CTF Incentives To Improve Road Safety
CTF Incentives To Improve Road Safety
Report
Incentives to improve road safety
Final report to the Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports
November 2015
Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
15 November 2015
We are pleased to present you with the 2015 Road Safety Citizens’ Taskforce Report. The
report is the outcome of four days of citizen deliberations in which incentives to encourage
safe driving were considered. The delivery of the report is timely given that today is the World
Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
We commend the Queensland Government for recognising the importance of road safety in
our community, by appointing the first Minister for Road Safety, and hope this issue
continues to receive the Government’s highest priority.
Our Taskforce has taken its responsibility in looking at this issue very seriously. We, as
representatives of the Queensland community, believe that serious road trauma on our roads
is not acceptable, and the community should play a greater role in road safety.
Our Taskforce would like to acknowledge the contribution of the expert panellists for their
invaluable knowledge and support throughout the Taskforce process, and those members of
the public that took the time to provide written submissions to inform our deliberations.
We found the Citizens’ Taskforce process a challenging and worthwhile personal experience.
It certainly opened our eyes to the complexities around road safety in Queensland and the
complex policy issues facing the Queensland Government.
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Recommendations Summar y
After hearing from expert presenters and discussing and deliberating the validity of our ideas,
the Citizens’ Taskforce makes the following recommendations. More information on each
recommendation can be found from page 15 of this report.
Recommendation 1
The Citizens’ Taskforce recommends that the Minister for Road Safety initiates the
development of an incentive program for P Plate drivers.
Supporting information:
The Citizens’ Taskforce is making this recommendation because the range of evidence,
including crash statistics, consistently highlights P Plate drivers are most at risk of being
involved in fatal and injury crashes on Queensland roads. This higher risk is because they
are more likely to engage in the risky behaviours of the “Fatal 5” and because they are
inexperienced at driving. However, while they are inexperienced, young people are good
change adopters and are accustomed to learning new things, which makes the P Plate
phase of the licensing system the perfect opportunity to instil habitual good driving behaviour
through an incentive program.
Recommendation 2
This incentive program should be linked to the progression through the licensing system from
Learner to Open Licence.
Supporting information:
The Citizens’ Taskforce considered the ‘intervention’ points within the licensing system they
could target to make an impact on this high-risk group. Getting a Provisional Licence is a
major milestone for many young people – it often represents the ‘first day of freedom’. It is
also a very risky time, and young drivers need to be aware of the responsibility that comes
with that freedom. Because young drivers are often highly motivated to progress through the
licensing system, this presents an opportunity to link an incentive program to this
progression. To have the required impact on road trauma, the Citizens’ Taskforce believe this
needs to be a mandatory requirement to progress through the licensing system. The
Taskforce also highlights there will be further road safety benefits from extending the
incentive program to all other drivers as a voluntary option.
Recommendation 3
The Taskforce believes there are two elements that must be considered:
a) the development of a lifelong learning program for road safety that is integrated and
coordinated across the curriculum in Queensland schools, to help instil a road safety
culture within the community.
b) the use of in-vehicle monitoring technology that provides driving behaviour feedback,
to facilitate the learning process in order to achieve a pre-determined standard allowing
progression through the licensing system.
Supporting information:
a) Lifelong learning
The Citizens’ Taskforce has a firm view that there needs to be a cultural shift in our
community to have an impact on road trauma in Queensland. They believe for this to
happen, safe road use needs to be entrenched in our way of thinking from a very early age
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and that this will only be achieved through education. There are many opportunities for road
safety principles to be reinforced throughout a person’s life. Education starts from an early
age with parents as role models, and children pick up habits quickly, often reminding parents
about ‘two hands on the wheel’ or wearing seatbelts.
To strengthen this learning process, road safety should be integrated in the school curriculum
as a compulsory education module. Schools dedicate time to teach children swimming in
response to the number of drownings in the community, and, given that road trauma costs
the community so much in emotional trauma, medical costs and lost productivity, it is justified
that it is given some priority within the curriculum. Road safety should be a topic that is
addressed at multiple stages throughout the school year, introducing graduated road safety
concepts from Prep through to Year 12.
Recommendation 4
The Citizens' Taskforce recommends that Queensland adopts a target of zero road deaths –
it is not acceptable that any person should be killed on our roads.
Supporting information:
The Citizens’ Taskforce believes that while many factors contribute to the number of road
fatalities, death is an unacceptable price for any person to pay for using our roads. Road
fatalities have a powerful and deeply personal impact on communities, and the Citizens’
Taskforce is unwilling to accept any target for the number of road deaths other than zero.
While this is an ambitious, long-term goal, the Citizens’ Taskforce stresses that the
Government needs to get on board with this concept and demonstrate its commitment to the
broader Queensland community. Only then can we see the shift in cultural attitude and
expectations needed to reach this goal.
Recommendation 5
The Citizens' Taskforce recommends that Queensland adopts a target of a significant
reduction in hospitalisations – it is not acceptable that any person should be injured on our
roads.
Supporting information:
The Citizens’ Taskforce is making this recommendation because, while the number of
fatalities has decreased over time, the number of hospitalisations has not changed and this
needs to be focussed on. The cost to the community through health care, disability services
and lost productivity alone is reason enough for the Government to make a reduction in
hospitalisation crashes a priority. Added to this, is the significant costs and stress to
individuals and families affected by road trauma, creating an extensive community issue that
further warrants the Government’s attention. It’s acknowledged that technology will play a
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major role in making future driving safer, however every decision made by researchers and
policy makers in the immediate term need to be framed in the context of this harm
minimisation approach.
Recommendation 6
In relation to impaired driving:
a) The Citizens' Taskforce recommends that the Minister for Road Safety initiates and
facilitates a community discussion about the issue of drink driving, to explore options to
reduce the instances of drink driving and associated road trauma. This conversation
should consider the trade-offs of lowering the general alcohol limit to zero for all drivers.
b) The Citizens' Taskforce supports a greater emphasis being placed on the issue of driving
when impaired by drugs.
Supporting information:
a) Community discussion about drink driving
Despite not falling directly within the scope of the question the Citizens’ Taskforce has been
charged with considering, the Taskforce feels as though it has an opportunity to make a clear
statement to the Government about the issue of drinking and driving. While the Taskforce
acknowledges there are many different stakeholders in the discussion, and that alcohol has
traditionally been identified as part of the Australian culture, it believes the community view
about alcohol is maturing and that it is time to set the standard for our next generations. The
Taskforce feels that this is an issue that should be debated more broadly and the community
view tested. Further, this conversation needs to be had within the boarder social context of
alcohol consumption in the community and will need to duly consider the unintended
consequences of the introduction of any drink driving initiative, particularly the introduction of
a 0.00 Blood/Breath Alcohol Concentration.
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The Taskforce members were briefed in detail by a panel of experts on the background of
road safety in Queensland and current thinking relating to incentives to improve driving
behaviour. They were then asked to discuss possible approaches.
The Taskforce deliberations were recorded and recommendations have been included in this
report for consideration by the Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports.
The group included young drivers, parents of young drivers, experienced drivers and people
who have commercial driving experience. They were recruited from the greater Brisbane
area, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Bundaberg, Mackay, Rockhampton, Cairns and
Townsville.
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The Question
“How can incentives be used to encourage safe driving, including for young people?”
This question is about looking at how people are using our roads and finding ways to
motivate them to behave safely.
The Citizens’ Taskforce noted that while rewards and incentives are terms that are often
used interchangeably, they are in fact different. They drew the distinction that rewards act to
reinforce behaviour that has already happened, whereas incentives bring about a behaviour
shift. Put simply, rewards are about maintaining good behaviour and incentives are about
changing poor behaviour.
The challenge put to the Citizens’ Taskforce was how to ensure that the incentive ideas they
recommend are an active driver of behaviour rather than a process to give out a reward after
the fact.
It was discussed that outside of the threat of punishment through traffic enforcement, there
aren’t many programs that motivate drivers to drive safely. The Citizens’ Taskforce
determined that whilst the majority of road users don’t intentionally set out to do the wrong
thing, compliance remains an issue on Queensland roads. Speeding road users and mobile
phone use whilst driving featured strongly in what the Citizens’ Taskforce members have
personally witnessed on the roads.
While the Citizens’ Taskforce was encouraged to consider all road user groups and
behaviours when applying their knowledge in forming recommendations, a particular focus
on young drivers was deemed necessary given their overrepresentation in Queensland’s
road trauma statistics.
The Hon Mark Bailey MP, Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports, officially opened
the Citizens’ Taskforce on 31 October 2015.
The Minister emphasised the importance the Queensland Government places on road safety,
demonstrated by the fact that he had been appointed as the very first Minister for Road
Safety in Queensland. Minister Bailey said that through this process, the Queensland
Government sought to close the gap between government policy development and members
of the Queensland community.
Although there has been significant progress in road safety over the last 40 years, there are
still more than 200 people killed and more than 6,000 people hospitalised as a result of
crashes on our roads every year. Minister Bailey said he was looking for advice from the
Taskforce regarding ways to motivate drivers to demonstrate safe behaviour.
The Taskforce heard from a panel of five experts who provided information and experience to
enable Taskforce members to obtain a deeper understanding of the complexities around the
topic.
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Assistant Commissioner From the Queensland Police Service. AC Keating told the
Mike Keating Citizens’ Taskforce about some of the high-risk behaviours on
Queensland roads.
The Taskforce was also provided with the public submissions that the Department of
Transport and Main Roads called for via the Join the Drive website.
The Citizens' Taskforce process was evaluated by Ms Noela Quadrio, Four Rivers
Consulting, who was present for the entire process.
Dr Graham Fraine described the significant improvements in road safety over the last 40
years. Key contributors to these improvements included major policy initiatives such as
seatbelts, Random Breath Testing, licensing laws for young drivers, speed cameras, vehicle
and road design improvements and medical advances.
Graham explained the 'safe system' approach, which acknowledges humans are imperfect,
they will make mistakes, and the transport system should minimise the impact of these
mistakes.
Graham identified some high-risk groups and behaviours, focussing on young drivers. He
demonstrated the risks faced by young drivers using the graph below, which highlights the
enormous increase in risk when novice drivers reach the Provisional licence phase and start
driving unsupervised.
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He explained that young people push boundaries, which is essential to drive society forward.
However, this very characteristic means that young drivers are also at greatest risk on the
roads. They represent a little less than 13% of licence holders on record in Queensland but
make up 34% of serious casualties (fatalities and hospitalisations).
The learner licence period is one of the safest – the biggest risk (by far) is when novice
drivers first transition from the learner phase to the provisional phase. Young drivers continue
to be overrepresented in serious crashes in every hour of the day, and they are especially
overrepresented at night time. Between the hours of 6pm and 5am young drivers are
involved in more than twice the proportion of serious crashes that should be expected given
the proportion of all licence holders they represent, and this is even higher between the hours
of 10pm and 4am.
The Taskforce discussed this information and there was general agreement that the
community should play a greater role in road safety.
Taskforce members identified ways in which this could be done, such as:
education – more training, including in schools, with skills reinforced and updated
asking willing community members to speak to young people about what it means to
suffer through road trauma
community needs to take responsibility and role model safe behaviours, 'dobbing in'
wrong behaviours and recognising the right behaviours, planting seeds early for kids
social media (especially Facebook) people share posts – a potential tool to reach the
community
using technology to control what you can (and can’t) do when in a vehicle
providing designated ‘hooning’ spots – under supervision – for people to let off steam in a
‘safe’ environment
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taking personal responsibility for our actions – to self-regulate and show self-restraint to
make better choices, for example, by putting breathalysers into the community.
Risky behaviours
Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating presented to the Taskforce on the Fatal 5 behaviours
which remain the biggest contributors to crashes: drink/drug driving, speeding, driver
distraction, lack of restraint use and fatigue.
His key message was road safety is everybody's responsibility, every day. He said there was
room to do more to encourage compliance with the laws relating to the Fatal 5.
Mike said that drug driving is an emerging issue, with a spike in detections this year.
Detections also reveal that it is not just a young driver issue, and he gave the example of
Birdsville races where older drivers tested positive at surprisingly high rates. Mike said that
the Police Service is committed to high visibility patrols, while identifying and targeting the
riskiest road users. However, enforcement alone will not achieve a zero road toll.
Some potential incentive ideas suggested by the Taskforce at this point included:
if young drivers on red P licenses have no infringements, they could get their green P for
free
have a points system for prizes (such as taxi vouchers, fuel etc) or have a draw to win
prizes (element of surprise)
technology, apps, social media are very relevant to young people – have a program
where they can earn points – involve groups/communities/team – build an environment
where everyone is working towards the same road safety goal (group dynamics)
there was general agreement that incentives should be available for all drivers, however
young drivers should be targeted, and should be offered a choice of incentive.
Professor Uwe Dulleck addressed the Taskforce on the science behind incentives and
human behaviour. He said that we tend to assume people are rational all the time, and that
we make all decisions deliberately, which isn't the case.
Uwe explained that whenever we make decisions (for example, deciding how fast we drive
our car), we are driven by two systems:
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1. Thinking fast – spontaneous and largely unconscious/effortless (e.g. name capital city of
Australia)
2. Thinking slow – conscious working of the brain / more effortful thinking (calculating
multiplication sum).
Humans are not always conscious in our decision-making, particularly when we are doing
something routine such as driving, and we use our automatic systems to operate (system 1).
This means we are not always rational decision makers which can be problematic because
incentives generally talk to our rational selves.
In addition, people look at rewards or gains differently to how they view losses – losses tend
to weigh heavier than gains. So, if we are loss averse – fines still have a significant place,
which means any program needs to complement police enforcement rather than replace it.
Incentives can focus our attention on what is important and the behaviours we should be
displaying.
Uwe also reminded the Taskforce that, in the introduction of any new programs, it’s important
to take into account how effective it is. He suggested the Taskforce should consider the need
to test and measure the effectiveness of any incentive proposal recommended.
The Taskforce considered this advice and agreed that what motivates one person may not
motivate another. Language and delivery is also important – for example, “granny driver” may
not be seen as a desirable label, however, if presented differently it could be “cool to be
cautious”.
Incentives need to be about what makes a difference to a person – trust is important in giving
an incentive – people often see the demerit point system in this way. An example was
discussed where children were incentivised to behave on holidays: they were given $20 at
the start of the trip, and small amounts were taken if they misbehaved (they experienced a
sense of loss), however, they were also given the opportunity to earn the forsaken amounts
back again.
Uwe talked about reinforcement theory – that the quicker the reward is given, the better the
learning experience is. This means that giving an incentive closer to the behaviour the better.
Incentives need to be salient and visible, and not too far off into the future (for example,
superannuation would not be a good incentive). They need to be achievable, small, and
regular.
Members of the Taskforce talked about fixed interval incentives, increasing the ratio (eg 50
points reward, 100 points reward).
The question was asked, why should we need further incentive, isn't ‘our life’ (ie returning
home safely) sufficient? It was suggested a simulator campaign, where young drivers
experience a crash, may have an impact, and some members recalled a roadworker safety
campaign which ‘humanised’ the roadworker.
Members discussed how any program would reach high-risk drivers. We also need to be
careful of unintended consequences – for example, rewarding people for good driving when
they have just not been caught, which would reinforce bad behaviour. The point was made
that the Taskforce needs to be clear on what it is seeking to achieve and defining the
behaviours it is seeking to change.
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Judy talked about intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. For some people, punishment or the threat
of punishment has been effective (for example random breath testing has been successful in
curbing the instances of drink driving). However, there is limited research on the
effectiveness of rewards and incentives to improve driver behaviour anywhere in the world.
What is clear is that any incentive program needs to be complementary to current
enforcement measures.
Judy reminded the Taskforce of the distinction between 'rewards' (reinforcing behaviour once
it has been performed thereby maintaining good behaviour) versus ‘incentives’ that motivate
a change in behaviour.
Judy suggested the Taskforce should consider what it is they would want to achieve through
an incentives program. If it is fewer road crashes, the problem is that crashes are relatively
rare. If it were fewer tickets the difficulty with this is that a lot of bad behaviour goes
undetected, so a program based on traffic history could reward bad behaviour. Judy told the
Taskforce that punishment avoidance (getting away with bad behaviour) is a powerful
behavioural reinforcement, so would not be likely to have a positive road safety outcome.
If we seek less risky driving, we need to be specific about the behaviour we are seeking to
change: for example, speeding, hard braking, phone use, drink/drug driving, tired driving.
There are primary (individual) and secondary (organisational) incentives, for example, where
a teacher gives the whole class a reward if good things are done by some. The Taskforce
considered groups in road safety – young people, neighbours, sporting groups.
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Telematics: In-vehicle monitoring devices – immediate driver feedback and incentives (in
vehicle warnings) and incorporates:
Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) – alerts drivers when they exceed the speed limit
Feedback through smart phones
Gamification through apps on smart phones
Concept of ‘token economy’ to accumulate points/awards
Gamification: principles of electronic games have a high usefulness in marketing and
business. Although this is a new concept in road safety, it is a powerful tool that appeals
to the human love of competing. An example of this approach is the Samsung S-drive
app – where participants select an award that appeals to them out of a ‘catalogue’ of
options.
Key considerations
Once something has been taken away, behaviour often reverts; there is no evidence of
long-term value, and this impacts on the sustainability of programs.
There are opportunities to influence young drivers before bad habits are developed.
Should programs be voluntary or mandatory, and if the programs are voluntary, are the
people who should be in the program going to volunteer?
There has been a number of incentive programs conducted in Australia, however evaluations
are very scarce. Incentive programs that have shown no benefits, or have been detrimental,
include:
discounts on license fees
altering the current demerit point system
reductions in Graduated Licensing System (GLS) and hours
giving drivers warnings instead of fines/demerits.
The Taskforce considered Judy's presentation and made the following observations:
Value of immediate feedback – a learner driver has immediate feedback via a supervisor
and is being watched, technology could replace this to encourage better driving and
behaviour.
Technology is facilitating online road safety courses and in-vehicle monitoring for fleets –
there is potential in this area to do more.
Offering alcohol ignition interlocks to the general public would challenge social norms,
and a way to finance the program may be a discount on insurance to offset the cost.
We often operate from a place of self-interest – “I see the greater good, but I should be
excluded” – this may limit the effectiveness of any program.
Any initiative implemented will need an evidence base and a stringent approach before
wide scale introduction, thus the importance of piloting and evaluation of any proposal
recommended.
One participant changed their thinking about incentives over the course of the
deliberations. Their view is that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that the incentive is
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your life. Incentives will cost the government and therefore tax payers, and the participant
was unconvinced that the cost should be funded. Their view was that there may be
benefit in an advertising campaign showing crashes and their effects, but if we did give
incentives it should only be to young male drivers.
Driving is a major responsibility, one that it an absolute necessity in our lives, and we
need to find new ways to make it safer.
Regarding the cost to government, a participant suggested that the positive benefits of an
incentive program may only inspire change in the short term. We should consider
incentives using technology that don’t have a high cost.
One participant shared that their company car has GPS tracking, which has had success
in the trucking industry. Their employer can see what speed they’ve travelled and
whether they’ve travelled aggressively. This is a good way to ensure compliant driving.
Employers have the opportunity to reward their employees for safe driving. One employer
was mentioned where they pay for a vehicle and all related expenses for their employee,
however if the employee incurs an infringement or a call from the public about their bad
driving, it is taken away.
One participant raised the value of recognition, and that people respond very well to it.
For example, if there was an app, and you drove well and had a high score you could be
recognised with a certificate or special sticker.
Another participant wanted to reiterate that the group shouldn’t close their minds off to all
possibilities, that positive reinforcement can be more powerful than other types of
reinforcement.
Technology brings significant potential to improve road safety, particularly the prospect of
autonomous vehicles. However, it may be some years before those technologies are
widely available across the fleet, and a large number of people will be killed or injured in
that time. There are opportunities to change behaviour in the shorter term, without
waiting for longer-term technologies.
It was recognised that the Taskforce needed to define parameters around the key target
group, and the key behavioural change sought. Members went through an idea-generating
phase and then started to refine their ideas by applying the knowledge they had gained by
listening to the evidence presented by the expert panel. Below is a summary of this process.
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WHO
When considering who should be the primary target of an incentive program, discussion
returned to the novice driver casualty crash graph presented by Graham (see page 8), and
the startling increase in crash risk for young drivers when they start driving solo. Accordingly,
members agreed by unanimous vote that Provisional drivers be the target of an incentives
program in Queensland. They decided that the objectives of the incentive program should be
to educate young people to develop safe attitudes and to extend the benefits of supervised
driving (as experienced by Learner drivers when their crash risk is lowest) to novice drivers
when they first start driving solo (and are most at risk).
WHAT
Drawing on reinforcement theory, the Citizens’ Taskforce concluded that the incentive
needed to be meaningful to the participant to motivate a change in behaviour and have an
impact in embedding safe attitudes to road use. Taskforce members agreed that there was
potential in further exploring initiatives involving technology to monitor driver behaviour linked
to licence progression, to assist young drivers to learn safe driving practices, and in improved
road safety education through the school system.
WHY
The Taskforce decided that any incentive program needs to target specific behaviours and/or
attitudes. Based on the CARRS-Q research they dismissed criteria such as no infringements
and no crashes because this does not guarantee good driving behaviour, just that a person
has not been caught doing the wrong thing. They concluded that monitoring technology
needs to be used as a true reflection of a person’s on road behaviour and to ensure the
program isn’t undermined.
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The idea of a regular lottery or draw was also considered, however the Citizens’ Taskforce
determined the chance of winning a prize or a discount alone would not be enough to act as
an incentive. The Taskforce decided not to progress with this idea.
Taskforce Recommendations
Recommendation 1 – The Citizens’ Taskforce recommends that the Minister for Road
Safety initiates the development of an incentive program for P Plate drivers.
The Citizens’ Taskforce is making this recommendation because the range of evidence,
including crash statistics, consistently highlights P Plate drivers are most at risk of being
involved in fatal and injury crashes on Queensland roads. This higher risk is because they
are more likely to engage in the risky behaviours of the “Fatal 5” and because they are
inexperienced at driving. However, while they are inexperienced, young people are good
change adopters and are accustomed to learning new things, which makes the P Plate
phase of the licensing system the perfect opportunity to instil habitual good driving behaviour
through an incentive program.
It’s a reality on our roads that as soon as a person receives their Provisional licence and are
able to drive unsupervised, they are more at risk of being involved in a casualty crash than
any other driver. Figure 1 on page 8 tells us that after the Learner period, drivers never return
to the same level of safety again. This led the Citizens’ Taskforce to conclude that more
needs to be done to protect our newly licensed drivers from road trauma.
Scientific research tells us that people’s brains continue to develop well into their 20s, and
over this time we develop higher order cognitive functions that allow us to plan ahead, weigh
risks and rewards, and make complicated decisions. This presents a problem when it comes
to young people and the driving task. Specifically related to driving, this gap in development
leads to several critical driving skill deficits, including:
Hazard perception, which is the ability to detect, perceive and assess the degree of risk
associated with traffic hazards
Attentional control, which is the ability to prioritise attention
Time sharing, which is the ability to share limited attention between multiple competing
driving tasks and
Calibration, which is the ability to moderate task demands according to one’s own
performance capabilities.
These skill deficits combined with a lack of driving experience worsens the impact of risky
behaviours that increase crash risk for all drivers, such as driving at night. In recognition of
these underdeveloped skills and the associated risks, the current graduated licensing system
in Queensland requires all learner drivers to drive while accompanied by a supervisor.
However, once a person has held their Learner licence and logged 100 hours of driving with
a fully licensed supervisor, they are able to apply for a Provisional licence, allowing them to
drive unsupervised on the road. The Citizens’ Taskforce believes that this lack of supervision
is one of the main reasons that newly licensed drivers are at such increased risk.
The Citizens’ Taskforce is of the view that the Provisional licence period is the time to target
and foster safe driving behaviours in order to achieve the maximum safety benefit for our
community. The primary reason for this is that developing good driving habits will stay with
you as you progress through the system, resulting in developing safe drivers from the outset.
To do this, the program should encourage and incentivise safe driving behaviours. During
deliberations the younger members of the Taskforce also highlighted that an incentive
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program could be a good opportunity to continue to train new drivers – “instead of telling
people they are wrong, teach them how to do it right”. To complement this incentive program,
the Taskforce also believes that ongoing awareness of the risks associated with young
drivers is necessary, including powerful advertising campaigns to demonstrate the
consequences of road trauma.
The Citizens’ Taskforce considered the ‘intervention’ points within the licensing system they
could target to make an impact on this high-risk group. Getting a Provisional Licence is a
major milestone for many young people – it often represents the ‘first day of freedom’. It is
also a very risky time, and young drivers need to be aware of the responsibility that comes
with that freedom. Because young drivers are often highly motivated to progress through the
licensing system, this presents an opportunity to link an incentive program to this
progression. To have the required impact on road trauma, the Citizens’ Taskforce believes
this needs to be a mandatory requirement to progress through the licensing system. The
Taskforce also highlighted there will be further road safety benefits from extending the
incentive program to all other drivers as a voluntary option.
Upon recognising that having a licence is a privilege and that driving is an individual’s
responsibility, the Citizens’ Taskforce decided that the primary incentive for new drivers
should be to successfully progress through the licensing system from Learner, the two stage
Provisional periods through to an Open Licence.
Taskforce members explored the idea of incentivising progress within the licensing system,
using a combination “carrot and stick” approach – incentivising good driving by making it a
requirement in order to progress to the next licence phase in the system (the reward), and
restricting progress when poor driving behaviour has been displayed. Progress could also be
delayed if a person accumulates demerit points.
The idea came from drawing on the power of peer pressure and the desire to progress to the
same stage of licensing as friends. For example, one participant said, “If when I’m 20 and still
on my red Ps and all my mates are on their Opens it’s going to be embarrassing”.
It was also raised that if P Platers offend within the first six months of receiving their P1
licence they are proving that they are not ready to drive solo and must be penalised and
potentially retested to prove ability again (this should be at their own cost).
Recommendation 3 – The Taskforce believes there are two elements that must be
considered:
a) the development of a lifelong learning program for road safety that is integrated and
coordinated across the curriculum in Queensland schools to help instil a road safety
culture within the community.
b) the use of in-vehicle monitoring technology that provides driving behaviour feedback to
facilitate the learning process in order to achieve a pre-determined standard allowing
progression through the licensing system.
Lifelong learning
The Citizens’ Taskforce has a firm view that there needs to be a cultural shift in our
community to have an impact on road trauma in Queensland. They believe for this to
happen, safe road use needs to be entrenched in our way of thinking from a very early age
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and that is will only be achieved through education. There are many opportunities for road
safety principles to be reinforced throughout a person’s life. Education starts from an early
age with parents as role models, and children pick up habits quickly, often reminding parents
about ‘two hands on the wheel’ or wearing seatbelts.
To strengthen this learning process, road safety should be integrated in the school curriculum
as a compulsory education module. Schools dedicate time to teach children swimming in
response to the number of drownings in the community, and, given that road trauma costs
the community so much in emotional trauma, medical costs and lost productivity, it is justified
that it is given some priority within the curriculum. Road safety should be a topic that is
addressed at multiple stages throughout the school year, introducing graduated road safety
concepts from Prep through to Year 12.
There was support for ‘life-long learning’ in road safety, 'from the cradle to the grave', or at
least from pre-Prep until people are on their open licence. Taskforce members talked about
the extent of road safety education at schools, and thought that this could be stronger and
more frequent. Campaigns such as Sun Smart and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation for
child safety were cited as effective examples of consistent and persistent messaging
achieving a cultural shift in the community.
This approach is aimed at forming good road safety attitudes and habits early in life because
the Citizens’ Taskforce believes “it is much easier to form good habits than change bad
ones”. To achieve this, formal road safety education should be integrated into the school
system from early learning (Kindergarten) through to grade 12. This should be either as part
of Health and Physical Education or as a distinct class and should be delivered on a regular
basis. The Citizens’ Taskforce felt as though education should be started as early as possible
to capitalise on this critical time for learning and reinforced through all stages of
development.
The Citizens’ Taskforce identified that there should be different focus areas for different age
groups, with concepts graduating in difficulty each year. For example:
Prep / Kindy – crossing the road
Junior school grades – road rules and bike and pedestrian
Grade 8 – education is around road hazards
Grade 9 – Re-enactment programs e.g. Docudrama
Grade 10 – road rules
Grade 11 – hazards
Grade 12 – resilience training / peer pressure
Other considerations
Involve stakeholders in the local community (parents through P&Cs and P&Fs, RACQ
and other local clubs). An example of this could be an expansion of the Adopt-a-Cop
program to educate students
An app that caters both to early learning and progresses with a person through to driving
stage
Consider programs where people related personal experiences with road trauma
Simulation of road hazards for Learner drivers
Dramatised reenactments of crashes (like Docudrama)
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
According to Queensland’s road crash data, the learner licence phase is the safest time to be
a driver on the roads. In stark contrast to this, drivers are most at risk of being involved in a
fatal or injury crash when they are first licensed to drive unsupervised. Through this
recommendation, the Citizens’ Taskforce is aiming to extend the safety benefits of the
Learner Phase into the Provisional Phase by “bridging the gap” to lessen the impact of no
longer having a supervisor present in the car. To do this, an in-vehicle device should be used
to monitor the driving behaviour of P Plate drivers and provide feedback and ongoing support
to assist new drivers in learning safe driving behaviours and develop good on road habits. A
required standard will need to be met before progression from the first provisional phase
(Red P) to the second provisional phase (Green P).
Driving behaviour could be assessed through the compulsory use of behaviour monitoring
technology that gives real time feedback and coaching to the driver and plays the role of the
“supervisor”. The Citizen’s Taskforce came up with a potential program they labelled “Drive
Buddy.” Drive Buddy was seen as a program that could be introduced at the pre-learner
stage and continue to assist drivers in the following ways:
Pre-learner: teaches concepts necessary to pass the learner licence test
Learner Licence Phase: replaces log book – monitors hours and provides driver
behaviour feedback to the driver and their supervisor
Red Provisional Phase: certain amount of hours completed at a particular ‘success rate’
over a 12 month period. Mandatory to use Drive Buddy when driving and maintain set
standard of successful driving (e.g. over 85%). Feedback from an in-vehicle device could
be seen as supervising, designed to provide ongoing support through the most risky time
of on road driving
Green Provisional Phase: should remain two years – optional for Green P platers to use
“Drive Buddy” however, a one hour monitored drive test must be passed to progress to
an Open licence
Open licence: Drive Buddy Game optional for Open drivers to use and gain prizes and
discounts from partners based on driving performance.
The Citizens’ Taskforce suggests that the incentive program outlined above could use these
types of motivational elements and be extended to the wider driving population to maximise
safety benefits. This initiative could have elements of gamification, allowing peer group
support and competition, the allocation of points, badges and leader boards which could link
to a catalogue of rewards. The ‘catalogue’ approach is necessary because different
individuals are motivated by different incentives. It was also suggested that incentives should
be delivered at incremental intervals (larger rewards incentivise individuals to continue with
incentive program).
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
That elements of competition and gamification are used to increase engagement, and
leverage opportunities for sponsorship by corporate partners to provide a ‘catalogue’ of
meaningful rewards (in addition to the reward of licence progression).
That the program should be introduced before the learner licence is issued so that users
become familiar with it, and it should be mandatory during the P1 licence phase.
That, during the 12 months of the P1 licence phase, a certain number of hours and a pre-
defined success rate is achieved to progress to a P2 licence.
That the use of the technology should be optional during the P2 licence phase and
afterwards on Open (with those people still eligible for the other rewards not connected to
licence progression).
The advantages and disadvantages of how it’s delivered (for example, by a mobile phone
application or some other device which might be necessary for people who don’t have
smart phones).
That the Police should not have access to the data to use for enforcement purposes.
The opportunities to use technology to replace the current learner licence test, logbook
and hazard perception test and to view it as an ongoing educational tool.
The phone data and battery requirements of any technology introduced.
The ability (and encouragement) for parents to access the data output and reward good
driving behaviour.
That the accumulation of demerit points delays the progression through the system.
The Citizens’ Taskforce acknowledged that there would be some resistance from the target
group in adopting this technology, however if the community is on-board and understands the
basis for the policy, and if it is pitched effectively, it would soon become accepted as the
norm, and would save lives.
The Citizens’ Taskforce came up with the catchy tagline: “Lose the parent, keep the Drive
Buddy”
The Citizens’ Taskforce believes that while many factors contribute to the number of road
fatalities, death is an unacceptable price for any person to pay for using our roads. Road
fatalities have a powerful and deeply personal impact on communities, and the Citizens’
Taskforce is unwilling to accept any target for the number of road deaths other than zero.
While this is an ambitious, long-term goal, the Citizens’ Taskforce stresses that the
Government needs to get on board with this concept and demonstrate its commitment to the
broader Queensland community. Only then can we see the shift in cultural attitude and
expectations needed to reach this goal.
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
During general discussions about road safety, a Taskforce member made the following
enquiry about road safety statistics, “Which was the best performing country, and what are
they doing that Queensland isn’t?” Sweden was cited as the best performing OECD nation
for traffic crashes (2013 data). In 1997 the Swedish government introduced Vision Zero, a
bold step at the time, that said only zero deaths is acceptable on their roads. Many of their
policy decisions have been positioned with this vision in mind (lowering speed limits, roads
built with safety prioritised over speed or convenience, 0.02 Blood/Breath Alcohol
Concentration and imprisonment for drinking and driving).
The Taskforce discussed this concept and, the current situation in Queensland. They noted
that the current Queensland Road Safety Strategy includes a vision of zero, but an interim
target by 2020 of 200 or fewer fatalities and reduction in hospitalised casualties to 4,669 or
fewer (both 30% reductions). The Taskforce thought that the only acceptable target is zero
deaths.
On a show of hands, participants unanimously agreed that Queensland should adopt a target
of zero. However, it was recognised that such a step required political will, which is reliant on
community support.
The Citizens’ Taskforce recognises that this is a statement of intent rather than an
expectation and that much needs to be done to achieve this target. They believe in order to
move closer to this ambitious goal, the Queensland community needs to look at the bigger
picture and consider everything that impacts the road toll. Thoughts include:
Consistent and powerful advertising challenging the acceptability of road trauma
Shifting cultural attitudes and expectations
A clear increase in visible policing
Driver assist technology, e.g. speed limiters, Tesla Autopilot put in cars
Incentivising car owners to have a vehicle service regularly
Annual vehicle inspections unless you can show by log book vehicle is in good order and
safe to be on the road.
The Citizens’ Taskforce is making this recommendation because, while the number of
fatalities has decreased over time, the number of hospitalisations has not changed and this
needs to be focussed on. The cost to the community through health care, disability services
and lost productivity alone is reason enough for the Government to make a reduction in
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
hospitalisation crashes a priority. Added to this, are the significant costs and stress to
individuals and families affected by road trauma, creating an extensive community issue that
further warrants the Government’s attention. It’s acknowledged that technology will play a
major role in making future driving safer, however every decision made by researchers and
policy makers in the immediate term needs to be framed in the context of this harm
minimisation approach.
The Citizens’ Taskforce acknowledged that the number of hospitalisations as a result of road
trauma adds significant costs to the hospital system. Their thoughts on reducing
hospitalisation crashes include:
Present facts and stats (including annual cost of hospitalisation and disability) through
consistent and powerful advertising
Increase community awareness that the number of hospitalisations each year have not
decreased
Defective cars need to be taken off the road
Annual inspections (to deal with defective cars)
Use driver assist technology to help prevent incidents, for example, Tesla Autopilot.
Make it mandatory for all vehicles or at least L Plates and P Plates
Incentives for doing the right thing can be recouped by heavier penalties for doing the
wrong thing. Hit ‘em high, hit ‘em low. Forget PeaBeu, hit their pocket!
The Taskforce discussed the acceptance and ethics of drinking and driving. There was a
view that drinking and driving should be completely separated – that once someone has a
drink, their ability to decide if they are 'under the limit' (of 0.05 Blood/Breath Alcohol
Concentration – BAC) is impaired. The point was made that this was an issue where the
broader social context was important – the consumption of alcohol is a significant social and
health issue. For some people, alcohol addiction is the issue and drink driving is the result.
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
The Taskforce reached unanimous agreement about the conversation, but there was split
agreement about where the Taskforce sits in that conversation. Taskforce members’ opinions
on the topic of lowering the general alcohol limit to 0.00 was divided. Out of the 25 members
of the Taskforce, 14 supported lowering the BAC limit to 0.00 and this type of split was
thought to be representative of the community at large. All members of the Taskforce agreed
that the debate is complex and there are always unintended consequences when these
policy decisions are made. Many different issues will need to be addressed as part of the
community discussion.
However, there was also discussion about how realistic a zero BAC would be and the
community trade-offs associated with it. At the heart of the debate, is that it’s a matter of the
community accepting what’s workable versus what level of risk we are prepared to accept.
0.05 is the current answer in that debate in Queensland. It doesn’t mean it’s the safest
answer, it doesn’t mean it’s the most profitable answer, and we acknowledge that there are
multiple tensions in that argument. But it’s the community that will ultimately decide what
level we are willing to adopt.
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Citizens’ Taskforce
Incentives to improve road safety
Given these varying views, the Taskforce felt that this was an issue that should be debated
more broadly and the community view tested.
Conclusion
The Citizens’ Taskforce would like to thank the Minister for Road Safety for the opportunity to
consider the issue of incentives to encourage safe driving and look forward to seeing a
response to the recommendations contained in this report in due course.
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