Evaluation of the crash vulnerability of older drivers using GPS in-vehicle monitoring
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Summary
Driving is an important part of independence for older Australians, though there are concerns over increased crash involvement and vulnerability to crash injury for older people. This project will examine the driving patterns, incident involvement and crash vulnerability of a cohort of current drivers aged 75 years and older using in-vehicle monitoring.
Supervisor(s)
Research Location
City - The George Institute for Global Health
Program Type
PHD
Synopsis
While older driver safety is an area of passionate debate which receives wide attention in the media, there is a lack of objective data on the safety profile of older drivers. At The George Institute, we are conducting a large randomised controlled trial evaluating a program designed to assist drivers make the transition to not driving.
A key outcome of this trial is safety of older drivers and we will be using in-vehicle monitoring to evaluate driver safety.
Each participant will have a ‘black box' fitted to their vehicle which will remain in place for the duration of the 12 month research study. The equipment consists of a C4D Data Recorder with connected External GPS Receiver. The hardware includes an internal 3D accelerometer, tachograph, real-time clock, internal battery (1300mA) and 128MB of flash memory.
Second by second GPS location will be integrated into a database of the road network. Incident involvement will be estimated from rapid decelerations and augmented by self report in driving diaries. The associations between driving speed and functional status (vision, cognition and general health) will be explored. Anthropometric measurements of trial participants in their own vehicles will be used to accurately model crash exposure and likely injury.
Additional Information
Applicants should hold an appropriate Honours 1 or high 2A (or equivalent) undergraduate degree in engineering or other related discipline. A Masters level qualification in public health, would be an advantage. Applicants must be Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, or New Zealand citizens. The scholarship stipend is $22,860 per annum over a period of three years (tax exempt).
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Keywords
aging, driver safety, in vehicle monitoring, naturalistic driving, GPS
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 1325
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