A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ON TRAFFIC FLOW BEHAVIOR. FINAL REPORT

RESULTS OF A STUDY ON THE REACTIONS OF TRAFFIC FLOW TO POLICE VEHICLE STIMULI ARE PRESENTED. BOTH MOVING AND STATIONARY STATE POLICE VEHICLES WERE USED IN THE EXAMINATION TO DETERMINE THEIR EFFECTS ON A VARIETY OF TRAFFIC FLOW MEASURES. SIX STATIONARY ENFORCEMENT VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS, REPRESENTING VARIOUS INTENSITIES OF POLICE ACTIVITY, WERE INCLUDED. A SPECIAL COMPUTER-SENSOR SYSTEM WAS USED TO COLLECT AND TO STORE TRAFFIC FLOW DATA. BOTH MEAN SPEED AND PERCENTAGE OF SPEED VIOLATORS WERE AFFECTED BY THE ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES. IN TERMS OF ABSOLUTE REDUCTIONS IN THESE MEASURES, THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS WERE MORE PRONOUNCED FOR THE MORE-THREATENING, THAN FOR THE LESS- THREATENING, STATIONARY VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No Fh-11-7476-71-1, 278 PP, FIGS, TABS, REFS
• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • JOSCELYN, K B
  • Bryan, T H
  • Goldenbaum, D M
• Publication Date: 1971-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Human characteristics; Police vehicles; Reaction time; Sensors; Speed; Speed control; Traffic flow
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver characteristics; Driver reaction; Violations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221590
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 17 1972 12:00AM