ABSTRACT
The safety of road users at intersections currently represents a key road safety issue. This paper argues that current reductionist, road user centric approaches to studying behavior at intersections are limited, and that a holistic approach, focusing on all road users, their vehicles and the road infrastructure is required. The Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (EAST) is put forward as a suitable approach for studying intersection systems and is demonstrated through a test analysis of performance at three major intersections in Melbourne, Australia. The analysis shows that the EAST method is able to identify key differences across different road users, including the tasks they perform, the knowledge that they use and also their interactions with the road system and infrastructure. In closing, the benefits of using EAST for road safety applications are discussed, along with the implications of the findings for enhancing safety at intersections.
