Drivers’ experiences during floods: Investigating the psychological influences underpinning decisions to avoid driving through floodwater

A major risk factor for many flood-related drownings is driving through floodwater. We aimed to understand Australian drivers’ experiences and beliefs with respect to avoid driving through floodwater using the theory of planned behaviour as a framework. Study 1 (N = 23) used a qualitative design to gain an in-depth understanding of individuals’ experiences with driving through floodwater. Study 2 (N = 157) used a survey-based design to identify the factors related to this behaviour including knowledge, beliefs, and social-cognitive factors. In Study 1, drivers identified a range of advantages (e.g., didn't damage car), disadvantages (e.g., inconvenient, but not so terrible), barriers (e.g., urgency to reach destination), and facilitators (e.g., making plans and using existing plans) to avoiding driving through floodwater. Normative factors were also important influences on drivers’ decisions including normative expectancy, approval of significant others, and a moral obligation for the safety of others. In Study 2, participants were able to recall information about driving through floodwater (e.g., dangerous/risky) and its meaning (e.g., body of water over road). A range of experiences were described for avoiding driving through floodwater (e.g., took an alternative route). Across the studies, a range of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs were elicited. Finally, sex (women more likely), attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control significantly predicted intentions to avoid driving through floodwater, with the model explaining 55% of the variance. These findings can inform intervention targets and development of prevention strategies for effective behaviour change, saving lives otherwise lost to Australian waterways in flood

Human behaviour towards road safety: perceptions and practices of University of Johannesburg students in 2018

Abstract: This study used the phenomenological approach to explore the perceptions and practices of road safety among students registered at the University of Johannesburg in 2018. The study further makes recommendations based on the perceptions and practices identified by the participants. Primary qualitative data was gathered using an interview guide with open-ended questions that was administered during face-to-face individual interviews. The interview guide consisted of two questions that addressed concepts that are critical to road safety. Based on the characteristics of the population identified, a purposive, non-probability sampling method was used to select participants from the University of Johannesburg Doornfontein campus, targeting male and female students aged 18 years and above. Participants were selected until saturation was reached. A total of 15 participants were interviewed. Data was analysed using a qualitative thematic approach. The findings of this study indicate that students generally have positive perceptions towards road safety. It was also found that students at the University of Johannesburg are aware of road safety issues. Students identified unsafe road user practices and how these behaviours affect the public at large. The student’s perceptions were that attitudinal, perceptual, societal and experiential are amongst the reasons behind the unsafe road user behaviour. This study recommends behaviour change programmes that will focus on road users, with emphasis on drivers and pedestrians. Law enforcement should also improve regulations to ensure that there is compliance to road safety laws.M.A. (Public Health

Then On From There

Then On From There is a practice-based research project situated between the space of the screen and the stage. It interrogates conventional notions of filmmaking, narrativity, and spectatorship in the gallery context, using a combination of collaborative, structural and tactile processes. This thesis revolves around four individual video works that explore what constitutes narrative in expanded media by investigating the role of traditional devices of plot, tension, and character development. These works, in turn, produce a form of experimental narrative that is multi-layered and self-reflexive. My research, then, contextualizes these projects through the lens of early 1970s structural/materialist film theory and participatory theater, while engaging contemporary discourse surrounding collaborative art practice and the notion of “expanded cinema.

Fear appeal message repetition in public service announcements: A cross-cultural comparison

This research aims at examining the usage of fear appeal in public service announcements (PSAs) of different topics across different countries. The study uses a purposive sample of audio/visual advertisements that tackles a variety of social, health and safety topics across different cultures either in English or Arabic languages or with subtitles. The study is intended to compare the usage of fear appeal in PSAs that are targeted for social change across different cultures in terms of content and methods used to scare audiences. A non-probability purposive sample has been obtained through extensive search online that resulted in a non-even number of PSAs from each country. A sample of 72 PSAs has been collected, including 17 different PSAs tackling issues from UK, 20 from USA, 6 from Canada, 4 from France and 5 from Ireland, Australia and Egypt have 3 different PSAs each, 2 PSAs from Switzerland and South Africa each, 4 from Saudi Arabia and Spain, New Zealand, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Scotland are represented with 1 PSA in the sample. Through analysing these PSAs, the research has concluded that some of the main variables are similar across all countries and topics: the how these PSAs use negative framing in conveying the message, the high levels of depicted severity in the PSAs and the portrayal of harm affecting oneself. Other variables, such as: narrations of the PSAs, being part of a campaign, tone of voice, how the fear is portrayed, and levels of susceptibility are somehow similar with minor differences and majorities portraying the same results. The place where the PSA is taking place, the number of actors depicted in the PSAs, gender of those actors, and the suggested behaviours are variables that differ across the PSAs

“Texting & Driving” Detection Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

The effects of distracted driving are one of the main causes of deaths and injuries on U.S. roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), among the different types of distractions, the use of cellphones is highly related to car accidents, commonly known as “texting and driving”, with around 481,000 drivers distracted by their cellphones while driving, about 3450 people killed and 391,000 injured in car accidents involving distracted drivers in 2016 alone. Therefore, in this research, a novel methodology to detect distracted drivers using their cellphone is proposed. For this, a ceiling mounted wide angle camera coupled to a deep learning–convolutional neural network (CNN) are implemented to detect such distracted drivers. The CNN is constructed by the Inception V3 deep neural network, being trained to detect “texting and driving” subjects. The final CNN was trained and validated on a dataset of 85,401 images, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.891 in the training set, an AUC of 0.86 on a blind test and a sensitivity value of 0.97 on the blind test. In this research, for the first time, a CNN is used to detect the problem of texting and driving, achieving a significant performance. The proposed methodology can be incorporated into a smart infotainment car, thus helping raise drivers’ awareness of their driving habits and associated risks, thus helping to reduce careless driving and promoting safe driving practices to reduce the accident rate.The effects of distracted driving are one of the main causes of deaths and injuries on U.S. roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), among the different types of distractions, the use of cellphones is highly related to car accidents, commonly known as “texting and driving”, with around 481,000 drivers distracted by their cellphones while driving, about 3450 people killed and 391,000 injured in car accidents involving distracted drivers in 2016 alone. Therefore, in this research, a novel methodology to detect distracted drivers using their cellphone is proposed. For this, a ceiling mounted wide angle camera coupled to a deep learning–convolutional neural network (CNN) are implemented to detect such distracted drivers. The CNN is constructed by the Inception V3 deep neural network, being trained to detect “texting and driving” subjects. The final CNN was trained and validated on a dataset of 85,401 images, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.891 in the training set, an AUC of 0.86 on a blind test and a sensitivity value of 0.97 on the blind test. In this research, for the first time, a CNN is used to detect the problem of texting and driving, achieving a significant performance. The proposed methodology can be incorporated into a smart infotainment car, thus helping raise drivers’ awareness of their driving habits and associated risks, thus helping to reduce careless driving and promoting safe driving practices to reduce the accident rate

Adolescent Pedestrian Safety and Electronic Devices

Mobile phones and other portable electronic devices may be common distractions to adolescent pedestrians that may increase their risk of traffic injury. The aims of this thesis were to examine the effects of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones on adolescent pedestrians’ behaviour, attention to pedestrian scenes and risk-awareness. The study also sought to investigate age differences, gender differences, risk-taking, self-regulation and mobile phone experience to determine the issue of whether the pedestrian skills of some adolescents are more adversely affected by mobile phones than others. The issue of whether road safety messages for adolescent pedestrians using mobile phones could be improved was also considered. In order to accomplish the main aims of the study, several methods were used - namely: systematic review methods, observation methods, experimental methods, content analysis and interviews with adolescents to analyse their opinions on safety education messages. The observation study reported in Chapter 3 investigated whether using mobile phones distracts adolescent attention while crossing the road. More than 3000 road crossings made by school-aged adolescents were observed. It was found that 31.37% of road crossings were made by adolescents with a phone or other device. It was also noted that the safety of adolescent pedestrians was affected by mobile phones and other devices. They looked left and right before crossing the road less frequently when they had an electronic device with them, particularly when looking at the screen and when texting or swiping. The rates of unsafe pedestrian behaviour in relation to technology use were similar for males and females. It was concluded that the safety of adolescent pedestrians is considerably affected by mobile phones and music-playing devices. Experiments conducted with 50 participants aged from 11 - 17 years, reported in Chapter 4, used photographs of pedestrian scenes to investigate: (1) phone distraction for allocation of attention to features of pedestrian scenes and; (2) understanding of the dangers of different ways of using mobile phones at the roadside. The results showed that adolescents were able to avoid phone distractions and pay attention to the relevant features of a pedestrian scene in controlled experimental conditions. There were no age or gender differences and no significant correlation between attention to changes in pedestrian scenes, self-regulation, risk taking or experience of mobile phone ownership. Participants were aware of the risks of using a mobile phone at the roadside and they identified looking and listening to a phone as being more dangerous than holding it. However, their understanding of the dangers of phones for road safety was not always clear. Road safety education that uses the information from these studies could help to improve adolescent pedestrian safety. Therefore, Chapter 5 examined 40 road safety websites and found that there were very few that included advice or information about mobile phone distractions for adolescent pedestrians. Chapter 6 examined adolescents’ opinions regarding a selection of pedestrian safety information about mobile phones and what they thought would be a good way to inform other adolescents about the risks of using mobile phones when crossing a road. Participants advised that oral communication is the most effective way to increase road safety awareness about the use of the mobile phones while crossing the road or being around traffic. In conclusion, it is clear that the road safety of adolescent pedestrians is affected by portable electronic devices. Going forward, therefore, initiatives such as road safety messages in an appropriate format that would appeal to and engage with adolescents are needed to reduce the risks of road traffic injury to adolescents