Paul St-Aubin edited section_Introduction_As_high_income__.tex  almost 9 years ago

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Roundabouts might arguably be one of the best types of road infrastructure for direct comparison of road user behaviour and driving culture between North America and Europe. Although a relatively new phenomenon in North America, roundabouts are one of the few types of road designs with near identical geometric and aesthetic features in both regions. This should come as no surprise as the North American roundabout design guides \cite{NHCRP_2010} are heavily influenced by European roundabout design. Incidentally, the Swedish roundabouts studied in this paper are relatively new compared to other areas of Europe and the comparable Québec roundabouts are at least ten years old.    Very little research exists comparing tangible and objectively measurable difference in driving behaviour and driving culture between countries, especially after tightly controlling for geometric and land use factors. In part this is due to the challenge of coordinating such a study, and also in part due to the lack of a robust framework and technology for collecting and processing large amounts of driver behaviour. The bulk of international road safety comparison research seems to be concentrated on historical accident data \cite{TRB_Morris_2011} or...    Very little research exists comparing immediate and objectively measurable difference in driving behaviour and culture between countries, especially after tightly controlling for geometric and land use factors. In part this is due to the challenge of organising such a study, and also in part due to the lack of a robust framework and technology for collecting and processing large amounts of driver behaviour.