In the domain of traffic safety, attempts in the past to modify the behaviour of individuals through punishment and rewards have been carried out in a largely ad hoc and unsystematic manner, despite the fact that behaviour modification has been a central topic in psychology for nearly a century. In recent times, however, the application of psychological theories in traffic safety has markedly improved the progress made in strategies for changing the behaviour of individuals and governing bodies. Although there are still many problems in the understanding and modification of human behaviour, these psychological theories are based on a large body of experimental research and evaluations of real life field trials. Applications of these findings in the everyday work of the police and of governing bodies in the field of traffic safety are becoming more frequent, and with promising results. In order to grasp the background to these new approaches, we first discuss three main streams of relevant theorizing in the study of human behaviour, and then give a short review of the major existing theories of risk taking in traffic. The theoretical streams are: 1: learning theory of behavioural change. 2: cognitive and social theory on the influence of attitudes, beliefs, values and norms. 3: utility and choice theory of preference and risk behaviour. These three theoretical streams are the most relevant, but by no means the only ones; for example theories in motivational psychology are also relevant. Linkages between motivational theory and the above mentioned theoretical streams are given in the discussion of traffic risk theories of this study.
Samenvatting