue, seat belt use, traffic management, and technology.SJ Raftery, JAL Grigo, JE Woolle
The use of protective clothing by motorcyclists in Victoria: Evaluation of the Community Policing and Education Project
No full textThe Community Policing and Education Project was launched by VicRoads and Victoria Police in 2009 to reduce the likelihood of motorcycle crashes through a combination of enforcement and education countermeasures. The Centre for Automotive Safety Research at the University of Adelaide was chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of the Project. Methods used to evaluate the Project included a process evaluation, analysis of crash data, on-road speed surveys, an online survey of motorcyclists, and roadside traffic observation. This paper provides an account of the roadside traffic observations, which were focused on helmet use, headlight use, use of protective clothing, and rider conspicuity. The roadside observations in metropolitan Melbourne revealed an apparent effect of the Project, with observed increases in the use of full body protection by motorcyclists following an educational operation targeting commuting riders. Across the three surveys, this proportion increased from 17 (before the operation) to 24 (just after the operation) to 38 per cent (three weeks after the operation). Improvement was most marked among riders of sports and standard/naked motorcycles but is still needed among riders of cruisers and scooters.Baldock, M. Kloeden, C. Lydon, M. Raftery, S. Grigo, J. & Ponte, G.http://acrs.org.au/events/acrs-past-conferences/2012-acrs-conference/program/papers/http://acrs.org.au/events/acrs-past-conferences/2012-acrs-conference
Simon Cantone Grigo
No full text[Johann Rudolf Schellenberg]Zuschreibung an Johann Rudolf Schellenberg gemäss ThannerBlatt im Umschlag mit der Bezeichnung "aus: Füssli, J. C. Geschichte der besten Künstler der Schweiz. Z. 1769-79. (73 BLL.)
Access to safer vehicle technologies by young drivers: factors affecting motor vehicle choice and effects on crashes
No full textBackground. This report is an exploratory study of vehicle choices amongst young drivers, their access to safer vehicle technologies and the role that motor vehicle insurance has in shaping those choices. There is a brief review of the literature on vehicle choices made by young drivers, an analysis of the relationship between driver age and access to safer vehicle technology, a survey of young drivers and their parents (examining vehicle choices, knowledge about safety, and the influence of vehicle insurance on vehicle choice), and a summary of discussions with Australian motor vehicle insurance underwriters. Findings. In respect of their level of safety, cars that young drivers crash tend to lag the vehicles at risk of crashing by more mature drivers; this persists for a long time after a technology first becomes available. Previous literature and the present survey indicate that the safety level of a young driver’s vehicle is not the first priority of the young driver or their parents. The motor vehicle insurance industry in Australia prices risk mainly in line with crash frequency and average claim costs. Vehicle safety systems are often not viewed as positively by the motor vehicle insurance industry as they are by other safety-related organisations, as these systems can lead to high repair costs after a crash. However, technologies that do lead to lower claim frequencies and costs are recognised, and some efforts are made to identify these as early as is possible. Recommendations. (a) In promoting safer vehicle access care should be taken not to also encourage motor vehicle use or greater primary access to vehicles. (b) Modifying insurance costs may not be an appropriate means of effecting changes in vehicle choice. (c) Better information, more tailored to the purchasing power and needs of young drivers, is likely to be of help. (d) Changes to family thinking about vehicle allocation and sharing access to vehicles should be encouraged, and information provided to increase understanding about the importance of specific vehicle safety features. (e) Insurance companies might be able to use their claims data to assist their customers to obtain the lowest risk vehicle for their circumstances. (f) Macro-scale interventions (e.g., rapid introduction of new technologies) may be the best long-term solution to maximise the safety of vehicles and the prevalence of safer vehicle technologies for young drivers.RWG Anderson, S Raftery, J Grigo, TP Hutchinso
A pilot study of cyclist conspicuity
No full textCyclist conspicuity has been identified as an important safety issue for cyclists, particularly with regard to drivers’ detection of cyclists. The aim of this research was to obtain information regarding the conspicuity of cyclists through the development and pilot testing of an observational methodology. Roadside observations were undertaken at four sites selected to capture cyclists commuting to the Adelaide CBD. Observations were undertaken once at each site with two sites capturing cyclists during the peak morning commuting period (between 8-9:30am) and two sites capturing cyclists travelling during the peak afternoon commuting period (between 4-6pm). Observers recorded information regarding cyclists use of available infrastructure, bicycle type, sex, estimated age, bicycle light use, helmet use, clothing type, frontal conspicuity, and rear conspicuity. The methodology proved suitable for the purpose of data collection although some modifications or improvements were identified. A total of 526 cyclists (78% male) were observed, the majority of whom were aged in the estimated range of 30-59 years. With regard to conspicuity 45% of cyclists were found to have high frontal conspicuity due to conspicuous clothing (39%) or the use of a high-visibility vest (6%), while findings with regard to rear conspicuity were much less favourable – 79% of cyclists were identified as having low rear conspicuity. Furthermore, over half (54%) of those cyclists identified as having high frontal conspicuity were found to have their (what should have been high) rear conspicuity obscured due to the use of backpacks or incorrectly worn high-visibility vests. The influence of cyclists’ characteristics are investigated further and the implications of these findings for cyclist safety and possibilities for future research are discussed.Simon Raftery and Jennifer Grig
Higgs boson pair production: top quark mass effects at NLO and NNLO
No full textWe compute next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the gluon-induced production cross section of Higgs boson pairs in the large top quark mass limit using the soft-virtual approximation. In the limit of infinitely-heavy top quark we confirm the results in the literature. We add two more expansion terms in the inverse top quark mass to the result. Since the expansion converges poorly, we try to improve on it by factorizing the exact leading order cross section. We discuss two ways of doing that and conclude that the finite top quark mass effects shift the cross section at most by about 10\% at next-to-leading order and by about 5\% at next-to-next-to-leading order
Virtual corrections to Higgs boson pair production in the large top quark mass limit
No full textAbstractWe calculate the three-loop matching coefficient CHH, required for a consistent description of Higgs boson pair production in gluon fusion through next-to-next-to-leading order QCD in the heavy top quark approximation. We also compute the gg→HH amplitude in mt→∞ approximation in the full theory and show its consistency with an earlier computation in heavy-top effective theory
