Pergamon zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA PII: s0001-4575(97)00083-3 Amid. Anal. and Prev., Vol. 30, No. 2, 285-289, 1998 pp. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain OOOl-4575/98 $19.00 + 0.00 AMERICAN DRIVERS IN EUROPE: DIFFERENT SIGNING POLICY MAY CAUSE SAFETY PROBLEMS AT UNCONTROLLED INTERSECTIONS HEIKKI SUMMALA* Department of Psychology, Traffic Research Unit, P.O. Box 13, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland zyxwvutsrqponmlk (Received 22 August 1996; zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG in revisedform 20 March 1997) Abstract-European signing policy favours uncontrolled intersections-a trend which is in marked contrast to the U.S.A. policy. European drivers must constantly keep in mind the general rule of priority at cross-roads which requires one to yield to a vehicle coming from the right, if not otherwise indicated. For a European driver, an uncontrolled junction means an obligation to yield to vehicles on the right while for U.S. drivers, adapted to the U.S.A. system with more frequent signing, an intersection unsigned from his direction suggests priority for him, particularly in an urban area. To demonstrate a safety problem which follows, three American subjects, visiting professors without previous experience of driving in Europe, were asked to drive a 1.8 km route six times with an instrumented car in the downtown area of Helsinki. All of them first showed unsafe driving practices at uncontrolled intersections with restricted visibility in comparison to a local control group, but changed their strategy, both in terms of speed control and visual search, after they had been informed of the European rule of crossroad priority. In spite of the same general rule at blind intersections in a similar urban environment, a different signing policy may cause safety problems for American drivers in Europe, and translate into more accidents at non-priority intersections. Varying rules and practices in different jurisdictions call for further efforts in presenting vital information to foreign motorists and striving towards worldwide uniform traffic control. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Keywords-Automobile driver, Cross-cultural differences, search INTRODUCTION The road infrastructure largely determines drivers’ mobility, and what is permitted by the road traffic system-where they can drive and what they can do with their cars. Good design builds proper expectanc- ies on what follows next, while separation of different road user categories and separation of opposing traffic on freeways, for example, shelters us from crashes. However, not even the best design is sufficient to make traffic fluent and safe. Rules are also needed to control road user behaviour in a given infrastructure. The very basic rule says that the drivers have to keep right (or left) on roads and streets with two- way traffic. The conflicting paths and priorities are in most countries controlled with a general rule which says that one has to yield to the vehicle coming from the right. This general right-of-way rule can be super- seded by traffic control devices (signs, signals) to give *E-mail: heikki.summala@helsinki.ti 285 Priority rules, Selective attention, Traffic law, Visual priority to certain roads or streets with heavier traffic. The infrastructure, the general rules and specific, local traffic control devices always work interactively. The final result should be consistent, fit with task demands and not conflict with general human percep- tual and behavioural principles. Furthermore, while uniformity in traffic control policy is now a widely accepted principle in traffic design policy nationwide (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1988), the ever- increasing internationality makes worldwide uniform design increasingly necessary. International trade and tourism produce more and more occasions where an air traveler rents a car and starts driving in a foreign country. As the modern car and highway system are fairly well standardized, he/she can enter into traffic with little or no pre-road preparation and learning of the rules and specific features of this new environment. A traveller brings all the knowledge and automated routines which he/she has practised in his/her own country. It is highly probable therefore that in locations and situa- tions which look similar to those in his/her own