The goal of the road user interactions research programme is a better understanding of the human factors of our road transport system: road user demographics, risk perceptions of road users, and the driving attitudes and reactions of various road user groups. Our analysis of the 1989 and 1999 New Zealand Household Travel Surveys distinguished several fundamental road user differences and identified consistent demographic trends over the past 10 years. The driver characteristics of gender, age, and area of residence (urban, secondary urban, and rural) are the demographic factors which most clearly differentiate distinct New Zealand road user groups in terms of their amount of driving. The second half of this report explored the patterns of risk perception and driving behaviour of a representative sample of road users in Hamilton, Auckland, Gisborne, New Plymouth, and Palmerston North from March through December of 2001. (Author/publisher)
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