This study has been initiated by the Motorists’ Forum in response to an invitation from the Department for Transport for the Forum to consider how the Prime Minister’s ‘Respect’ initiative might be applied to road user behaviour, as a contribution to their review of road safety. There are still far too many deaths and injuries on the road to be tolerable in a civilised society. Human error is a contributory factor in a high proportion of collisions - probably about two-thirds. If we could find ways of persuading drivers to drive with more consideration for the safety of themselves and others - in others words with more ‘respect’ - there would be far fewer casualties; and driving would be a less stressful and more pleasant experience than it sometimes is now. How to influence driver behaviour is a challenge as old as the motor car itself. We have looked at the latest experience and research to see if we could identify new approaches to the problem. (Author/publisher)
Abstract