In the past decades, traffic density has increased considerably. As traffic density increases, distances between cars decrease and drivers have to deal with cars driving in front of them a larger proportion of time. Thus, distance keeping and adequate reactions to decelerations of cars driving ahead become increasingly important in high traffic density. However, despite the increase in the number of cars on the roads, the number of serious accidents have decreased. This illustrates the fact the drivers are able to adapt their behaviour to changing circumstances. Therefore, traffic safety research should focus not only on the study of drivers' skills, but above all on the adaptation of driving behaviour to traffic circumstances. This thesis concerns the adaptation of driving behaviour in distance keeping and the avoidance of rear-end collisions. (A)
Abstract