NCHRP report 600 explores human factors principles and findings for consideration by highway designers and traffic engineers. The report is designed to help the nonexpert in human factors to consider more effectively the roadway user's capabilities and limitations in the design and operation of highway facilities.

An easy-to-use, in-depth manual, Human Factors Methods for Design supplies the how-tos for approaching and analyzing design problems and provides guidance for their solution. It draws together the basics of human behavior and physiology to provide a context for readers who are new to the field. The author brings in problem analysis, including test and evaluation methods and simple experimentation and recognizes the importance of cost-effectiveness. Finally, he emphasizes the need for good communication to get the new product understood and accepted. The author draws from his corporate experience as a research and development manager and his consulting practice in human factors and design.

"This book's title has two parts, "Roadway Human Factors" and "From Science To Application." The first describes its major goal: to analyze driver behavior, especially the causes and avoidance of collisions. In most general terms, the goal is largely to answer a single question: "Why didn't the driver respond sooner?" The cause of most collisions lies in the answer. The book's perspective is psychological. It views roadway events through the eyes of the driver. This contrasts with the third-party god's eye view that appears in accident reconstruction diagrams and other analyses which are primarily based in physics and cookbook science. Physics cannot be ignored, but roadway events can only be explained by examining driver psychology. Drivers act based on their perceived reality which differs from the physical reality of the accident reconstruction diagram. The second part announces its method: the application of scientific research. Specifically, the science in question is experimental psychology. Much of this book reads like an introductory text on experimental psychology, albeit with a distinctly applied slant. This is necessary. There are frequent misunderstandings about the definition of human factors. It is best described as a branch of experimental psychology. Human factors applies experimental psychology data to guide the design of objects and environments so that they that fit human abilities and are easy and safe to use. This book's underlying thesis is that knowledge of the science is a necessary but not sufficient condition for understanding roadway human factors. The key word in the title is "From" because there is a catch-22. Controlled research has inherent characteristics which differ from real-world conditions. Scientific research is generally conducted in highly simplified and artificial situations with unrepresentative subjects and drivers. Scientific research data cannot then be directly applied to the real-world. The step from science to application is far greater than many imagine, probably because there are so few who are well versed in both. The book also introduces areas of science that are unfamiliar to most who investigate collisions. "Ecological optics" is a discipline of perceptual psychology that is key in understanding vehicle guidance and collision avoidance. "Visual psychophysics" is the psychological science that underlies visibility and all other sensory judgments. "Operant learning" is the psychological science of adaptability and behavior change based on the consequences of action. The book also introduces more specific concepts that are important but seldom figured into collision analysis. These include notions such as affordances and action boundaries, system tolerances, crowding, and response conflicts"--

Introducing readers to the behavior of drivers, this title covers a wide variety of perspectives on human factors, ranging from the design of roads, vehicles, and traffic control devices to emotional and motivational determinants of driver behavior. This new edition has been extensively revised and contains new chapters on driver education and driver distraction.

This book provides an overview of, and practical guidance on, the range of human factors (HF) methods that can be used for the purposes of accident analysis and investigation in complex sociotechnical systems. Human Factors Methods and Accident Analysis begins with an overview of different accident causation models and an introduction to the concepts of accident analysis and investigation. It then presents a discussion focussing on the importance of, and difficulties associated with, collecting appropriate data for accident analysis purposes. Following this, a range of HF-based accident analysis methods are described, as well as step-by-step guidance on how to apply them. To demonstrate how the different methods are applied, and what the outputs are, the book presents a series of case study applications across a range of safety critical domains. It concludes with a chapter focussing on the data challenges faced when collecting, coding and analysing accident data, along with future directions in the area. Human Factors Methods and Accident Analysis is the first book to offer a practical guide for investigators, practitioners and researchers wishing to apply accident analysis methods. It is also unique in presenting a series of novel applications of accident analysis methods, including HF methods not previously used for these purposes (e.g. EAST, critical path analysis), as well as applications of methods in new domains.