Despite being an accepted construct in traffic and transport psychology, the precise nature of behavioural adaptation, including its causes and consequences, has not yet been established within the road safety community. A comprehensive collection of recent literature, Behavioural Adaptation and Road Safety: Theory, Evidence, and Action explores behavioural adaptation in road users. It examines behavioural adaptation within the context of historical and theoretical perspectives, and puts forth tangible—and practical—solutions that can effectively address adverse behavioural adaptation to road safety interventions before it occurs. Edited by Christina Rudin-Brown and Samantha Jamson, with chapters authored by leading road safety experts in driver psychology and behaviour, the book introduces the concept of behavioural adaptation and details its more relevant issues. It reviews the definition of behavioural adaptation that was put forward by the OECD in 1990 and then puts this definition through its paces, identifying where it may be lacking and how it might be improved. This sets the context for the remaining chapters which take the OECD definition as their starting points. The book discusses the various theories and models of behavioural adaptation and more general theories of driver behaviour developed during the last half century. It provides examples of the "evidence" for behavioural adaptation—instances in which behavioural adaptation arose as a consequence of the introduction of safety countermeasures. The book then focuses on the internal, "human" element and considers countermeasures that might be used to limit the development of behavioural adaptation in various road user groups. The book concludes with practical tools and methodologies to address behavioural adaptation in research and design, and to limit the potential negative effects before they happen. Supplying easy-to-understand, accessible solutions that can be implemented early on in a road safety intervention’s design or conception phase, the chapters represent the most extensive compilation of literature relating to behavioural adaptation and its consequences since the 1990 OECD report. The book brings together earlier theories of behavioural adaptation with more recent theories in the area and combines them with practical advice, methods, and tangible solutions that can minimise the potential negative impact of behavioural adaptation on road user safety and address it before it occurs. It is an essential component of any road safety library, and should be of particular relevance to researchers, practitioners, designers, and policymakers who are interested in maximizing safety while at the same time encouraging innovation and excellence in road transport-related design.

Contains summaries of the knowledge regarding the effects of 128 road safety measures. This title covers various areas of road safety including: traffic control; vehicle inspection; driver training; publicity campaigns; police enforcement; and, general policy instruments. It also covers topics such as post-accident care, and speed cameras.

This book presents a general overview of the various factors that contribute to modelling human behaviour in automotive environments. This long-awaited volume, written by world experts in the field, presents state-of-the-art research and case studies. It will be invaluable reading for professional practitioners graduate students, researchers and alike.

Traffic psychology is a rapidly expanding and broad field within applied psychology with a considerable volume of research activities and a growing network of academic strands of enquiry. The discipline primarily focuses on the behaviour of road users and the psychological processes underlying these behaviours, looking at issues such as cognition, distraction, fatigue, personality and social aspects, often delivering practical applications and educational interventions. Traffic psychology has been the focus of research for almost as long as the motor car has been in existence and was first recognised as a discipline in 1990 when the International Association of Applied Psychology formed Division 13: Traffic and Transportation Psychology. The benefits of understanding traffic psychology are being increasingly recognised by a whole host of organisations keen to improve road safety or minimise health and safety risks when travelling in vehicles. The objective of this volume is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of traffic psychology, with a major focus on how the field contributes to the understanding of at-risk road-user behaviour. The intended readerships include road-safety researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in the field including regulatory authorities, the private and public sector personnel, and vehicle manufacturers concerned with improving road safety.

Many books focus on individual differences and how those relate to traffic safety such as accident proneness, gender differences, age, alcohol, and the effects of drugs. Others focus on the safety effects regarding the vehicle such as airbags, anti-lock brakes, navigation systems, intelligent cruise control and other new gadgets coming to the vehicle. Even though these topics are undoubtedly important for traffic safety, this book takes a unique approach as it focuses solely on the road environment. Designing Safe Road Systems provides the background for those who want to know more about the effects of road design on driving behaviour. It uses a systems approach to allow a better understanding of why and in what circumstances drivers may commit errors. This understanding will ultimately lead to road systems that prevent (fatal) errors from occurring. The book contains an overview of the current models and theories about human performance and human behaviour in traffic that are relevant for all those involved in designing safe road systems. The central theme of this book is how design principles can reduce the probability of an error while driving. The authors demonstrate how knowledge of human factors helps a road authority to better understand how road users behave. They argue that in many cases the design of the environment can be further adjusted to human capabilities, and that safety should be considered a system property to be built into the road system.

The Handbook of Traffic Psychology covers all key areas of research in this field including theory, applications, methodology and analyses, variables that affect traffic, driver problem behaviors, and countermeasures to reduce risk on roadways. Comprehensive in scope, the methodology section includes case-control studies, self-report instruments and methods, field methods and naturalistic observational techniques, instrumented vehicles and in-car recording techniques, modeling and simulation methods, in vivo methods, clinical assessment, and crash datasets and analyses. Experienced researchers will better understand what methods are most useful for what kinds of studies and students can better understand the myriad of techniques used in this discipline. Focuses specifically on traffic, as opposed to transport Covers all key areas of research in traffic psychology including theory, applications, methodology and analyses, variables that affect traffic, driver problem behaviors, and countermeasures to reduce the risk of variables and behavior Contents include how to conduct traffic research and how to analyze data Contributors come from more than 10 countries, including US, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Turkey, France, Finland, Norway, Israel, and South Africa