Human skill is doubtless the weakest component in the dynamic relationships among vehicle, road, and driving environment. But because the human is also the hardest component to change, the technical community must seek ways to understand the complexities of the relationships and to forgive and compensate for human is also the hardest component to change, the technical community must seek ways to understand the complicities of the relationships and to forgive and compensate for human frailties in its designs. Much of the safety problem reduces to feedback of information to driver, and communication channels just be deliberately established for him from the vehicle the road and the driving environment. Road geometry can forgive a driver and even provide anticipatory feedback to influence his performance. Though the ultimate answer to traffic safety may be in external automatic control of individual vehicles, the reliability required will push all the president limits of the technical arts. Meanwhile, faster corrective feed back to drivers, to designers of vehicles and of roads may have more effect than safety slogans and deterrence by punishment and penalties.
Abstract