title: The effect of age and experience on hazard perception and speed  choice in male drivers

authors: Crosswell, Rebekah Jane

subjects: hazard perception

abstract: There are many deaths on New Zealand roads each year, due to speeding related incidents. Teenage drivers (aged 15 to 24 years) are excessively represented in crash statistics. Young drivers seem to have poor hazard perception abilities compared to that of Older Experienced drivers, and may have problems choosing the appropriate speed for the road conditions.
While speeding is difficult to measure in real world situations, the use of a laboratory speed choice task in the current study allowed for speed choice to be studied in a controlled laboratory setting, in an objective way. The current experiment investigated hazard perception and speed choice in males (with higher crash statistics compared to females) using four groups, Young Novice, Advanced Novice, Young Experienced and Older Experienced drivers. Independent variables included age (ranging from 15 to 60 years), experience (Young Novice, Advanced Novice, Young Experienced and Older Experienced) and differing weather conditions (dry and wet) on rural roads and day and night conditions on urban roads. Participants were given a hazard perception dual task as per where they had a primary task of detecting immediate hazards, as well as performing a secondary task of keeping a small dot within a small square, stimulating the steering in real driving. For the Video Speed Choice Task (VST), participants were shown the video clips and asked “how fast do you think you were travelling?” And “what would be the ideal speed appropriate for the road conditions?” The results showed that younger drivers were more likely to select slower speeds, closer to the speed limit, whereas Older Experienced drivers chose greater speeds. Slower speeds were chosen during night-time conditions, and wet conditions. These unexpected results may be for a number of reasons, to be discussed in the following thesis. They will be examined in terms of the current literature on hazard perception, speed choice and driver safety in New Zealand and overseas. Implications of the current study and future research will also be discussed.

text: The effect of age and experience on hazard perception and speed  choice in male drivers There are many deaths on New Zealand roads each year, due to speeding related incidents. Teenage drivers (aged 15 to 24 years) are excessively represented in crash statistics. Young drivers seem to have poor hazard perception abilities compared to that of Older Experienced drivers, and may have problems choosing the appropriate speed for the road conditions.
While speeding is difficult to measure in real world situations, the use of a laboratory speed choice task in the current study allowed for speed choice to be studied in a controlled laboratory setting, in an objective way. The current experiment investigated hazard perception and speed choice in males (with higher crash statistics compared to females) using four groups, Young Novice, Advanced Novice, Young Experienced and Older Experienced drivers. Independent variables included age (ranging from 15 to 60 years), experience (Young Novice, Advanced Novice, Young Experienced and Older Experienced) and differing weather conditions (dry and wet) on rural roads and day and night conditions on urban roads. Participants were given a hazard perception dual task as per where they had a primary task of detecting immediate hazards, as well as performing a secondary task of keeping a small dot within a small square, stimulating the steering in real driving. For the Video Speed Choice Task (VST), participants were shown the video clips and asked “how fast do you think you were travelling?” And “what would be the ideal speed appropriate for the road conditions?” The results showed that younger drivers were more likely to select slower speeds, closer to the speed limit, whereas Older Experienced drivers chose greater speeds. Slower speeds were chosen during night-time conditions, and wet conditions. These unexpected results may be for a number of reasons, to be discussed in the following thesis. They will be examined in terms of the current literature on hazard perception, speed choice and driver safety in New Zealand and overseas. Implications of the current study and future research will also be discussed.

year: 2012

title: Preliminary estimates of mass-loss rates, changes in stable isotope composition, and invertebrate colonisation of evergreen and deciduous leaves in a Waikato, New Zealand, stream.

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

subjects: mass loss

abstract: Rates of mass loss are important in the choice of tree species used in riparian rehabilitation because leaves that break down fast should contribute to stream food-webs more rapidly than leaves that break down more slowly. To examine comparative mass-loss rates of some native evergreen and introduced deciduous trees in a New Zealand stream, fallen leaves were incubated in bags with 2 x 3 mm mesh openings. The native trees were mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii), rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), and the introduced trees were silver birch (Betula pendula) and alder (Alnus glutinosa). The leaf bags were left in the Mangaotama Stream for 28 days from mid April to mid May 1995 when mean water temperature was 14.5deg.C, giving a total of 406 degree days. Rates of mass loss followed the sequence: mahoe > silver birch > alder > kahikatea > silver beech > rewarewa > tawa. Mean mass-loss rate for mahoe, assuming a negative exponential model, was 0.0507 k day-1 (0.00350 k (degree day)-1), and for tawa was 0.0036 k day-1 (0.00025 k (degree day)-1). C:N ratio decreased on average from 45:1 to 35:1, and d15N increased between 0.7 and 3.0[[perthousand]] (1.8 +/- 0.41[[perthousand]], mean +/-1 standard error), excluding kahikatea. Changes in d13C were smaller and not consistent in direction. Biomass of invertebrates was greatest in bags that had lost 25-45% of their initial leaf biomass.

text: Preliminary estimates of mass-loss rates, changes in stable isotope composition, and invertebrate colonisation of evergreen and deciduous leaves in a Waikato, New Zealand, stream. Rates of mass loss are important in the choice of tree species used in riparian rehabilitation because leaves that break down fast should contribute to stream food-webs more rapidly than leaves that break down more slowly. To examine comparative mass-loss rates of some native evergreen and introduced deciduous trees in a New Zealand stream, fallen leaves were incubated in bags with 2 x 3 mm mesh openings. The native trees were mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii), rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), and the introduced trees were silver birch (Betula pendula) and alder (Alnus glutinosa). The leaf bags were left in the Mangaotama Stream for 28 days from mid April to mid May 1995 when mean water temperature was 14.5deg.C, giving a total of 406 degree days. Rates of mass loss followed the sequence: mahoe > silver birch > alder > kahikatea > silver beech > rewarewa > tawa. Mean mass-loss rate for mahoe, assuming a negative exponential model, was 0.0507 k day-1 (0.00350 k (degree day)-1), and for tawa was 0.0036 k day-1 (0.00025 k (degree day)-1). C:N ratio decreased on average from 45:1 to 35:1, and d15N increased between 0.7 and 3.0[[perthousand]] (1.8 +/- 0.41[[perthousand]], mean +/-1 standard error), excluding kahikatea. Changes in d13C were smaller and not consistent in direction. Biomass of invertebrates was greatest in bags that had lost 25-45% of their initial leaf biomass.

year: 1999-06-01

title: Ka ora | Ka mate

authors: Apiata, Hāwea

abstract: Ekphrasis in response to the artwork 'Matariki' by Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa). Written for the One Hundred Years exhibition held at RAMP Gallery, in celebration of the establishment of the first iteration of the technical college a century earlier in 1924. Alumni of the art program were invited to contribute works to the show and local writers were asked to respond to the art, with their works being published in the exhibition catalogue.

text: Ka ora | Ka mate Ekphrasis in response to the artwork 'Matariki' by Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa). Written for the One Hundred Years exhibition held at RAMP Gallery, in celebration of the establishment of the first iteration of the technical college a century earlier in 1924. Alumni of the art program were invited to contribute works to the show and local writers were asked to respond to the art, with their works being published in the exhibition catalogue.

year: 2024-02-29