PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL FACTORS IN HIGHWAY CRASHES: OPTIONS FOR LOSS REDUCTION

HUMAN FACTORS ARE IMPORTANT IN INITIATING CRASHES AND IN DETERMINING THEIR OUTCOME. HOWEVER, IN MANY CASES INAPPROPRIATE ACTS ARE COMPLEX BEHAVIORAL PHENOMENA, RATHER THAN SIMPLY VOLUNTARY EVENTS AVOIDABLE THROUGH BETTER MOTIVATION. FURTHERMORE, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AS WELL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN INITIATING THESE EVENTS, AND ARE THE MAJOR DETERMINANT OF THE SEVERITY OF INJURY. BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME COST AND LIMITED LIKELIHOOD FOR SUCCESS IN MANY AREAS OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, THE FIRST LINES OF ATTACK MUST BE LESSENING OF DRIVING DEMANDS, MODERATION OF ENERGY TRANSFER, AND IMPROVEMENT OF RESCUE SERVICES. MODIFICATION OF BEHAVIOR IS AN IMPORTANT BUT SUPPLEMENTARY APPROACH. /HSL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept Sae-700197, 10 PP
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Waller, J A
• Publication Date: 1970-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Crash causes; Crash severity; Drivers; Energy absorbing materials; Environmental impacts; Human factors; Traffic crashes
• Old TRIS Terms: Energy absorbers
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223340
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 19 1970 12:00AM