In this report a study is described that was carried out into the relationship between the immediate surroundings of roads and traffic safety (behaviour). The study focused on surrounding features - that is, all aspects of the total road network with the exception on the road design. To one hundred study subjects, 34 photographs of various traffic situations were presented together with a questionnaire. The examples were varied systematically with a number of surrounding features, such as the height and functions of the buildings, the amount of space between the buildings and the presence of trees. In each photograph, the road design was exactly the same. Each subject was asked to indicate the following for each photograph: how fast they would drive in the street in the photograph; to what extent they would expect to encounter pedestrians in the street (the stay-function); their estimation of how the street functioned for car traffic (the traffic-function). The study shows that there is indeed a clear relationship between the immediate surroundings of roads and traffic behaviour and, for the reason, also between these surroundings and road safety. One general conclusion is that the driving speed in a particular situation can be reduced by ensuring that the design emphasises the experience of the stay-function of an area and/or by reducing the experience of the traffic-function. The relations between the surrounding features and speed, stay-function and traffic-function are presented in figure 13. However, some surrounding features turned out to have only a limited effect on the way motorist experience an area. As a result, the effect on driving speed was found to be limited. Nonetheless, the importance of surrounding features is unmistakable, because a reduction in speed of as little as a few kilometres greatly enhances traffic safety. Studies show that a reduction in the average speed by 1 kilometre per hour leads to a 3% reduction in the number of accidents. (Author/publisher)
Abstract