Impact of Roadside Landscape to Driving Behaviour; Lessons from Southern Highway, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Lack of safety on roads has become a major issue in the world due to over population as well as increasing number of vehicles. This has led to many fatal incidents. Many factors affect accidents on roads and among them, ‘driving behavior’ plays a crucial role. Road landscapes create the character and the spatial quality of the spaces the drivers move through. The rate of information gathered from the surrounding is vital for safety of driving while the accuracy of this information depends on the visual perception of the drivers. ‘Southern Expressway’, introduced recently, allowed people to move quickly from Colombo to Southern destinations of Sri Lanka. Many accidents have taken place in this highway. It can be hypothesized that the spatial qualities of the road landscape might have contributed to the accidents. The study focused on identifying the spatial characteristics of Southern Highway. Data was collected by two means; the recorded accident data from Southern highway and a live recording of the driving experience. Analysis was based on accidents recorded and “black-spots” identified. Live recordings of the expressway was analyzed to understand the spatial characteristics in the identified ‘black-spots’. In conclusion, the study reveals that there is a direct influence from the spatial characteristics of black-spots on road accidents.