The UR:BAN MV project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi focused specifically on the user of future vehicle assistance and information systems. In the case of advanced driver assistance systems for urban areas, the primary emphasis is safety in combination with efficiency and comfort. Research institutes and automotive industry have investigated human-vehicle interaction and behaviour of different traffic participants.This book gives a unique and comprehensive insight into the results. Driver assistance and information systems were optimized for use in urban settings. Furthermore, innovative test regimes for controllability testing and new evaluation techniques like networked simulators and virtual reality test-beds are described including statistical methodologies.

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.

Many books focus on individual differences and how those relate to traffic safety such as accident proneness, gender differences, age, alcohol, and the effects of drugs. Others focus on the safety effects regarding the vehicle such as airbags, anti-lock brakes, navigation systems, intelligent cruise control and other new gadgets coming to the vehicle. Even though these topics are undoubtedly important for traffic safety, this book takes a unique approach as it focuses solely on the road environment. Designing Safe Road Systems provides the background for those who want to know more about the effects of road design on driving behaviour. It uses a systems approach to allow a better understanding of why and in what circumstances drivers may commit errors. This understanding will ultimately lead to road systems that prevent (fatal) errors from occurring. The book contains an overview of the current models and theories about human performance and human behaviour in traffic that are relevant for all those involved in designing safe road systems. The central theme of this book is how design principles can reduce the probability of an error while driving. The authors demonstrate how knowledge of human factors helps a road authority to better understand how road users behave. They argue that in many cases the design of the environment can be further adjusted to human capabilities, and that safety should be considered a system property to be built into the road system.

In Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives, mobility experts Melissa and Chris Bruntlett chronicle their experience living in the Netherlands and the benefits that result from treating cars as visitors rather than owners of the road. They weave their personal story with research and interviews with experts and Delft locals to help readers share the experience of living in a city designed for people. Their insights will help decision makers and advocates to better understand and communicate the human impacts of low-car cities: lower anxiety and stress, increased independence, social autonomy, inclusion, and improved mental and physical wellbeing. Curbing Traffic provides relatable, emotional, and personal reasons why it matters and inspiration for exporting the low-car city.

Traffic psychology is a rapidly expanding and broad field within applied psychology with a considerable volume of research activities and a growing network of academic strands of enquiry. The discipline primarily focuses on the behaviour of road users and the psychological processes underlying these behaviours, looking at issues such as cognition, distraction, fatigue, personality and social aspects, often delivering practical applications and educational interventions. Traffic psychology has been the focus of research for almost as long as the motor car has been in existence and was first recognised as a discipline in 1990 when the International Association of Applied Psychology formed Division 13: Traffic and Transportation Psychology. The benefits of understanding traffic psychology are being increasingly recognised by a whole host of organisations keen to improve road safety or minimise health and safety risks when travelling in vehicles. The objective of this volume is to describe and discuss recent advances in the study of traffic psychology, with a major focus on how the field contributes to the understanding of at-risk road-user behaviour. The intended readerships include road-safety researchers from a variety of different academic backgrounds, senior practitioners in the field including regulatory authorities, the private and public sector personnel, and vehicle manufacturers concerned with improving road safety.

The face of the pedestrian safety crisis looks a lot like Ignacio Duarte-Rodriguez. The 77-year old grandfather was struck in a hit-and-run crash while trying to cross a high-speed, six-lane road without crosswalks near his son’s home in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one of the more than 6,000 people killed while walking in America in 2018. In the last ten years, there has been a 50 percent increase in pedestrian deaths. The tragedy of traffic violence has barely registered with the media and wider culture. Disproportionately the victims are like Duarte-Rodriguez—immigrants, the poor, and people of color. They have largely been blamed and forgotten. In Right of Way, journalist Angie Schmitt shows us that deaths like Duarte-Rodriguez’s are not unavoidable “accidents.” They don’t happen because of jaywalking or distracted walking. They are predictable, occurring in stark geographic patterns that tell a story about systemic inequality. These deaths are the forgotten faces of an increasingly urgent public-health crisis that we have the tools, but not the will, to solve. Schmitt examines the possible causes of the increase in pedestrian deaths as well as programs and movements that are beginning to respond to the epidemic. Her investigation unveils why pedestrians are dying—and she demands action. Right of Way is a call to reframe the problem, acknowledge the role of racism and classism in the public response to these deaths, and energize advocacy around road safety. Ultimately, Schmitt argues that we need improvements in infrastructure and changes to policy to save lives. Right of Way unveils a crisis that is rooted in both inequality and the undeterred reign of the automobile in our cities. It challenges us to imagine and demand safer and more equitable cities, where no one is expendable.

The integration of Human Factors in Land Use Planning and Urban Design (LUP & UD) is an exciting and emerging interdisciplinary field. This book offers practical guidance on a range of Human Factors methods that can be used to rigorously and reliably explore LUP & UD. It provides new ways to interpret urban space and detail context sensitive analysis for the interpretation and design of our surroundings. The methodologies outlined allow for the consideration of the technical aspects of the built environment with the necessary experience and human centered approaches to our urban and regional settings. This book describes 30 Human Factors methods for use in the LUP & UD context. While it explores theory, it also focuses on the question of what Human Factors methods are; their advantages and disadvantages; step-by-step guidance on how to carry them out; and case studies to guide the reader. Describes the practice and processes associated with urban and regional strategic planning Constructed so that students, practitioners, and researchers with an interest in one particular area of Human Factors can read the chapters independently from one another