A University of the Sunshine Coast study will seek to understand the split-second ‘mental shortcuts’ the brain makes that influence a person to speed, and what might deter them.
UniSC road safety researcher Dr Verity Truelove has been awarded a $420,563 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) fellowship from the Australian Research Council, to investigate the psychology behind speeding and how to police it more effectively.
“The aim is to prevent speeding and reduce Australia’s high road trauma rates, by optimising on-road police and camera speed enforcement across rural, remote and metropolitan areas,” Dr Truelove said.
Speeding is the leading contributor to crash-related road deaths and injuries in Australia, despite a significant financial and resource investment each year from police and government.
Dr Truelove, a Senior Research Fellow at the MAIC/UniSC Road Safety Research Collaboration, will lead the three-year project, developing a framework to help allocate speed enforcement resources to greatest effect.
“The aim is to prevent speeding and reduce Australia’s high road trauma rates, by optimising on-road police and camera speed enforcement across rural, remote and metropolitan areas,” Dr Truelove said.
“The project will identify cognitive biases – the split-second ‘mental shortcuts’ our brain makes – that influence a person’s decision to speed.
“For example, do people drive slower in places where they’ve previously seen a police officer with a radar gun? Would that change if it was mobile speed camera? Is that perception different for rural versus metropolitan roads?
“The findings will inform a framework to match the characteristics of a road to the best enforcement approach and enhance existing resources.”
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