THE AUTOMOBILE DRIVER AS A VARIABLE IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM. FINAL REPORT

DRIVER BEHAVIOR IS ONE ASPECT OF A COMPLEX TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEM CALLED AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTATION. THE VARIABLES IN THE SYSTEM ARE DRIVERS, VEHICLES, HIGHWAY GEOMETRY AND MATERIALS, ALL OF THE ARTIFACTS ADDED TO HIGHWAYS TO ENHANCE DESIGN, THE RULES AND REGULATIONS WHICH GOVERN HIGHWAY USE BY DRIVEN VEHICLES AND THE MEANS OF ENFORCING THOSE RULES, VARIOUS CLASSES OF OFF-HIGHWAY ENVIRONMENTS, AND ASPECTS OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT STATES OF THE SYSTEM, SUCH AS TRAFFIC AND CULTURE PATTERNS, ARE ALSO VARIABLES. THE PROBLEM IS THAT MOST VARIABLES IN THE SYSTEM ARE ANALYZED BY EXPERTS IN VARIABLE RELATED DISCIPLINES. RARELY DO THESE EXPERTS WORK TOGETHER. SO CARS, HIGHWAY, DRIVER TRAINING PROGRAMS, LAWS AND POLICIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE DESIGNED INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER. THIS IS NOT AN EFFICIENT DESIGN PROCESS, PARTICULARLY IN THE CASE OF HIGHWAYS WHICH WILL BE USED FOR MANY YEARS WITHOUT BEING REDESIGNED. THE NATURE OF SOME OF THE PROBLEMS IS EXAMINED IN A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH VARIABLE. WE SUGGEST THAT A LOGICAL MAN-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM FRAMEWORK IN WHICH TO STRUCTURE AND ANALYZE THE BASIC RELATIONSHIPS WILL TAKE THE FORM: SYSTEM STATE OR SET OF SYSTEM STATES--RELATION--SYSTEM STATE OR SET OF SYSTEM STATES; WHERE A SYSTEM STATE IS COMPOSED OF SUBSETS OF THE SETS MAN, NATURE, ARTIFACTS, AND SYMBOLS (KNOWLEDGE, CONCEPTS) AND THE SET OF RELATIONS AMONG THESE VARIABLES. THE MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS OF THIS MODEL PROVIDE A RIGOROUS LANGUAGE FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF ALL SYSTEM STATES & THEIR RELATIONSHIPS, PROVIDE A LOGIC BY WHICH TO EXAMINE ALL POSSIBLE INTERACTIONS, AND PROVIDE THE TOOLS FOR BUILDING A LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEMS FUNCTIONS BASED ON EMPIRICAL DATA. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

  Department of Geography
  Albuquerque, NM  United States  87131
• Authors:
  • CAMPBELL, R D
  • Schlesinger, L E
  • Roark, A L
• Publication Date: 1971-3

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 17 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; Environment; Geometric design; Highways; Mathematical analysis; Regulations; Systems analysis; Transportation; Vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Transportation system analysis
• Subject Areas: Law; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General); Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223777
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 24 1972 12:00AM