The impact of new oral fluid drug driving detection methods in Queensland: are motorists deterred?

Queensland Police Services have commenced random roadside drug testing of motorists to collectively apprehend as well as deter potential offenders. The present study aimed to examine a sample of Queensland drivers’ (N = 462) level of awareness of the new testing method as well as determine the impact of the countermeasure and other non-legal sanctions on intentions to drug drive. The findings revealed that respondents were generally unaware of the new testing method and a similar proportion remained uncertain regarding the effectiveness of detecting drivers who are driving under the influence of illicit drugs. An examination of the factors associated with intentions to drug drive again in the future revealed that perceptions of apprehension certainty was a significant predictor, as those who reported a lower certainty of apprehension were more likely to report intending to offend. Additionally, self-reported recent drug driving activity and frequent drug consumption were also identified as significant predictors, which indicates that in the current context past behaviour is a prominent predictor of future behaviour. The findings of the study confirm the popular deterrence-based assumption that increasing perceptions of apprehension certainty, such as through random road-side testing, may yet still prove to be an effective method of reducing the burden of drug driving on road safety

Australian forensic psychologists' perspectives on the merits and limits of actuarial instruments in predicting recidivism among violent offenders and sex offenders

Actuarial approaches are regarded as more accurate than both unstructured and structured clinical approaches in assessing risk of recidivism among sex offenders. While there has been a plethora of research on evaluating the effectiveness of actuarial instruments, there has been a paucity of research investigating their actual level of use in forensic settings. In addition, little is known about the practical difficulties associated with administering actuarial instruments. This paper reports on a survey completed by forensic psychologists in Australia about the risk assessment tools they prefer and the benefits and difficulties associated with their use. In addition, the paper explores the extent to which forensic psychologists use clinical information to adjust the level of risk identified through the actuarial approach. The findings are discussed in light of the utility of particular approaches to assessing risk of recidivism among violent offenders and sex offenders

Achieving Effective Road Safety Initiatives: A New Application of the Stage of Change Model

Interviews were conducted with managers and employees from two organizations to explore the utility of the Stages of Change model as a framework for explaining perceived effectiveness of work-related road safety initiatives. Perceptions pertaining to initiative effectiveness were found to vary in relation to the stage of change. This paper suggests how practitioners can apply the stages of change framework to tailor safety initiatives to most effectively meet client needs and improve work-related road safety

A Community Education and Intervention Program for Level Crossing Risk Management in Australia

This project aims to design, implement and evaluate a community road safety program using an intervention and control community methodology. It is a 3-year national project funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Railway Engineering and Technologies in Australia. With level crossing accidents constituting a significant proportion of death and injury associated with rail operations the need to conduct research in level crossing safety is warranted. To date, there has been little research conducted in Australia that evaluates community road safety programs targeting level crossing safety as well as identifying impediments towards the development of safe level crossing behaviour

A Hermeneutics of Practice:Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Epistemology of Participation

Gadamer’s “Philosophical Hermeneutics†leaves several unresolved questions inviting further development. (1) If scientific methodology is no longer the counter-balance to questions of procedure in the humanities, what can hermeneutics offer the sciences in grappling with the absence of certainty? (2) Why does Gadamer not develop the notion that understanding is a type of movement? What is understanding’s seemingly perpetual disquiet? (3) Gadamer’s case that understanding is an event is part of his rejection of the Kantian thesis that “knowing†is grounded in subjective consciousness. The question of how such events are generated is unresolved. Placing the event of understanding in a linguistic horizon establishes its ontological pre-requisite but offers no insight into the mechanisms that have to be in place to facilitate its emergence. This paper will suggest that the notion of practice (itself a philosophical theme not extensively discussed in Gadamer) offers three possible answers to these questions. (1) Practice evolves notions of certitude other than those that are strictly epistemological. (2) Practice is often driven by a quest for completion (Vollzug) which proves instrumentally disruptive and a means to new insight. The drive for completion is a candidate for generating understanding’s disquiet. (3) Practice facilitates not so much a fusion but a collision of horizons capable of generating unexpected transformations of understanding. All three answers suggest the development of philosophical hermeneutics into what will be termed a participatory hermeneutics. Â

Education and the Formative Power of Hermeneutic Practice

This paper seeks to clarify the educational role and effects of hermeneutic practice. The argument is that far from becoming irrelevant to the ever changing needs of the social economy, the humanities and especially the hermeneutic practices on which they depend, are vital to intensifying those processes of social and cultural renewal upon which the well-being of a community depends

Work-related road safety risk assessment: utilisation of self-report surveys to predict organisational risk

Work-related driving safety is an emerging concern for Australian and overseas organisations. Research has shown that road crashes are the most common cause of work-related fatalities, injuries and absences from work. This study's objectives were to identify driver characteristics which pose potential risks to work-related driving safety within the organisation, as well as determining the value of such self-reported data to predict crash involvement and general aberrant driving behaviours. This paper reports on a study examining the predictive utility of predominant self-report questionnaires to identify individuals involved in work-related crashes within an Australian organisational fleet setting (N = 4195). Survey questionnaires included the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ), Driver Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ), Safety Climate Questionnaire – Modified for Drivers (SCQ-MD) and Risk Taking. The tools were distributed through the company’s internal mail system to employees who volunteered to participate in the study. An important finding to emerge was that a potential fleet "speeding culture" was identified from univariate analyses. For example, drivers were most likely to report engaging in speeding behaviours and also believed that speeding was more acceptable compared to drink driving, following too closely or engaging in risky overtaking manoeuvres. However, multivariate analysis determining factors associated with self-reported crash involvement revealed that increased work pressure and driving errors were predictive of crash risk, even after controlling for exposure on the road. This paper highlights the major findings of the study and discusses the implications and difficulties associated with utilising driver behaviour measurement tools within contemporary organisational fleet settings

The Influence of Occupational Driver Stress on Work-related Road Safety: An Exploratory Review

Research has identified a number of stressors that could impact on the occupational driver by increasing stress levels and, for some individuals, causing adverse behaviour and effects, for example, aggressive behaviour, fatigue, inattention/distraction, and substance abuse. For safety professionals and employers, one way to reduce the effects of occupational driver stress is to change perceptions so that management and drivers recognise that work-related driving is as important as other work-related tasks. This article explores relevant literature in relation to driver stress and suggests additions to risk management processes and safety procedures/policies, including assigning sufficient basic resources to target occupational stress (particularly occupational driver stress)