Dr Frank Chien Hsun Lai

Colleagues will be very sorry to hear of the death of Dr Frank Lai, who was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS).

Frank first came to the Institute and University in 1996 as a student on Leeds' world-renowned MSc programme in Transport Planning and Engineering. He stayed on at the Institute to undertake doctoral studies in the area of road user behaviour under the supervision of Professor Oliver Carsten. Following the award of his PhD in 1999, Frank was appointed to the academic staff of the Institute. There began an 18-year career at the Institute, which has sadly been cut short after Frank lost a courageous battle against cancer.

Frank's philosophy was to be a 'research-focused individual dedicated to enhancing understanding of transport challenges, improving research techniques, facilitating knowledge transfer and promoting life-long learning'. His research sought to further understanding of road user behaviour, through projects funded by the UK government, the European Commission, and the UK research councils. This work encompassed interests in intelligent transport systems (ITS), traffic management, road accident causation, and future mobility. Frank's projects typically involved the deployment of both quantitative and qualitative research methods, to inform the design of transport infrastructure and/or technology interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions.

Alongside his research, Frank was a hugely committed and effective teacher, playing a leading role across the Institute's postgraduate and undergraduate portfolio. Frank managed and taught on three Masters modules (Transport Data Collection and Analysis, Traffic Management, and Safety of Road Transport) as well as an undergraduate module (Transport, Mobility and Safety). He also supervised Masters dissertations and PhD theses across a range of fields, including road user behaviour, road engineering, transport planning and policy. Frank's popularity with students was obvious to his academic colleagues - since he always went the extra mile for his students both academically and pastorally.

Last but not least, Frank added particular impetus to ITS's internalisation agenda, by acting as the Institute's International Student Advisor, and playing an instrumental role in establishing substantive links with institutions in Taiwan and China (especially the South West Jiaotong Joint School). Typically two-thirds of ITS's 100-strong annual postgraduate cohort are international, and Frank's passing will, therefore, bring much sadness to our alumni spread across all corners of the world.

The staff of the Institute will remember Frank as a hugely talented and committed colleague, as well as being a lovely person. Frank's legacy will be carried forward into the future as we celebrate his life through the newly-established 'Frank Lai Student Award for Impact or Innovation through a Masters Dissertation', which will be presented for the first time at this year's Graduation celebration.

Frank is survived by his wife Karen and daughter Leanne. A private family funeral was held on Monday 4th December, on which date the University flag was lowered as a mark of respect.

Research Projects

The effect of new technologies on speed distributions, funded by EPSRC, 1999-2001.
Effectiveness of the National Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS), funded by Department for Transport, 2001 - 2005.
Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), funded by Department for Transport, 2001 - 2006.
Human Machine Interface and the Safety of Traffic in Europe (HASTE), funded by European Commission, 2002 - 2005.
Adaptive Integrated Driver-vehicle Interface (AIDE), funded by European Commission, 2004 - 2008.
Interaction between speed choice and road environment, funded by Department for Transport, 2006-2008.
Effects of Automated Systems on Safety (EASY), funded by EPSRC, 2007-2010.
Speed Limit Adherence and its effect on road safety and climate change, funded by Commission for Integrated Transport, 2007-2008.
Field Operational Test Support Action (FESTA), funded by European Commission, 2007-2008.
Field Operational Tests Networking and Implementation (FOT-NET), funded by European Commission, 2008-2010.
IT for Error Remediation and Trapping Emergencies (ITERATE), funded by European Commission, 2008-2011.
Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) for Lancashire, funded by the Department for Transport, 2009-2011.
ecoDriver (Supporting the driver in conserving energy and reducing emissions), funded by European Commission, 2011-2015.
Public Health Variable Message Signs, funded by Birmingham Primary Care Trust, 2012-2013.
UDRIVE (eUropean naturalistic Driving and Riding for Infrastructure & Vehicle safety and Environment), funded by European Commission, 2012-2017.
Scoping study on pedestrian safety, funded by First Group plc. 2014.
Evaluation of the National Speed Awareness Course, funded by the Department for Transport, 2015-2017.

Undergraduate modules

Transport, Mobility and Safety [TRAN2070]

Masters modules

Transport Data Collection and Analysis [TRAN5031M]
Traffic Management [TRAN5210M]
Safety of Road Transport [TRAN5761M]

Masters dissertation supervision

Past topics

The impact of roadside advertising upon driver distraction
What catches drivers’ attention?
Studying vehicle emissions in 20mph zones
Reducing speed limit for single carriageway roads: is there sufficient gain in safety?
Speed limit compliance and enforcement strategies
Speed management in 20mph zone
Effectiveness of 20 mph zones on road casualty reduction
Study of signalised intersections in the Kingdom of Bahrain
Immigrants and road safety campaign
What are the causes of increased levels of cycling?
Add-on functionality to portable sat nav systems: what do drivers want?
Mobile technologies and road safety
Young drivers and their involvement in road traffic accidents in Leicestershire
Deployment strategy of electric vehicles
Speed limit for motorways: a case study of increasing speed limits
Effectiveness of Variable Message Signs
Elderly's travel pattern and travel time
Evaluation of priority pedestrian crossings

Current topics

Pedestrian crossings design considerations
Vulnerable Road Users and Intelligent Transport Systems
Creditability of speed limits
Mobile devices and pedestrian road safety

PhD thesis supervision

Past topics

Evaluating the effectiveness of the National Driver Improvement Scheme
Investigating confidence through assessment and comparison of perceived and actual skills

Current topics

The effective use of ITS and other advanced communication technologies in reducing the transport impacts of disasters
Policing strategies for road safety improvement
Appropriate speeds: impact on road safety and environment
Traffic safety and risk perception

Future topic areas

I am interested in supervising the following topic areas.

Intelligent Transport Systems and Vulnerable Road Users
Future transport provision and mobility
Electric vehicles: uptake and long-term impacts
Road safety countermeasures for different road user groups
Immigrants and road safety
Mobile devices and road safety
Speed limits and appropriate speeds
Novice driver training, including pre-test and post-test training
Promoting walking and cycling: health benefits and risks
Traffic management techniques

Vulnerable Road Users and Intelligent Transport Systems

Papers

Merat N; Jamson A; Lai F; Daly M; Carsten O (2014) Transition to manual: Driver behaviour when resuming control from a highly automated vehicle, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 27, pp.274-282. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2014.09.005
Jamson AH; Merat N; Carsten OMJ; Lai FC (2013) Behavioural changes in drivers experiencing highly-automated vehicle control in varying traffic conditions, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 30, pp.116-125. doi: 10.1016/j.trc.2013.02.008
Carsten O; Lai FCH; Barnard Y; Jamson AH; Merat N (2012) Control task substitution in semiautomated driving: Does it matter what aspects are automated?, Human Factors, 54, pp.747-761. doi: 10.1177/0018720812460246
Merat N; Jamson AH; Lai FCH; Carsten O (2012) Highly automated driving, secondary task performance, and driver state, Human Factors, 54, pp.762-771. doi: 10.1177/0018720812442087
Lai F; Carsten O; Tate F (2012) How much benefit does Intelligent Speed Adaptation deliver? - An analysis of its potential contribution to safety and environment, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 48, pp.63-72. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.011
Lai F; Carsten O (2012) What benefit does Intelligent Speed Adaptation deliver? - A close examination of its effect on vehicle speeds, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 48, pp.4-9. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.01.002
Barnard Y; Carsten OMJ; Lai FCH (2012) From a theoretical model to a predictive simulation model of operator interaction with support systems: designing experiments to build the numerical simulation, Cognition, Technology and Work, pp.1-13. doi: 10.1007/s10111-012-0249-0
Lai F; Carsten O (2011) Intelligent speed adaptationthe next generation of traffic management tools, ICTE 2011 - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Transportation Engineering, pp.865-870. doi: 10.1061/41184(419)143
Merat N; Lai F; Jamson SL (2011) The comparative merits of expert observation, subjective and objective data in determining the effects of in-vehicle information systems on driving performance, Safety Science, 49, pp.172-177. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2010.07.005
Carslaw DC; Goodman PS; Lai FCH; Carsten OMJ (2010) Comprehensive analysis of the carbon impacts of vehicle intelligent speed control, Atmospheric Environment, 44, pp.2674-2680. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.04.046
Jamson S; Lai F; Jamson H (2010) Driving simulators for robust comparisons: A case study evaluating road safety engineering treatments, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 42, pp.961-971. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2009.04.014
Lai F; Hjälmdahl M; Chorlton K; Wiklund M (2010) The long-term effect of intelligent speed adaptation on driver behaviour, Applied Ergonomics, 41, pp.179-186. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2009.03.003
Lai F (2009) ISA presents a huge potential to deliver safety benefits, Traffic Engineering and Control, 50, pp.348-350.
Jamson AH; Lai FCH; Carsten OMJ (2008) Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 16, pp.471-484. doi: 10.1016/j.trc.2007.09.003

Book Chapters

Barnard YF; Carsten O; Lai F (2011) From Theoretical Model to Experimental Data: A Structured Approach to Design Experiments to Seed a Model of Vehicle Operation with New Systems, In: Carlo CP (Ed) Human Modelling in Assisted Transportation, Springer-Verlag New York Inc, pp.109-117.
Merat N; Jamson AH; Lai FCH; Carsten OMJ (2010) Automated driving, secondary task performance and situation awareness, In: de Waard D; Axelsson A; Berglund M; Peters B; Weikert C (Ed) Human Factors: A system view of human, technology and organisation, Shaker Publishing B.V., pp.41-53.
Lai FCH; Barnard Y (2010) Spotting sheep in Yorkshire: using eye-tracking for studying situation awareness in a driving simulator, In: de Waard D; Axelsson A; Berglund M; Peters B; Weikert C (Ed) Human Factors: A system view of human, technology and organisation, Shaker Publishing B.V., pp.249-261.

Internet Publications

Jamson AH; Lai FCH; Carsten OMJ (2008) Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system, . doi: 10.1016/j.trc.2007.09.003

Reports

Jamson S; Lai FCH; Jamson AH; Horrobin A; Carsten O (2008) Interaction between Speed Choice and Road Environment, .
Lai F; Chorlton K; Simpkin R; Fowkes M (2008) Results of Truck Trial, .
Carsten OMJ; Fowkes M; Lai F; Chorlton K; Jamson S; Tate FN; Simpkin R (2008) Intelligent speed adaptation: Final report, .
Conner MT; Lai FCH (2005) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Driver Improvement Scheme, .