Psychological aspects of traffic safety

This paper discusses problems of traffic safety in terms of modern cognitive psychology. Driving is described as a form of self-regulated behaviour and it is discussed in terms of two levels of control: automated behaviour, which is overlearned and where information is acted upon as signals, and deliberate behaviour, which involves decision making and where information is treated as symbols. The decisions at the deliberate level set the conditions under which the automated behaviour has to operate, and when these decisions create conditions that overtax the automated skills of the driver, accidents will happen. The decisions at the deliberate level are analysed in terms of Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour, and results are reviewed which indicate that the drivers’ social norms, rather than their expectations concerning accidents, are the most potent factor determining actual driver behaviour. It is also noted that driving may be less of a self-regulated task for professional drivers than for the general driver, and that this may explain why consistent individual differences in accident rates have mainly been found for the former category of drivers.