Relationship between accidents and road user behaviour : an integral research programme.

The analysis of accident statistics and the study of road user behaviour are the traditional methods of road safety research. Neither of these involve direct observation of accidents. A research programme has been designed in order to: (1) gain insight into the generation process of traffic accidents, and (2) compare the traditional methods of road safety research. The first goal requires long-term day and night video recordings at a number of locations. In view of the second goal, other methods of research have to be applied at the same locations. This kind of research has been called the integral approach. The paper presents the design of the programme, and illustrates the value of video recordings by three recordings of actual accidents.