Course Title: Doctor of Philosophy in Management

Thesis Title: The Relationship between Thinking and Driving Styles and their Contribution to Young Driver Road Safety

Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Monica Kennedy, Prof. Deborah Blackman and Assoc. Prof. Dr Kathryn Moyle

Abstract

This research examined the relationships between young drivers’ thinking and driving styles, focusing on patient and careful driving. Certain thinking styles were found to be more conducive to safe driving than others, and this was different for young male and young female drivers. The findings support the idea of driver training tailored for males or females, incorporating training of the thinking styles that are related to (and predict) safe driving styles. This thesis presents the first positive definition of road safety, and posits that the constructs of thinking and driving style can both be classified as intellectual styles.

Lucienne Kleisen was granted a three year fulltime scholarship from the NRMA-ACT Road Safet Trust for her study on young drivers' thinking styles. Her PhD thesis ‘The relationship between thinking and driving styles and their contribution to young driver road safety’ is currently under examination. Her previous
qualifications include a Master of Linguistics (Tilburg University, The Netherlands) and a Diploma in
Teaching for Higher Education (Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands).