The effect of road appearance on perceived safe travel speed : Interim report

A literature review was conducted which concentrated on identifying psychological theories and experimental evidence relevant to speed perception and road features that might affect drivers' judgements of speed limits and safe travel speed. This included information on the effect of task / cognitive load, utility, improved information on the posted speed, driver stress, perceptual illusions, enhancing perceived danger, adaptation effects, self-explaining roads, expectation effects and the effect of beautiful surroundings. The underlying hypothesised mechanisms for these effects were not always clear, and in many cases alternative mechanisms may be proposed which sometimes predicted different outcomes for the effect on driving speed. Women, particularly older women were likely to respond to the initiatives listed above whereas those drivers considered most likely to speed, such as young drivers, company car drivers and drivers on long journeys were least likely to respond. Potential design characteristics for use in sketches in discussion groups in later stages of the project were identified.

• Authors:
  • CHINN, L
  • ELLIOTT, M
  • BAUGHAN, C
  • EVANS, R
  • ODGERS, C
• Publication Date: 2002

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 97p
• Serial:
  • TRL STAFF PAPERS
  • Publisher: TRL

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Females; Highway design; Human beings; Perception; Psychology; Speed; Speed limits; State of the art reports; Traffic restraint
• Uncontrolled Terms: Decreases; Selection
• ITRD Terms: 2248: Decision process; 9009: Decrease; 2855: Highway design; 1787: Man; 2229: Perception; 2255: Psychology; 9072: Selection; 5408: Speed; 624: Speed limit; 8588: State of the art report; 633: Traffic restraint; 1788: Woman
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01014258
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Dec 22 2005 2:08PM