Driving Research
About the Driving Research Group
The Department of Systems Engineering and Human Factors has a renowned international reputation for its expertise, research and consultancy in safety critical industries. For over three decades, the department has conducted research and provided solutions to industry in the field of human factors in all areas of transport safety including human/machine interface design, safety information and evacuation, management and selection, and pilot, driver and passenger behaviour and performance. The department also has a worldwide reputation for its teaching in complex, high value and safety critical industries and runs the world’s first MSc in Driver Behaviour since 2008 and the MSc in Human Factors and Safety Assessment in Aeronautics.
The department sits within the School of Engineering and employs sixteen full time academic staff specialising in Behavioural Psychology, Ergonomics and Systems Engineering. The department includes eight research staff, five Lecturers and Senior Lecturers and three Professors and Readers. We undertake work involving projects with organisations that need to ensure the highest level of safety amongst their workforce.
The Driving Research Group (DRG) draws from this expertise with an additional three dedicated staff headed by Dr Lisa Dorn who is currently President-Elect of the International Association of Applied Psychologists: Traffic and Transportation Psychology Division. In 2003 the DRG established the International Conference in Driver Behaviour and Training and the fifth event will be hosted in Paris in 2011 attracting a high calibre of speakers from many academic institutions and road safety groups across the world. In 2009 the DRG won the prestigious KTP Award for Best Application of Management or Social Science.
The DRG is unique in its application of scientific research and knowledge to a wide variety of driver behaviour, education and training issues in the design and development of interventions for high-risk road users. The DRG has a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning over 22 years in conducting research in the field. We specialise in the assessment and measurement of psychological factors that influence driver behaviour. Particular DRG strengths are the design and development of effective interventions to reduce work related road risk to help fleet-based companies with their driver risk management strategies.
A key component of the DRG activities is the Cranfield trading company DriverMetrics set up to exploit the output from research in the development of psychometrically-based driver risk assessments, tailored to the needs of drivers at work. The Driver Risk Index™ is used to identify driver-coaching and training needs to mitigate risk identified. Research underpinning the development of the assessment began in 1985 and over 50 peer-reviewed academic papers have been published to validate its profiles. The Driver Risk Index™ has been translated into 15 languages and is in use in over 20 countries, particularly in Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South East Asia, and the Far East. Regional benchmarks have been established to ensure the accuracy of the assessment within for the different driving cultures globally. DriverMetrics is working with major multinationals and providing guidance for companies with a global presence.
