Exploring the relationship between risk perception, speed limit credibility and speed limit compliance

Abstract Driving speed is an important factor in road safety. Speed limit compliance is not only affected by the speed limit credibility, but is also related to driver’s risk perception. This study investigates the relationship between the factors of risk perception, speed limit credibility and speed limit compliance for a given rural single carriageway road and roadside environment. Speed limit credibility, subjective risk perception and compliance with the speed limit were measured separately. To be specific, speed limit credibility was measured by speed limit rating score using a picture questionnaire. Subjective risk perception was measured by risk rating in an automated car driving simulator for a given speed and road environment. Speed limit compliance was measured by percentage of driving time spent below the speed limit in a simulated manual driving task with a given speed limit and road environment. Multilevel regression and logistic regression analysis demonstrate that risk perception has a positive influence on compliance with the speed limit. Credibility of speed limit has a positive influence on speed limit compliance. Risk perception has a negative influence on speed limit credibility. The research results can be used for guiding speed limit design and speed management.