Series:

Human Factors in Road and Rail Transport

3 total works

Cover of Human Factors in Automotive Engineering and Technology
Offering a unique perspective on vehicle design and on new developments in vehicle technology, this book seeks to bridge the gap between engineers, who design and build cars, and human factors, as a body of knowledge with considerable value in this domain. The work that forms the basis of the book represents more than 40 years of experience by the authors. Human Factors in Automotive Engineering and Technology imparts the authors' scientific background in human factors by way of actionable design guidance, combined with a set of case studies highly relevant to current technological challenges in vehicle design. The book presents a novel and accessible insight into a body of knowledge that will enable students, professionals and engineers to add significant value to their work.

Cover of In the Company of Cars

In the Company of Cars

by Sarah Redshaw

Published 1 January 2008

It has long been accepted that the social and cultural meanings of the car far exceed the practical need for mobility. This book marks the first attempt to contribute to road safety, considering, in depth, these meanings and the cultures of driving that are shaped by them.

In the Company of Cars examines the perspectives that young people have on cars, and explores the broader social and cultural meanings of the car, the potential it is supposed to fulfil, and the anticipated benefits it offers to young drivers.

From focus-group research conducted in Australia, the book takes up the views of young people on a range of topics, from media to car use to gender performance. The author looks at the ways in which driving has been defined by articulations of the car that emphasize valued features of the car-driver, such as gender, youthfulness, status, age, power, raciness, sexiness, ruggedness and competitiveness. The book takes a global perspective on mobility, considering the impact of cars and road safety policy on quality of life, and the value and significance of other modes of travel, in a range of countries.

Cover of Vehicle Feedback and Driver Situation Awareness

A potentially troubling aspect of modern vehicle design - some would argue - is a trend towards isolating the driver and reducing vehicle feedback, usually in the name of comfort and refinement but increasingly because of automation. There can be little doubt cars have become more civilised over the years yet, despite this, the consequences on driver behaviour remain to a large extent anecdotal. Readers of this book will have heard such anecdotes for themselves. They usually take the form of drivers of a certain age recalling their first cars from the 1970's or 80's, in which "doing 70mph really felt like it." The question is whether such anecdotes actually reflect a bigger, more significant issue that could be better understood? Related questions have been explored in other domains such as aviation, where the change to 'fly-by-wire', for example, did indeed bring about some occasionally serious performance issues which were not anticipated. Despite some clear parallels automotive systems have been left relatively unexamined. The research described in this monograph aims to explore precisely these issues from a Human Factors perspective.