Every year, drivers throughout the world are killed or injured in road traffic, particularly in developing countries. Young drivers run a greater risk everywhere, and this problem is still largely unsolved. Better understanding of the underlying processes could, however, be a useful tool in preventive endeavours. The aim of this thesis is to elucidate some of the accident problem among young car drivers. The focus is on understanding how lifestyle and other social and demographical factors influence the health of young people in terms of mobility and safety. Better knowledge of these factors makes it possible to design safety measures specially tailored for different subgroups. This is expected to help make the measures more effective and reduce the conflict between mobility and safety. The thesis is based on five studies, the first of which focuses on the factors that influence young people in their decision concerning whether or not to obtain a driving licence (Paper I). In the second study, focus lies on how groups with different lifestyles and socio-economic background start practice driving and the benefit derived from the opportunity to practise from the age of 16 (Paper II). The third study aims at visualising accident patterns during driving practice (Paper III) while the fourth evaluates the effects of a reform that lowered the age limit for practice driving to 16 (Paper IV). The last study aims at analysing the relation between the lifestyles of young drivers and accidents (Paper V). The results of the five studies underlines the complexity of the young driver problem. Many factors such as financial means, time and norms influence how many people take their licence and consequentially, safety and health (I). Socio-economic background together with lifestyle influences the possibility of obtaining a driving licence and of accumulating extensive driving practice (II), which is relevant as regards safety on the road for newly qualified drivers (IV). Paper III shows the prevalent accident pattern during driver training and Paper V shows that the accident risk is different in different lifestyle groups. The combined results presented in the five papers offers the possibility of developing different countermeasures for the selective influencing of different groups under different conditions. If this is adapted as closely as possible to target groups and situations, it should be possible to significantly enhance safety without losing much of young drivers’ mobility, both during driving practice and afterwards. / On the day of the public defence of the doctoral thesis the status of the articles I was: Under review and article II was: Submitted. The titel of article III was "Typical accident patterns during driver training in Sweden – an explorative study using correspondence analysis". Aricle I and III are published in full text.

Recent evidence in the road safety research literature indicates that skills in hazard perception, visual search and attention may be developing executive functions in young novice drivers before the age of 25 years, contributing to their unintentional risk taking behaviour and subsequent high crash rates. The present research aimed to investigate these skills, whether they are predictive of each other, and whether hazard perception can be improved through road commentary training. Twenty-two young novice drivers and eight experienced drivers were recruited as participants in this study. The experienced drivers performed significantly better than the novice drivers on the hazard detection task that was specifically designed for the study. Their visual search skills were also examined and compared using the Visual Search and Attention Test, with the experienced drivers performing significantly better than the novice drivers. Interestingly, a significant positive correlation was found between the scores of the participants on the hazard detection task and the Visual Search and Attention Test which may indicate that the hazard detection skills can be predicted. The novice driver group who received 12 trials of video based road commentary training significantly improved in their hazard detection skills, suggesting that video based road commentary could be an effective road safety intervention for young novice drivers and if developed into a more comprehensive programme, holds promise for future implementation into the New Zealand Graduated Driver Licensing System. The results also hold promise for future investigation into the use of the Visual Search and Attention Test as a predictor of hazard perception skills in novice drivers.

An advanced training program on risk perception was developed and evaluated in a driving simulator. This training program included two elements. The first one was a PC-based Risk Awareness and Perception Program (RAPT) that had been developed and evaluated in several studies by researches at the Human Performance Lab within the last several years. Plan views of risky scenarios were used to explain to participants the location of potential hazards. The second element of the training (SIMRAPT) was newly developed for this study and used the portable low-cost driving simulator Drive Square Simulation System to train risk perception skills while the participant actually drove a real car in a virtual environment. A head mounted display was used to present the virtual world. Feedback was given to participants when they failed to scan appropriately for hazards. Twelve novice drivers served as experimental group and were trained with the combined RAPT/SIMRAPT training program. Twelve other novice drivers were given training not relevant to hazard anticipation and served as the control group. After training, both groups were evaluated on an advanced driving simulator (different from the Drive Square Simulation System used in SIMRAPT training) and the eye movements of both groups of drivers were measured. The drivers’ score was based on whether or not their eye-fixations indicated recognition of potential risks in different driving situations. The evaluation included eight scenarios used in the RAPT/SIMRAPT training (near transfer scenarios) and eight scenarios that were not used in the training (far transfer scenarios). The results indicated that trained drivers are more likely than untrained drivers to fixate on regions where potential risks might appear. Further the evaluation indicates that the training effect of the combined training using both the PC (RAPT) and a low-cost driving simulator (SIMRAPT) is larger than for training programs that only use the PC, though not significantly so.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Driving is a complex task that requires both the physical ability to drive a vehicle and the cognitive ability to do so safely. The ability to correctly integrate and apply information from the driving environment is essential for safe driving. In South Africa approximately 33 people per 100 000 population are killed annually in road accidents. Recent mortality data from South Africa has indicated that the age group 15 to 19 years old are the age group most likely to be involved in fatal vehicle crashes. Novice driver behaviour has been confirmed as problematic across the globe and extensive research into novice driver behaviour has been conducted to understand and ultimately to curb novice driver deaths. Very little is known about South African novice drivers. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to plan for training, education or preparing young South African novice drivers for the challenges they are likely to face on the road. This study is a first stepping stone to understand this problem. This study utilises naturalistic driving studies as a method to explore differences between novice and experienced driver behaviour at a few preselected location types. Since 2005 naturalistic driving studies (NDS) have been employed extensively in the rest of the world and this study is South Africa’s first small attempt to employ this methodology and apply it to specifically novice driver behaviour. This thesis therefore not only explores novice driver behaviour in the context of South Africa, but also provides an overview of how the ND methodology can be developed for use in South Africa. The document provides an overview of both novice driver behaviour and naturalistic driving study methodologies from abroad. Where available, reference to South African research and reports are made. The literature review considers demographic, developmental and personality factors that could potentially (and have internationally been proven to) influence novice driver behaviour in the context of society, family and physical environments. Popular theories that have been applied to novice driver behaviour are reviewed. These theories include the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Social Learning Theory and the Theory of Intent. On the methodology side, the technology, its application as well as challenges and successes of the ND methodology are reviewed. The research process is described in terms of the participants and their risk attitudes to road traffic safety prior and after the study. The research process also details the specifications of the technology used, the data collected and the associated processes to make the data manageable. The research process took a number of unexpected turns which included the development of a coding scheme for the image material. Initially it was thought that this coding scheme should be predefined. However once the coding process commenced it was clear that in-vivo coding was necessary for inclusion of all elements of the environment and the behaviour. These elements differed from video to video and participant to participant. Grounded theory was introduced in an attempt to explain the novice behaviour. Although the data analysed was not extensive enough to substantiate the use of grounded theory it is considered useful in operationalizing this coding scheme in future. In addition to learning how to work with the data collection systems and how to integrate different types of quantitative and qualitative data in different formats, it also became clear that a strategy for managing large databases should be considered. This was an unexpected spin-off and is currently being investigated. The findings of the study showed that certain behaviours (such as the left scanning of a driving environment) were neglected not only by novice drivers but also by experienced drivers. Further investigations could include research into understanding this phenomenon. The preselected site types included stop streets, traffic lights, traffic circles and intersections. Traffic lights and intersections in particular have in recent years been highlighted as hazardous locations in Pretoria, where the study took place. Differences in behaviours were highlighted for intersections but not for traffic lights, stop streets or traffic circles. However the difference in the proportion of time that novice and experienced drivers took to scan their environments around these preselected hazardous locations differed significantly. Experienced drivers were much more thorough than their novice counterparts. This study was aimed at investigating the differences between novice and experienced drivers and aimed to develop recommendations that could potentially have implications for changing the driver training and education milieu in SA. However, the sample size (both participants and material selected for analysis) was too small to make meaningful recommendations towards change in this industry. It did however show clear differences between novice and experienced drivers, even in South Africa, and that this research needs to be expanded. The potential of this research for South Africa is enormous and could quite possibly, in future, change the way in which South Africans drive.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlates and predictors of hazard perception skill among drivers. Specifically, it was examined whether novice and experienced drivers would differ from each other in terms of hazard perception skill. In addition, the role of personality factors and driving skills in predicting hazard perception among drivers was inspected. Drivers&rsquo / hazard perception skills were assessed by using both a computer-based hazard perception latency test (Turkish Hazard Perception Test in Traffic) which consists 31 video clips recorded in real traffic, and a self-report measure (Self-Reported Hazard Perception Scale). Following the completion of hazard perception measures, Turkish drivers (N = 135 / 90 males, 45 females) also responded to the measures of driving skills, big five personality factors, and sensation seeking. The results of the study indicated that both computer-based and self-reported hazard perception measures significantly differentiated novice and experienced drivers after controlling for the effects of age. Results of the regression analyses demonstrated that computer-based hazard perception skills were significantly predicted by perceptual motor skills subscale of the Driving Skill Inventory. Self-reported hazard perception skill was also strongly predicted by age and perceptual motor skills. The results further revealed that sensation seeking and big five traits did not predict either the computer-based or the self-reported hazard perception skill among drivers. It was concluded that the effects of personality factors could be more observable in on-road assessment of hazard perception. However, the significant difference between novice and experienced drivers showed that hazard perception training should be included to the driver-training curriculum in Turkey as an intervention to promote young novice drivers safety. The findings of the present study were argued in the light of the literature and in relation to the implications for traffic safety in Turkey. Additionally, limitations of the study and suggestions for future researches were discussed.

Driving a motor vehicle is a complex activity, and errors in performing the driving task can result in crashes which cause property damage, injuries, and sometimes death. It is important that the road environment supports drivers in safe performance of the driving task. At present, increasing amounts of visual information from sources such as roadside advertising create visual clutter in the road environment. There has been little research on the effect of this visual clutter on driving performance, particularly for vulnerable groups such as novice and older drivers. The present work aims to fill this gap. Literature from a variety of relevant disciplines was surveyed and integrated, and a model of the mechanisms by which visual clutter could affect performance of the driving task was developed. To determine potential sources of clutter, focus groups with drivers were held and two studies involving subjective ratings of visual clutter in photographs and video clips of road environments were carried out. This resulted in a taxonomy of visual clutter in the road environment: ‘situational clutter’, including vehicles and other road users with whom drivers interact; ‘designed clutter’, including road signs, signals, and markings used by traffic authorities to communicate with users; and ‘built clutter’, including roadside development and any signage not originating from a road authority. The taxonomy of visual clutter was tested using the change detection paradigm. Drivers were slower to detect changes in photographs of road scenes with high levels of visual clutter than with low levels, and slower for road scenes including advertising billboards than road scenes without billboards. Finally, the effects of billboard presence and lead vehicles on vehicle control, eye movements and responses to traffic signs and signals were tested using a driving simulator. The number of vehicles included appeared to be insufficient to create situational clutter. However billboards had significant effects on driver speed (slower), ability to follow directions on road signs (slower with more errors), and eye movements (increased amount of time fixating on roadsides at the expense of scanning the road ahead). Older drivers were particularly affected by visual clutter in both the change detection and simulated driving tasks. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and for road safety practitioners. Visual clutter can affect driver workload as well as purely visual aspects of the driving task (such as hazard perception and search for road signs). When driver workload is increased past a certain point other driving tasks will also be performed less well (such as speed maintenance). Advertising billboards in particular cause visual distraction, and should be considered at a similar level of potential danger as visual distraction from in-vehicle devices. The consequences of roadside visual clutter are more severe for the growing demographic of older drivers. Currently, road environments do not support drivers (particularly older drivers) as well as they could. Based on the results, guidance is given for road authorities to improve this status when designing and location road signage and approving roadside advertising.

Ce travail de thèse est centré sur les effets de la distraction sur les performances de conduite. Lorsqu’il conduit, un conducteur doit non seulement être capable de maintenir le contrôle du véhicule, mais également être en mesure de prélever et de traiter les informations pertinentes provenant de l’environnement routier. Ces capacités peuvent être mises à défaut par l’introduction des systèmes de communications et d’informations dans les véhicules qui le placent en situation d’attention partagée et augmentent les sources de distraction. Ce travail a tenté de déterminer comment la population des jeunes conducteurs novices, caractérisée par un fort taux d’accidents (Clarke et al. 2005) et des compétences de conduite faiblement développées (Whelan at al. 2004) gère ces situations d’attention partagée. Deux expérimentations ont alimentés cette thèse. La première, en environnement réel de conduite, visait à analyser les effets de l’utilisation conjointe d’un système de navigation et d’un téléphone portable sur la qualité de la prise d’information et du traitement de l’information (au travers de différents paramètres comportementaux). La seconde, réalisée en laboratoire, était destinée à compléter les résultats de la première expérimentation en se concentrant exclusivement sur les modalités de recherche et de prise d’informations selon que le conducteur soit novice ou expérimenté. En fonction de l’expérience de conduite, les résultats offrent des conclusions mitigées en matière de traitement de l’information en situations d’attention partagée. / This PhD thesis aims to study the distraction effects on driver performances. While driving, a driver must be able to maintain the vehicle control and also to process the relevant information from the road environment. These abilities can be impaired by the introduction of information and communication systems inside the car which put the driver in dual-task situation and increase the sources of distraction. This work tries to determine how the population of young novice drivers, characterized by a high crash rate (Clarke et al. 2005) and by poorly developed driving skills (Whelan et al. 2004) manages these situations of time sharing.Two experimentations were conducted. The first one, on real road, aims at analyzing the effects of simultaneously use of a navigation system and a mobile phone on the information processing (achieve by analyzing behavior parameters). The second one, in laboratory, aims at completing the first results, by focusing on modalities of research and handling information according to the drivers’ experience (novice or experienced). According to the driving experience, results are ambivalent in terms of information processing during divided attention situations.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.