Title: Road traffic control, driver behaviour and the law
Abstract: The role of the law in a systems solution for road traffic control is explored, and this approach is compared to conventional attitudes and approaches to road traffic management. In the context of Victorian (Australia) law, the utility of the guidance and control aspects of road traffic law is examined for approach speeds to low-volume, uncontrolled cross-intersections with restricted right sight distances, and for right turn maneuvers against oncoming traffic at signalized (two-phase) cross-intersections when the light changes from green to amber. Driver decision-making in relation to avoiding conflicts and assigning priority is examined; it is concluded that driver errors occur because the rules of the road and physical traffic environments do not accommodate the nature and limitations of information processing. Three guiding principles (with examples) which illustrate the place of law in a systems approach to road traffic control include: redesign elements of the physical traffic environment (convert low-volume, uncontrolled cross-intersections to T-junctions, and maximize the sight distance for drivers on conflicting approaches); reformulate the rules of the road covering the physical traffic environment (erect stop or yield signs on the noncontinuous road at low-volume, uncontrolled T-junctions); and incorporate traffic control devices within the environment (use vehicle detectors to warn the signal controller of the approach of a high-speed vehicle so that the amber interval can be delayed until the vehicle has passed the intersection).
Publication Year: 1977
Publication Date: 1977-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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