Road safety has been internationally recognized as a primary strategic goal in many societies and involves road user, vehicle and environment elements in a systematic manner. The element of road users represents all aspects of human factors, such as user age, gender, health condition, personality, alcohol use, distraction, driving experience, etc. The vehicle element includes vehicle type, size, weight, design, capability, technology, etc while the element of environment involves roadway factors (traffic volume, road type, pavement/terrain surface condition, signage, traffic control device, sight distance, number of lane, speed limit, traffic volume, etc) and natural environment factors (such as weather and lighting conditions). The complex interactions among these factors reflect the complex driving behaviours on the roads. Clearly, better driving behaviours will result in the better traffic safety. While traffic safety is measured by numbers of accidents, injuries, or damages, it is not as observable as driving behaviours. Therefore, the theme of this special issue of Open Transportation Journal emphasizes that improving traffic safety requires a better understanding of the driving behaviours on roads and the interaction between driver, vehicle, and environment. (Author/publisher)
Abstract