The book considers how road users respond to various interventions intended to improve road safety. There are signs of growing rejection of traditional approaches involving engineering, education and enforcement and road users need to be motivated to act more safely. The contributing authors discuss the psychological processes that could explain the phenomenon of risk compensation. Experimental research is described as well as laboratory observed compensatory effects and practical countermeasures. Countermeasures that could lead to substantial reductions in the numbers of lives lost in industrial and traffic accidents and that are unlikely to be eroded by risk compensation are described. The reason why compensatory reaction should be considered before any legislation or technical safety measure is introduced is explained. It is emphasised that the nature and degree of any compensation should be part of the investigation whenever the effectiveness of countermeaures are evaluated. For abstracts of individual papers see C 28300 - C 28311 (IRRD 874737-874748).
Abstract