Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Co-Chair: John H. Vande Vate; Committee Co-Chair: Shi-Jie Deng; Committee Member: Anton J. Kleywegt; Committee Member: Hayriye Ayhan; Committee Member: Mark E. Ferguson. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

Formal education education is an essential part in the process of teaching people how to drive. Driving schools are crucial as they are the educational institutions tasked with providing the relevant education that learners need in order to become competent drivers. Because this education is vital in driver socialisation, it has to be structured and carried out in a way that ensures maximum affectivity. This education is essential in ensuring that learners acquire all the relevant driving skills. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the current formal driver education in South Africa - i.e. the K53 licensing system - in order to determine whether it can socialise learner drivers into being capable drivers. It has been argued in literature that young novice drivers are the most at risk with regard to motor vehicle accidents even though they have just received their formal driver education. They are most at risk because of their inexperience in driving, immaturity and risk-taking behaviour. For this reason the sample of the study consisted of new driver between the ages 18 and 23 with no more than 5 years experience. The study was conducted in Durban, South Africa. This study found that even though the respondents have driven for no more than five years 23% of them have already been involved in motor vehicle accidents where they were drivers since receiving their driving licences. Although a minority of these respondents reported being trained in most road and traffic conditions as well as in safety procedures (confirmed by driving school instructors), the types of accidents that they were involved in indicate that they were not able to use the information that they reportedly gained from driver training. This indicated that there is a problem with either what they were taught or how they were taught. A review of the K 53 licensing system by the Department of Transport found many flaws with the system, mainly with its design as well as loopholes that allowed driving schools to manipulate the process. shortcomings impact negatively on driver socialisation and driver behaviour thereafter. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, [2005]

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for youth under 20, and motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death in youth aged 15-19 (World Health Organization, 2010). Research has consistently shown that driver education programs do not result in safer youth driving. Indeed, the biggest predictor of collisions involving youth is parental history of collisions. This dissertation comprised two studies – one to develop a measure of risky driving and one that examined the influence of parents on youth risky driving. Participants (N = 432) for both studies were undergraduate students aged 17 to 22 who had obtained their G2 driver’s licence in the past year. In Study 1, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the new Youth Domains of Risky Driving Scale revealed a four-factor solution consisting of aggressive, substance use, distracted, and moving violation subscales. In Study 2, this new measure was used to evaluate relations between parental modeling of risky driving behaviours, parental teaching about safe driving behaviours, and youth risky driving. Results revealed that parental modeling was generally more predictive of youth risk than parental teaching, for all four subtypes of driving behaviours examined. Youth whose parents modeled risky driving behaviour were more likely be willing to drive in a risky manner, to expect that they would do so in the future, and to report a history of risky driving in the past. Findings from this study highlight the role parents play in the development of youth risky driving. Implications for future interventions targeting parent driving behaviour in the early months of youth licensure are discussed. / Canadian Institutes of Health Research

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

Sugarcane hauliers in South Africa have high variations in vehicle payloads, which influence both transport economics and the legitimacy of their operations. Increasing economic pressure due to declining sugar prices and ever increasing fuel prices has invoked interest to improve vehicle utilisation and reduce costs, while complying with the local traffic legislation. On-board weighing technologies, such as on-board load cells, could assist operators to control their payloads more accurately and hence reduce the frequency of both over and under loaded consignments. In this study, an investigation is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of on-board weighing systems in the South African sugarcane transport industry. An overview of on-board weighing systems is presented. The overview gives insight into the technical composition of an on-board weighing system as well as presenting various benefits and drawbacks that are associated with an on-board weighing system. Earlier studies conducted on the use of on-board weighing systems are scrutinised and evaluated and it is concluded from these that vehicle utilisation could be improved, while concurrently reducing the overloading of vehicles. Field research was conducted to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of on-board weighing systems currently being utilised in the sugarcane transport industry as well as to determine the critical factors that influence the effectiveness of the system while assessing if overloading of vehicles was reduced when on-board weighing systems were employed. It was concluded that the systems evaluated were reasonably accurate with mean error being 0.4 tons. The consistency of the systems was good with 75% of all measurement being within 0.5 tons of each other. The critical factors determining the effectiveness of the on-board weighing systems were established as being management of the system as well as cane variety and quality. Overloading was reduced by 9% in one field evaluation and 5% in another. Further reduction can be realised through tighter management of the on-board weighing systems. An economic evaluation of an on-board weighing system was performed using the capital budget method. This method was used to determine the pay off period required to realise the investment into an on-board weighing system for scenarios where the payload is increased by 2, 3 and 4 tons and transport lead distance is 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 km. The shortest pay off period occurred when the lead distance was 60 km and the time was 1, 2 and 3 years for payload increases of 2, 3 and 4 tons respectively. For lead distances of 40, 60 and 80 km the investment is worthwhile and considerable returns in investment can be realised, however, for the other lead distances the pay off period could be deemed to be too long. From the observation made during the field evaluation together with the literature studied, guidelines for the use of on-board weighing systems under various transport scenarios were formulated and are presented in chapter six. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study investigates fleet outsourcing in government from a strategic perspective as it is integrated into the overall strategy of the Department of Transport. This study attempts to overcome some of the problems associated with outsourcing by integrating a number of key aspects of outsourcing including a value chain perspective, core competency thinking and supply base influences into the decision-making process. The background of the research highlights the status quo and examples of similar fleet management projects in Government. These include major projects in National Government, Telkom and City of Johannesburg. The research is motivated by the need for government to find new ways, with limited resources, to achieve maximum efficiency in fleet management by managing these resources and related risks. The value of the research is a holistic approach to the analysis of fleet management the public sector has never been undertaken. The study will also help the state to recognise the impact fleet management has on the state's core activities and offer a tool for measuring fleet management performance. The research methodology is qualitative and will be based on a case study approach, which is associated with the exploratory nature of this study. Outsourcing is justifiable if visible costs decrease, service improves and economies of scale are achieved. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

This thesis examines the impact of shock therapy on the Polish economy, and within it, on the motor vehicle industry. It is argued that shock therapy has not proved satisfactory as a theory of economic transformation. The following reasons are provided:- ● Shock therapy fails to provide an adequate explanation of the collapse of the command economy. Its emphasis on problems being largely monetary, rather than structural, is misguided, as this leads to the erroneous conclusion that with a strong monetary and fiscal shock, increases in utility will ensue, despite a fall in real income. ● The above may partially explain why shock therapy has failed to satisfactorily predict the outcome of the reform programmes. The assumption of post-reform growth rates following the path of a "J-Curve" has not been borne in reality. The forecasts of various improvements after the first year of the Balcerowicz Programme in Poland were, with the exception of exports, highly inaccurate. By the end of 1993 (after four years of reforms), only one indicator (inflation) registered an improvement over the respective pre-reform level. There was, therefore, no "delayed positive response". It is argued that the major reason for the failure of shock therapy reforms is that the theory largely neglects the significance of market failures. In particular, sufficient consideration has not been given to the problems of information gaps, absence of capital markets, structural rigidities, investment coordination and high levels of risk and uncertainty, all of which constrain the ability of agents to effectively respond to a liberalised economic regime. The role of careful government intervention - to attempt to remedy market failures - has been undervalued. Failure to take appropriate measures with respect to market failures most important in transforming economies has led to unnecessary costs. The case study on the motor vehicle industry provided evidence that shock therapy's policy for microeconomic restructuring - trade liberalisation in conjunction with privatisation and FBI - has not proved successful, with the notable, but unusual exception of FSM. The severe recession, in combination with strong important competition, led to a slump in sales, output, and underutilisation of capacity; leading productivity to decline from already very low levels. With respect to enterprise restructuring, it was found that this was either slow, or largely neglected in all the main determinants of plant productivity considered, i.e., work organisation, high tech capabilities, supplier network, and the Just-in-time system. In regard to management-labour relations, it was found that both parties viewed these as having improved. However, severe "macro" problems frequently override the purportedly better relations at the micro level, so that considerable friction remains - which occasionally spill over into major disputes that act against the restructuring process. The industry has experienced a severe contraction in capacity utilisation and employment - a fact that is very much at odds with the government's wish to preserve the bulk of the industry. It is concluded that an industrial policy for the motor sector would have been more appropriate than the policy that has hitherto been used.

In einer längsschnittlichen Untersuchung wurden 64 Patienten der unfallchirurgischen Abteilung einer Universitätsklinik 10 Tage und 3 Monate nach einem Verkehrsunfall untersucht. Erhoben wurden die posttraumatische Belastungssymptomatik und Gedankenkontrollstrategien. Zum ersten Untersuchungszeitpunkt (10 Tage) zeigt sich eine der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung (PTB) äquivalente Belastungssymptomatik bei 14,1% und nach 3 Monaten eine PTB-Prävalenz von 39,1%. Es zeigen sich Zusammenhänge zwischen einigen Gedankenkontrollstrategien und PTB-Symptomatik nach 10 Tagen und, in schwächerer Ausprägung auch nach 3 Monaten. Im Ergebnis einer explorativen Auswertung zeigt sich, daß insbesondere die Strategien «Ablenkung» und «Sorgen» eine relevante Rolle im Zusammenhang mit der PTB-Symptomatik spielen. / In a longitudinal survey 64 inpatients of an emergency clinic were examined 1 week as well as 3 months after a motor vehicle accident. Posttraumatic stress symptoms and strategies of thought control were assessed. Ten days after the accident, a posttraumatic stress symptomatology is observable in 14.1% of patients, 3 months after the accident the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is 39.1%. Strategies of thought control are correlated with posttraumatic symptomatology 10 days after the accident and after 3 months. The result of an explorative data analysis shows an important role of the control strategies ’distraction’ and ’worry’ in correlation with posttraumatic stress symptoms. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Older adults are at an increased risk for motor-vehicle collisions (MVCs) once distance driven is considered, a finding that is partly attributed to a decline in attention related processes associated with age. MVCs typically occur in highly specific areas, suggesting a role of the complexity of the driving environment contributing to the occurrence of MVCs. The goal of this thesis was to explore the attentional demands of simulated driving events of varying complexity among young, mature and older drivers. In the present studies, attentional demand associated with driving was assessed through the peripheral detection task (PDT), a method in which a stimulus unrelated to the driving task is presented and drivers manually respond immediately upon its detection; latency to respond is recorded. The complexity of the driving environment was operationalized in terms of vehicle handling and of information processing elements. In the first study, inexperienced drivers completed a series simulated driving scenarios that varied according to their information processing and vehicle handling demands. The results showed a reduction in PDT performance at intersections where information processing is increased as well as when handling maneuvers behind a lead vehicle were required. Building on these findings, the second study employed the identical protocol as the first but examined differences in attentional demand between mid-aged and older drivers. The results indicated that when information processing demands were increased through the addition of traffic, and buildings, all participants exhibited greater workload regardless of age. The third study presented young, mid-aged, and older drivers with a simulated driving assessment course and administered several cognitive tasks. The results of the third study supported the hypothesis in that complex driving situations elicited greater attentional demand among drivers of all ages. Older adults showed greater attentional demand in comparison to young and mid-aged adults even after controlling for baseline response time. Older drivers also scored poorer on a global measure of driving safety. The results of this thesis highlight the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in safe driving and are discussed in terms of appropriate interventions to improve road safety.