On Friday (4/19), the Industrial Engineering Study Program, Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI) held a lecture featuring a guest lecturer from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Dr. Richard Hanowski. He delivered a lecture titled “From Big Trucks to Small Motos: New Road Safety Research and Insights.” The lecture, a collaboration with the UI Ergonomics Center Laboratory, was held offline in the Nusantara Room, Department of Industrial Engineering, FTUI, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM WIB with participants from the Human Factors in Smart Transportation Systems course.
To start the lecture, Richard explained about the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) as the largest transportation research agency at Virginia Tech. VTTI is the number one transportation research agency based in the US in terms of contracts and grants received. Its research results have had an impact on transportation policies, both nationally and internationally.
During his lecture, Richard explained the three main factors causing traffic accidents in trucks. The first factor is human factors, including improper observation, speeding, lack of attention, improper evasive actions, and internal distractions. The next factor is the environment, including visibility impairments, slippery roads, temporary distractions, vehicle design issues, and obstacle control. The last factor is the vehicle, including brakes and tires.
“We know what causes accidents, but what can we do to prevent them? The good news is, there are now several known countermeasures, including technology that can address known human errors,” said Richard. The technology Richard referred to includes several tools developed at VTTI, including driver/onboard monitoring, fatigue detection monitoring, enhanced rear-signaling on trailers, blind-spot detection, and advanced driver assist systems.
FTUI Dean, Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, emphasized the importance of gaining insights from international collaborative partners to provide students with a deeper understanding of the research being developed. “Through this lecture, I hope that students can develop their traffic safety support tools to create safe and comfortable traffic in our country.”
Dr. Richard Hanowski is the Founder & CEO of Motorcycle Safety Solutions, LLC. He is also a senior research scientist and serves as the Director of the Transportation Safety Division, Transit, & Heavy Vehicles at VTTI. His experience includes human factors transportation with heavy & light vehicles, laboratory & field testing, simulation, advanced system development & testing, naturalistic driving, design guideline development, and human performance evaluation. His research has impacted national transportation policies including truck driver fatigue/hours of service and driver distractions/SMS. He has received several awards for his research including the L. Ray Buckendale Lecture Award from SAE International in 2011. Dr. Hanowski received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 2000 from Virginia Tech.
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Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia
