"Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a very real pleasure to have the honor of presenting the Dr. Charles H. Miller Award for the best paper presented at this conference.

As many of you know, Charlie was the Chair of the very first Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference held almost 30 years ago in Halifax.

A quick review of the proceedings over the years is, I think, quite revealing. For example papers in the early conferences would typically have one or two authors who would be working in relative isolation from other vehicle safety researchers. Today's papers often have multiple authors showing the development of collaborative research efforts fostered by get-togethers such as we are participating in today.

You are all probably familiar with the vehicle collision research matrix of vehicle, environment and driver along with before, during and after the crash. These elements have not changed. What has changed is the research focus. The clear focus at the outset was to improve the crashworthiness of the vehicle giving us the significantly safer vehicles we all now drive. The focus today has now shifted to the driver. A shift, if you will, from the physical sciences to the behavioral sciences.

The paper chosen as the best paper presented at this conference is an excellent example of this development or research evolution. The winning paper is titled "Effects of age and cognitive workload on lane choice and lane changing behavior" and the authors are Martin Lavallière, Birsen Donmez, Bryan Reimer, Bruce Mehler, Kameron Klauber, Jarrod Orszulak, Joseph F. Coughlinand Normand Teasdale.

Would the presenter please come forward to receive the 2010 Dr. Charles H. Miller Award?"

Bob Baird
Niagara Falls, ON
June 11, 2010

Bob Baird (L) and Martin Lavallière (R)