THIS INVESTIGATION WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DRIVER AND VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS AND FREELY CHOSEN SPEEDS OF CARS ON A TWO LANE ROAD WITH LITTLE COMMERCIAL OR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. SPEED IS TAKEN AS A MEASURE OF A DRIVER'S WILLINGNESS TO EXPOSE HIMSELF TO RISK OF ACCIDENT, IN THE SAME WAY THAT SHORT FREEWAY HEADWAYS WERE INTERPRETED IN AN EARLIER STUDY. A TOTAL OF 6638 PASSENGER CAR SPEEDS WERE MEASURED BY RADAR WHILE EACH ONCOMING VEHICLE WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY PHOTOGRAPHED. DRIVER AND VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS WERE DERIVED FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHS, BOTH BY DIRECT OBSERVATION (VEHICLE TYPE, DRIVER SEX, PRESENCE OF FRONT SEAT PASSENGERS, SEAT BELT USE) AND FROM THE CAR LICENSE PLATE THROUGH THE USE OF STATE VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND DRIVER LICENSING FILES. THE STATE FILES PROVIDED THE CAR MASS AND MODEL YEAR AND THE OWNER (USUALLY DRIVER) AGE, SEX AND RECORDED ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS. HIGHER SPEEDS WERE OBSERVED FOR YOUNGER DRIVERS, DRIVERS WITH PRIOR ACCIDENTS AND CONVICTIONS, NEWER CARS, HEAVIER CARS AND CARS WITH NO PASSENGERS.(Author/publisher).
Abstract