Abstract
During driving, the driver needs almost continuously visual information to be provided by the road and roadside. He needs this information for this route choice and route following, for this manoeuvring and for course keeping and speed control. The wider visual environment can have also less obvious effects on driver behaviour. In this article it is shown how drivers use the visual information provided by the perspective view of the road ahead in course keeping and speed control. Next, it is shown what kind of information has to be provided by traffic signs and how this can be done effectively. In the third section the more indirect influences of the wider (visual) environment on driving behaviour are discussed.