Michael Regan
Overview
Michael (Mike) Regan is an Emeritus Professor with the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), in Sydney, Australia. He is a well-known and distinguished member of the international Human Factors and road safety research communities, and was the 25th President of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia.
Prior to being appointed Emeritus Professor, in December 2020, Mike was Professor of Human Factors with rCITI. Prior to that, he was Chief Scientist-Human Factors for the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB); and before that a Professor in the Transport and Road Safety Research Centre (TARS) at UNSW. He held earlier appointments with the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Boston (Visiting Scholar), The French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS), in France (Research Director), The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC; Senior Research Fellow), VicRoads (Manager - Road User Behaviour), and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO; Research Scientist).
Mike has Bachelor of Science (Hons) and PhD degrees in Psychology and Human Factors from the Australian National University and more than 20 years’ experience in transportation Human Factors and safety – as a researcher, research manager, and policy maker. He has designed and led more than 200 research projects in transport safety - spanning motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, trains and aircraft – on various topics: driver distraction and inattention; driver interaction with intelligent transport systems; driver and pilot selection and training; human error in road and aviation crash causation; vehicle and roadway human-machine interface design; and driver licensing
Mike is the author/co-author of around 250 published documents, including around 190 peer-reviewed publications and three books, and sits on the Editorial Boards of four peer-reviewed journals, including Human Factors and the Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety.
The following are some of his research achievements and contributions.
Publications:
Mike is the author/co-author of 340 research reports, articles and papers; 250 of these are published documents, and 187 are peer-reviewed. These include: 4 books (1 in preparation); 32 peer-reviewed journal articles; 35 book chapters; 7 edited proceedings; 57 peer-reviewed conference papers; 31 Australian Road Research Board research reports; 18 Monash University Accident Research Centre research series reports; 12 research reports published under cover of research clients; 4 UNSW TARS client reports; 55 Monash University Accident Research Centre client reports; 11 European Commission research reports; 17 non peer-reviewed journal articles; 57 nonpeer-reviewed conference papers; and 2 unpublished theses.
Research support income:
Mike’s career research earnings total around $18 million. They include: 4 ARC grants (Linkage LP0348431, LIEF LE130100050, Linkage LP130100270, Linkage LP16010102); 3 Category A-equivalent grants from the European Commission he helped to secure whilst working with INRETS (now IFFSTAR) in France, and funding from commercial contracts.
Editorial Boards (Peer-reviewed Journals; current):
- Human Factors (January 2009 – present)
- Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety (2005 – present)
- IET Intelligent Transport Systems (October 2006 – present)
- Ergonomics Australia (January 2011 - present).
Expert Committees: (current)
- Member – National Transport Commission National Driver Distraction Working Group
- Member – Advisory Board for UK “Gateway” automated vehicle project
- Member EU-US-Japan Trilateral Expert Group on Human Factors in Automation
- Member, US Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee AND 10 (Vehicle User Characteristics)
- Expert Advisor - Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group Sub-Committee on Driver Distraction
- International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Technical Committee 22, Sub-Committee 13 (“Ergonomics as Applicable to Road Vehicles”)
Student Supervision:
- Has supervised/co-supervised to success six PhD students and one honours student. Currently supervises 1 MPhil student at UNSW.
Thesis examination: Has examined numerous PhD and three Masters theses
Conference Organisation:
- Co- creator, Co-Convenor and Co-Chair, Scientific Committee, of the biannual International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention series held in Gothenburg, Sweden (2009, 2011, 2013), Sydney (2015) Paris (2017) and Gothenburg (2018). Attracts around 150 participants from 20 + countries). World’s premiere conference on this topic. Brings together researchers and policy makers to set the international agenda for research and countermeasure development.
- Has served on Organising and Scientific Committees for at least 15 other international conferences.
Expert advice:
Has been called on to provide information and expert advice to State, Federal and international Government road safety-related agencies, to Parliamentary road safety inquiries, to the automotive industry, to lobby groups, to peak professional bodies, to the Victorian State Coroner, and to the Land Environment Court of NSW. Recent examples include:
- National Transport Commission - National Driver Distraction Working Group; expert advice on managing driver distraction (2018)
- Review of the National Road Safety Strategy (2011-2020) and Action Plan (2015-2017) – expert advice on management of driver distraction – 2018
- Review of VicRoads’ roadside advertising policy – expert advice on safety issues – 2018
- National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) – expert advice on safer mobile phone use - 2017
- NSW Land and Environment Court – expert witness testimony on distraction from roadside advertising – 2015; 2017
- Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group – expert advice on framing of new regulations for managing mobile phone distraction - 2017
- Parliament of NSW StaySafe Inquiry into Automated Vehicles – 2016 – expert advice on human factors issues
Invited keynote and speaker addresses:
Has given around 200 invited speaker addresses, in Australia and overseas, 15 of them keynote addresses. He has given the following since January 2017:
- Human Factors Issues in the Design and Deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles. Transport for NSW Assets Standards Authority Workshop on Human Factors, Sydney, 29 February 2018
- Driver Distraction and Outdoor Advertising: What Does the Research Tells Us? VicRoads Advertising Policy Working Group workshop , Melbourne, 5 December 2017
- Distracted drivers and vehicles. Forum on the Impact of Vehicle Technologies and Automation on Users. Salt Lake City, Utah, 7-8 November 2017
- Human Factors and Automated Vehicles. Human Factors and Ergonomics of Australia Knowledge Through Sharing Seminar. Melbourne, Australia. 13 September, 2017
- Driver distraction: Theory, Effects and Mitigation. Human Factors and Ergonomics of Australia Knowledge Through Sharing Seminar. Melbourne, Australia. 13 September, 2017
- Australian Public Opinion about Automated Vehicles: Some findings from the first ADVI National Survey. Future Vehicles World Conference. Sydney, Australia, 2-4 May, 2017
- Driver Distraction: Some Reflections on a Path to Understanding. 5th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention. Paris, France. 22 March, 2017 (Keynote address)
Honours (personal):
• Visiting Scholar – Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety - Boston, USA July – Nov 2016
• President - Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia: 2012-2014
• Adjunct Professor for Vehicle Safety - Department of Applied Mechanics at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden - 2008 -2011
• Ron Cumming Memorial Medal –Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia
• Peter Vulcan Award – Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference - 2005
Media Interviews:
- Mike has given around 15 television interviews, 40 radio interviews and 15 print media interviews in last 10 years
