Risk Perception in Automotive Environments

Traversing the automotive environment exposes drivers to a risk of property damage, injury, and death. This risk varies across the road network. This research questions whether drivers are capable of accurately perceiving their own exposure to risk in this environment. Analysis begins with an assessment of risk exposure at roadway intersections (as measured in terms of crash frequency, severity, and mixed-weighting methods). This assessment provides risk indices for a cross-section of road intersections across an urban Iowa community. These indices are then used in the development of an experimental visual cognition survey used to record risk perceptions of roadway sites amongst survey respondents. Survey responses record the way in which drivers’ perception of risk varies within the automotive environment. Despite limitations in the experimental methods, survey results question the ability of drivers to predict their risk exposure, and therefore contributes to our understanding of risk homeostasis theory.