TY - JOUR
T1 - Speeding in school zones
T2 - Violation or lapse in prospective memory?
AU - Gregory, Bree
AU - Irwin, Julia D.
AU - Faulks, Ian J.
AU - Chekaluk, Eugene
N1 - This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers, http://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000019. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
PY - 2014/9
Y1 - 2014/9
N2 - Inappropriate speed is a causal factor in around one third of fatal accidents (OECD/ECMT, 2006). But are drivers always consciously responsible for their speeding behavior? Two studies are reported which show that an interruption to a journey, caused by stopping at a red traffic light, can result in failure to resume the speed of travel prior to the interruption (Study 1). In Study 2 we showed that the addition of a reminder cue could offset this interruption. These studies were conducted in a number of Australian school zone sites subject to a 40 km/h speed limit, requiring a reduction of between 20 km/h and 40 km/h. Motorists who had stopped at a red traffic signal sped on average, 8.27 km/h over the speed limit compared with only 1.76 km/h over the limit for those who had not been required to stop. In the second study a flashing "check speed" reminder cue, placed 70 m after the traffic lights, in the same school zones as those in Study 1 eliminated the interruptive effect of stopping with drivers resuming their journey at the legal speed. These findings have practical implications for the design of road environments, enforcement of speed limits, and the safety of pedestrians.
AB - Inappropriate speed is a causal factor in around one third of fatal accidents (OECD/ECMT, 2006). But are drivers always consciously responsible for their speeding behavior? Two studies are reported which show that an interruption to a journey, caused by stopping at a red traffic light, can result in failure to resume the speed of travel prior to the interruption (Study 1). In Study 2 we showed that the addition of a reminder cue could offset this interruption. These studies were conducted in a number of Australian school zone sites subject to a 40 km/h speed limit, requiring a reduction of between 20 km/h and 40 km/h. Motorists who had stopped at a red traffic signal sped on average, 8.27 km/h over the speed limit compared with only 1.76 km/h over the limit for those who had not been required to stop. In the second study a flashing "check speed" reminder cue, placed 70 m after the traffic lights, in the same school zones as those in Study 1 eliminated the interruptive effect of stopping with drivers resuming their journey at the legal speed. These findings have practical implications for the design of road environments, enforcement of speed limits, and the safety of pedestrians.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906852209&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/xap0000019
DO - 10.1037/xap0000019
M3 - Article
C2 - 24884545
AN - SCOPUS:84906852209
VL - 20
SP - 191
EP - 198
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied
SN - 1076-898X
IS - 3
ER -