Road Safety
- Publication no: AP-G114-26
- ISBN: 978-1-923617-30-8
- Published: 2 March 2026
- PDF (free) Download
The purpose of this Guideline is to standardise the way in which driver distraction is defined, identified, and coded across Australia and New Zealand, as driver distraction is believed to be a significant contributing factor in crashes.
The Guideline provides recommendations for assessing the likelihood of driver distraction being a contributing factor to crashes and offers guidance for coding this likelihood into crash reporting systems.
It proposes a common definition of driver distraction that can be used to code crash and incident data across Australia and New Zealand. The definition was formulated following a review of national and international literature, as well as engagement with stakeholders, including those responsible for investigating crashes.
Based on the common definition, a Framework for Driver Distraction Data Collection was developed to enable police and crash investigators to effectively identify crash type, driver performance relating to activities critical for safe driving, and evidence of distraction. The Framework is designed to standardise crash investigation outputs, thus enhancing data collection processes and contributing to a clearer understanding of the role driver distraction plays in critical incidents.
The Guideline also offers some advice on improving education and training for police and crash investigators.
National Driver Distraction Roadmap
Austroads has published the following guidelines to help operationalise early actions, convene stakeholders and commission targeted guidance aligned to the National Driver Distraction Roadmap.
- Driver Distraction Roadmap Implementation Guide (Austroads 2024) — incorporates an implementation framework, a governance framework, and key elements of a forward work program.
- Guideline for Driver Distraction Data Collection (this Guideline) — establishes a national definition of driver distraction harmonises crash and infringement data collection so jurisdictions can more reliably identify and code distraction.
- Guideline for Human Factors Integration in Road Transport (Austroads 2026) — helps road transport stakeholders embed Human Factors Integration (HFI) into transport system design and operation.
- Guideline for Incorporating Human Factors in Human Machine Interface (Austroads 2026) — addresses in‑vehicle interface design so that essential functions can be operated safely and intuitively, with minimal visual and cognitive demand.
The guidance, tools and priorities developed under the Roadmap provide a foundation for others to adopt, extend and embed within their own policies, standards and operational practice.
Webinar:
Watch a recording of the webinar to learn more about this Guideline.
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Purpose
- 1.2 Need for operationalising driver distraction in crash investigation
- 1.3 Scope
- 1.4 Methodology
- 2. Understanding Driver Distraction
- 2.1 Defining driver distraction
- 2.2 Consequences of driver distraction
- 2.3 Types of driver distraction
- 2.4 Competing activities and sources of driver distraction
- 2.5 Methods of measuring driver distraction
- 2.5.1 Methods
- 2.5.2 Measures
- 2.6 Measuring driver distraction via crash investigation
- 2.7 Examples of determining distraction as a contributing factor
- 3. Operational Definition of Driver Distraction
- 4. Framework for Driver Distraction Data Collection
- 4.1 Introducing the Framework
- 4.1.1 Stakeholder requirements relating to the Framework
- 4.2 Step 1: Identify Crash type (Matrix 1)
- 4.3 Step 2: Identify failed safe driving activities (Matrix 1)
- 4.4 Step 3: Identify source of distraction (Matrix 2)
- 4.5 Step 4: Consider the likelihood of driver distraction being a causal factor in the crash (Matrix 3)
- 4.6 Matrix 1: Criticality matrix
- 4.7 Matrix 2: Expectancy matrix
- 4.8 Matrix 3: Likelihood matrix
- 4.9 Practical application of the Framework
- 4.9.1 Scenario 1
- 4.9.2 Scenario 2
- 4.9.3 Scenario 3
- 4.10 Automation of Framework
- 4.11 Coding parameters
- 4.12 Historical data collection
- 4.1 Introducing the Framework
- 5. Education and training of police/crash investigators
- 5.1 Current training
- 5.2 Challenges
- 5.2.1 Prosecutorial ‘burden of proof’
- 5.2.2 Unattended scenes
- 5.2.3 Over reliance on mobile phone usage
- 5.2.4 Allocation of resources
- 5.2.5 Investigatory bias
- 5.3 Approach to education
- 5.3.1 Crash type
- 5.3.2 Activities critical to safe driving
- 5.3.3 Evidence of distraction
- 5.4 Practical application
- 6. Conclusions
- References
Austroads’ literature review of hazard perception tests identifies what makes these tests effective, with a particular focus on novice drivers. It shows that the ability to anticipate and respond to hazards is a critical skill linked to safer driving and reduced crash risk.