The present study focuses on road users' signalling (using devices and gestures on the road) as a type of non-verbal communication. Renge (2000) demonstrated quite large individual differences such as driving experience and sex, in drivers' comprehension and evaluation of signals. This study concentrated more on international differences. An international comparison study involving three countries, Finland, Germany and Japan, was conducted in laboratories, which were chosen as representatives of northern and central Europe and East Asia. As each country is highly motorised, they were regarded as suitable for the purpose of the research. Main purposes of the study are first to compare drivers' comprehension of the signals in each country, and secondly, to investigate how differently they evaluate the signals on scales of necessity and friendliness. For the covering abstract see ITRD E113725 (C 22328 CD-ROM).
Samenvatting