In March 2006, a pilot project got under way at VTI commissioned by the Swedish Road Administration. The purpose of the project is to find out whether landscape and road surroundings are at all significant
for traffic safety. Project leader Hans Antonson at VTI recounts that many studies have been conducted in environmental psychology and environmental medicine to see how the environment and surroundings
affect us human beings but, seen in connection with road planning,
there is actually no hard data for it.

– When it comes to the traffic environment speculation is rife, but now we will try and find out whether there is indeed a connection between road surroundings and traffic safety. We will look at open and closed traffic environments but also mixed environments.

During the project 18 people drove a ten km stretch in VTI’s driving simulator, arguably one of the most advanced of its kind in the world. They drove along the same stretch three times and each time the
landscape changed in its roadside features; sometimes open flat country with fields and pastures, sometimes dense woodland
and now and then settlements. While the testers drove, the speed, positioning on the road and steering wheel pressure, indicating
how tightly they gripped the steering wheel, were all registered.

Now work is being done to analyse the results from the study. Up to now the analysis shows that one generally drives more quickly in open environments than in closed ones, for example where trees line the road.

– Drivers probably feel less safe in closed environments as they do not know what is around the next corner. Is a deer going to spring out of nowhere? In an open landscape they are more confident as they can
see what is happening further away, Hans Antonson says.

On finishing the drive, the testers fill in a questionnaire. The answers to the questionnaire will show how they reacted to the surroundings they had just driven in, at an emotional level. Here it is not just a case of
confidence but also about what one thinks is beautiful or not. Hans Antonson believes aesthetics in the traffic environment are important.

– The Swedish Road Administration’s customers are not just people hauling themselves from A to B; many of them drive for pleasure. Today much more is being staked than before on the aesthetics of the traffic environment. At the very least you see that the vegetation planted along our roads has become much friendlier. Bridges are also being tidied up and there are experiments with different types of lighting, for example. Up to now we know so very little about how
this affects driving behaviour.

Beautiful surroundings increase driving quality, but does it make a driver more observant or induce people to drive more slowly? In its turn does it play any role in traffic safety? Hans Antonson sees a need for further study, for example into what one really looks at in the  landscape. And what happens then with speed and unsteadiness
on the road?

Rebuilding already existing roads has not yet arisen. However the results of the study can lead to new ways of thinking when new roads are being designed.

Sandra Johansson, VTI, Sweden

For more information:
Hans Antonson