Human Factors in Traffic Safety for Highway and Traffic Engineers provides human factors principles and findings to allow nonexperts to consider the road user’s capabilities and limitations more effectively into the practice of design, operations, and safety. It provides data and insights on the needs, capabilities, and limitations of road users, including perception and effects of visual demands, cognition, and influence of expectations on driving behavior. It bridges the gap between human factors research and practical application, presenting complex psychological insights in an accessible manner.
This book begins with Part 1 explaining the significance of the traffic safety problem and giving an overview of the importance of human factors in highway design and traffic engineering. Part 2 focuses on driver information perception and processing, including perception of depth and speed, driver’s visual search, how road users search for information, and how mental and information load affects drivers’ performance. Part 3 provides results of investigations of traffic crash causation and reviews major driver errors. Part 4 then describes key principles of road users’ considerations during highway design and traffic operation. Finally, Part 5 focuses on safety analysis and assessment and describes in detail the existing methods to evaluate human factors during safety assessments.
This is a valuable resource for professionals in highway and traffic engineering, researchers, policymakers, urban planners, and students to understand how human factors contribute to traffic incidents and how to mitigate these through design and operational strategies.
1. Title of Book - p. i 2. Cover image - p. i 3. Title page - p. ii 4. Table of Contents - p. iii 5. Copyright - p. iv 6. About the author - p. ix 7. Preface - p. xi 8. Acknowledgments - p. xv 9. Part 1. Highway safety problem overview - p. 1 10. Chapter 1. Traffic crashes in the United States - p. 3 11. Chapter 2. National strategies for traffic safety improvements - p. 7 12. Chapter 3. Human factors overview and relations to highway design and traffic control - p. 11 13. Part 2. Driver information perception and processing - p. 17 14. Chapter 4. Human sensory and perceptual system - p. 19 15. Chapter 5. Driving-related visual functions - p. 27 16. Chapter 6. Drivers’ perception of depth and motion - p. 35 17. Chapter 7. Drivers’ visual search - p. 47 18. Chapter 8. Driver information processing, attention, and mental workload - p. 55 19. Chapter 9. Driver information load - p. 65 20. Part 3. Traffic crashes causation - p. 79 21. Chapter 10. Overview of traffic crash causes - p. 81 22. Chapter 11. Driver-related crash associated factors - p. 83 23. Chapter 12. Driver fatigue - p. 91 24. Chapter 13. Major crash types contributory factors - p. 101 25. Part 4. Road users and engineering design - p. 131 26. Chapter 14. Positive design guide - p. 133 27. Chapter 15. Expectancy - p. 139 28. Chapter 16. Self-explaining roads - p. 149 29. Chapter 17. Human factors key requirements for safe road system design - p. 159 30. Part 5. Traffic safety evaluation - p. 173 31. Chapter 18. Overview of the safety assessment techniques - p. 175 32. Chapter 19. Risk factors identification - p. 205 33. Chapter 20. Road safety evaluation based on human factors - p. 221 34. Bibliography - p. 241 35. Appendix A. Look-up tables of information load values for typical signs - p. 249 36. Appendix B. Traffic conflict techniques for safety and operations. Observers manual - p. 255 37. Appendix C. Operating speed equations - p. 258 38. Appendix D. Prompt list—existing road audit - p. 264 39. Appendix E. PIARC road safety evaluation based on Human Factors method - p. 269 40. Appendix F. Modified method for road safety evaluation based on Human Factors. Samples of safety assessments - p. 279 41. Index - p. 303
Human Factors in Traffic Safety for Highway and Traffic Engineers provides human factors principles and findings to allow nonexperts to consider the road user’s capabilities and limitations more effectively into the practice of design, operations, and safety. It provides data and insights on the needs, capabilities, and limitations of road users, including perception and effects of visual demands, cognition, and influence of expectations on driving behavior. It bridges the gap between human factors research and practical application, presenting complex psychological insights in an accessible manner.
This book begins with Part 1 explaining the significance of the traffic safety problem and giving an overview of the importance of human factors in highway design and traffic engineering. Part 2 focuses on driver information perception and processing, including perception of depth and speed, driver’s visual search, how road users search for information, and how mental and information load affects drivers’ performance. Part 3 provides results of investigations of traffic crash causation and reviews major driver errors. Part 4 then describes key principles of road users’ considerations during highway design and traffic operation. Finally, Part 5 focuses on safety analysis and assessment and describes in detail the existing methods to evaluate human factors during safety assessments.
This is a valuable resource for professionals in highway and traffic engineering, researchers, policymakers, urban planners, and students to understand how human factors contribute to traffic incidents and how to mitigate these through design and operational strategies.
1. Title of Book - p. i 2. Cover image - p. i 3. Title page - p. ii 4. Table of Contents - p. iii 5. Copyright - p. iv 6. About the author - p. ix 7. Preface - p. xi 8. Acknowledgments - p. xv 9. Part 1. Highway safety problem overview - p. 1 10. Chapter 1. Traffic crashes in the United States - p. 3 11. Chapter 2. National strategies for traffic safety improvements - p. 7 12. Chapter 3. Human factors overview and relations to highway design and traffic control - p. 11 13. Part 2. Driver information perception and processing - p. 17 14. Chapter 4. Human sensory and perceptual system - p. 19 15. Chapter 5. Driving-related visual functions - p. 27 16. Chapter 6. Drivers’ perception of depth and motion - p. 35 17. Chapter 7. Drivers’ visual search - p. 47 18. Chapter 8. Driver information processing, attention, and mental workload - p. 55 19. Chapter 9. Driver information load - p. 65 20. Part 3. Traffic crashes causation - p. 79 21. Chapter 10. Overview of traffic crash causes - p. 81 22. Chapter 11. Driver-related crash associated factors - p. 83 23. Chapter 12. Driver fatigue - p. 91 24. Chapter 13. Major crash types contributory factors - p. 101 25. Part 4. Road users and engineering design - p. 131 26. Chapter 14. Positive design guide - p. 133 27. Chapter 15. Expectancy - p. 139 28. Chapter 16. Self-explaining roads - p. 149 29. Chapter 17. Human factors key requirements for safe road system design - p. 159 30. Part 5. Traffic safety evaluation - p. 173 31. Chapter 18. Overview of the safety assessment techniques - p. 175 32. Chapter 19. Risk factors identification - p. 205 33. Chapter 20. Road safety evaluation based on human factors - p. 221 34. Bibliography - p. 241 35. Appendix A. Look-up tables of information load values for typical signs - p. 249 36. Appendix B. Traffic conflict techniques for safety and operations. Observers manual - p. 255 37. Appendix C. Operating speed equations - p. 258 38. Appendix D. Prompt list—existing road audit - p. 264 39. Appendix E. PIARC road safety evaluation based on Human Factors method - p. 269 40. Appendix F. Modified method for road safety evaluation based on Human Factors. Samples of safety assessments - p. 279 41. Index - p. 303
