Congratulations to Research Fellow Dr Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios who was presented with the inaugural 2019 ACRS Young Leaders Oration Award at last night’s ACRS Award Ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre. The award recognises Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios’s inspiring work and potential for future leadership in the field of road safety.
The award ceremony took place in front of 500 of Australasia’s foremost road safety professionals and advocates, and is deserved recognition of Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios’s growing national and international reputation in distracted driver research.
The award was presented by Mr Llew O’Brien, Federal Member for Wide Bay, QLD, along with Mr Martin Small, President of the Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS), during the 2019 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2019).
Mr O’Brien congratulated Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios for his contribution to research in the road safety field. “The work Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios is doing in this space is instrumental in helping to save lives on our roads” he said.
“There is no room for complacency when it comes to road safety” said Mr O’Brien. “We must push ahead with practical measures and infrastructure funding and research to drive road deaths towards zero.”
Mr Martin Small said “The countdown is on to reach zero by 2050 and to get there, our profession needs to nourish the capability we have, foster new talent, and reflect the society that we live in. The Young Leader Oration represents a commitment from the Australasian College of Road Safety to a stronger and more diverse road safety workforce. The work to date of Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios has won the respect of the College Fellows, and as the inaugural winner of the College’s Young Leader Oration Award he has a strong future ahead of him. I hope this award helps encourage a new wave of people entering road safety, and I’m looking forward to what Oscar has to say on the final day of the Conference.”
Dr Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety-Queensland (CARRS-Q). He has researched driver behaviour safety issues such as risky driving behavior in international research projects spanning more than 25 countries.
Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios specialises in the behavioural adaptation of road users (drivers, cyclists and pedestrians) to technological change in transport systems, including the mis-use of technology such as mobile phones and advanced driving-assistance systems (ADAS). “We are making driving easier”, he says. “We are freeing capacity for drivers to do other activities. These technologies are giving drivers the illusion of safety. As road safety practitioners, we always need to think ahead and consider the potential unintended consequences. We need to understand that technology alone will not increase road safety. We always need to consider the humans in the system.”
Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios is among the 100 most published authors worldwide in the area of driver behaviour and cognitive ergonomics, and ranked 7th worldwide based on his impact on the field. He regularly publishes in major international journals and his research is widely reported in Australian and international media, including the ABC, the Independent, Men’s Health Magazine, and the Washington Post.
For his win, Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios receives a plaque and the opportunity to present a 10-minute oration on any subject during a plenary session at the 2019 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2019). The ACRS and members of the road safety community across Australasia congratulate Dr Oviedo-Trespalacios on his outstanding contributions and his 2019 ACRS Young Leaders Oration Award win.
About the ACRS Young Leaders Oration Award
2019 is the first year that ACRS has offered the Young Leaders Oration Award. Nominations are sought from road safety professionals throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Nominees must be 40 years or younger, must demonstrate active involvement in road safety, must show the potential for future leadership, and must be performing inspiring work. Winners receive a prestigious ACRS plaque in recognition of their work, plus the opportunity to make a presentation of their choosing to hundreds of professionals in the road safety field.