Literature Review

As high-income countries, Canada, and Sweden especially, are among some of the safest countries in the world for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Despite this, annual traffic fatality rates in Canada are nearly twice as high as in Sweden, as measured per 100,000 inhabitants \citep{WHO_2013, OECD_2015}), per 10,000 registered motor vehicles \citep{OECD_2015}, and per billion veh-km travelled \citep{OECD_2015}, and this despite a relatively comparable car occupancy and mode share \citep{OECD_2015}. Figures of reported accidents per 100,000 inhabitants share a similar trend \citep{OECD_2015_ITF}. These numbers are summarised in Table \ref{tab:se_accident_stats_summary}. While all of these rates have been observed to be decreasing consistently over the last 40 years, the proportion between the two countries has been fairly constant \citep{OECD_2015_ITF}. Furthermore, fatality and accident rates in Québec are consistent with, and thus representative of the Canadian national average \citep{TransportCanada_2015}.

\label{tab:se_accident_stats_summary}

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. Fatality and accident rates in Quebec are consistent with the Canadian average \cite{TransportCanada_2015}.

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...