BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
A
1551
2 DECEMBER 1978
Modern Epidemic
Road accidents and driving behaviour BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
British
Medical_Journal, 1978, 2,
1551-1553
Do people drive as they would like to live ? Many authorities have argued that they do, and have presented evidence that aggressive and irresponsible behaviour is an important factor in road accidents.'I5 But many others would disagree, and the results of the Berkshire on-the-spot survey6 and the impressions of the police support the view that overt aggressive and irresponsibility cause relatively few accidents.
Behaviour and personality More often, however, irresponsible driving leading to an accident arises from some temporary disturbance,3 6 whether a row just before the journey or a more chronic stress. Is accident proneness, then, perhaps a labile state that might befall anyone ? Widely differing groups of "accident repeaters" have been studied, with widely differing results;38 and no psychological test can predict "proneness" any better than a person's accident record. People with extremely low and high IQs and those at the extremes of extraversion, aggression, and anxiety may be high-risk groups,8 9 as well as the poorly educated.2 10 As a concept, accident proneness has fallen out of favour, partly because different measures of it tend to give different impressions of its importance; but some believe that it has been unjustly dismissed. The evidence was reviewed critically by Haddon," and more sympathetically by Shaw and Sichel." If accident repeaters could be reliably predicted they might be excluded from jobs requiring driving,'3 and for private motoring perhaps have special training. But their precise failings are presumably varied, and still not entirely clear; and in any case more people have isolated accidents. Research has, however, thrown light on some of the mental processes and attitudes characterising safe and unsafe driving. If driver training and attempts to influence behaviourparticularly in the "accident-prone" young-were based on such knowledge they might genuinely help to reduce accidents.
Perception and information processing The young and inexperienced may overconcentrate on the mechanics of driving," though these are not the main difficulty. Perceptual tasks and information processing-organising cues from the environment-are more demanding and more affected by experience. For example, salient features have to be extracted from a complex environment, and accident repeaters may be less adept at this and thus at coping with an unexpected emergency.' 1-16 The young and the old, women, and those impaired by alcohol, fatigue, or brain damage tend to have the most difficulty in picking out the essential features of the scene. Although driving normally leaves the brain with plenty of
spare capacity, a simultaneous task impairs perception and judgment, though not the automatic control functions.'7 The reserve capacity increases with experience, but in some people more than others, and avoiding an accident may depend on having the maximum reserve. The brain's total processing capacity also varies among individuals and may be inversely related to accident rate.8 Selective attention is a subconscious economy measure to prevent swamping of the brain's capacity, but selecting appropriately comes with experience-again to varying degrees; and inability to switch attention efficiently may also be related to accidents.8 Though the brain's bias and filtering devices are essential on the road as elsewhere, an emergency in an unexpected quarter may spell disaster, and the "tunnel vision" that comes with prolonged fast driving and fatigue is particularly dangerous. Nevertheless, people could be instructed in habits of search, for example, and taught to compensate for any deficiencies-if only by allowing a safe margin in all procedures (even the simple maxim "If in doubt, wait" has sound psychological backing8). Ideally there should be screening tests to pick out the vulnerable driver needing special help, but none are so far available. Another approach is to make the road environment and signposts kinder to human error.
Perception of risk "It couldn't happen to me" sums up the usual attitude of drivers-arising partly from the remarkably high opinion most have of their own driving.' 3 This low expectation of risk is itself a danger. When Sweden went over to right-hand driving in 1971 there was actually a decrease in accidents, even those due to overtaking and switching lanes, though after six months they started to increase again3; drivers appeared to more than compensate for the hazards of the changeover by taking extra care. Psychologists believe that driving should not be made too easy or safe: easy driving may lead to a loss of alertness, and awareness of safety to more speeding and other risk taking.3 18 According to this "danger compensation" theory, then, a supposed safety measure might even result in more accidents.7 19 More probably there will be some saving but not the expected one. On this view hazards should be made more evident rather than eliminated, and the driver's sense of risk increased.'4 Yellow bar patterns at the approaches to roundabouts, for example, can enhance awareness of speed,20 and alerting devices such as rumble strips can artificially manipulate the sense of risk.
Training Clearly, driving instruction should cover not only skills but behaviour in the widest sense-good manners on the road as well as habits of attention. The present chaos leaves much to be desired. Firstly, Britain is the only country where amateur
1552
instruction is common, though this is not always inferior and certainly may be more lavish than professional tuition. Secondly, the competence of driving instructors varies greatly (the Government plans legislation to revoke trainee license arrangements so that instructors could no longer train on the job). Thirdly, the driving test is much too easy and restricted in its coverage, and the novice may acquire a license without ever having driven at night, on motorways, or in other demanding conditions-though there are obvious practical difficulties. A compulsory certificate of instruction covering minimum requirements could be a step in the right direction; but would there be enough qualified instructors? And anyway what precisely should instructors be teaching ? Surprisingly, this is still far from clear.21 22 Driving instruction clearly has to concentrate on the practical control skills and procedures, but could it not be more tailored to the individual ? Women, for instance, more often fail to see hazards than men do.23 Partly this reflects inexperience; but since there are also individual differences in perceptual style, including age and sex differences, teaching strategies should take account of these. Is there, then, any way of compressing some of the learning that comes with experience into a period of instruction ? A structured approach, with a logical sequence of programmed instruction, has been tried by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, but not fully assessed.24 In general, teaching the inexperienced to avoid and recognise hazards could be more explicit; carrying out the recommended procedures correctly is not enough if the manoeuvre should never have been attempted in the first place.21 Interviews with drivers suggested that the main cause of their accidents had been lack of awareness of the presence or movement of another vehicle.25 Apparently they had on the whole checked whether anything was in sight but not very thoroughly and often too early, without rechecking just before the manoeuvre. A common reason for error was "not paying much attention." Both publicity campaigns, as Mackie suggests, and driving instruction could use information of this kind. The "safe" drivers studied by Quenault were characterised by, among other things, being more skilled in the use of the rear mirror.26 Close following is an obvious cause of accidents27 and a frequent error among drivers.28 Judging the safe distance presents genuine difficulties29 and is a challenge for driving instruction; and the Transport and Road Research
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
Laboratory has experimented with both road signs (autpmatically activated)30 and instructions to drivers.3' Driver education, both theoretical and practical, in the school curriculum has long flourished in the United States. Large-scale evaluations, however, have cast doubt on its ability to reduce accident rates appreciably.32 In Britain such courses are given in 5% of secondary schools, and a project in Salford has attempted to discover their effectiveness.'2 The "trained" girls later had fewer injury accidents per mile driven than the untrained ones, but girls anyway had fewer accidents than boys-who did not have a lower accident rate with training. The trained boys did, however, have fewer accidents altogether, simply because they drove less than the untrained, especially at night and in bad weather (a finding in some American studies also). These students also wore seat belts more often. Thus the emphasis put on safety in the instruction possibly did influence these young people in deciding whether to drive, even if when actually driving they were no better than the others. But further research is needed on alternative methods of instruction. Some local authorities give predriving courses (sometimes with simulators) to all age groups, again emphasising safety and not just practical skills. Local driving schools say that students from the Harrow Driving Centre seem more considerate than average as drivers, having learnt the principle of "give and take" in traffic. The Harrow centre and the London Borough of Camden and a few other local authorities also offer more advanced instruction, and are prepared to give help to drivers with particular difficulties, including those with handicaps. A variety of retraining schemes (even including group therapy) have been tried with problem drivers, especially in the United States.2 On the whole, results have been inconclusive, though better for those with the more socially acceptable attitudes. But any scheme that concentrates both on the problem driver's attitudes and on his practical difficulties seems worth trying. We must, however, continue to experiment and evaluate. I am grateful to the following for helpful discussion and comment: Dr I D Brown, MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge; Professor C I Howarth, department of psychology, University of Nottingham; Mr R L Moore, transport studies group, University College London; Dr S Raymond and Dr Jean Shaoul, road safety research unit, University of Salford; Mr K Russam, Transport and Road Research
If preventable why not prevented? This man might have become one of the annual total of over 23 000 casualties from bicycle accidents. Such accidents are especially common in shopping areas, and in a study of four towns by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory a third of these were caused by car doors opening unexpectedly-in defiance of the Highway Code-in the cyclist's path. To make matters worse, the cars were often illegally parked. How can motorists be made to obey the laws ? Reproduced by kind permission of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
2 DECEMBER 1978
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
2 DECEMBER 1978
Laboratory; Mr H Walker, London Borough of Camden; and Mr G Woodcock, Harrow Driving Centre.
References
'Parry, M Y, Aggression on the Road. London, Tavistock Publications, 1968.
2 Goldstein, L G, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1972, 4, 153. 3Naatanen, R, and Summala, H, Road-user Behaviour and Traffic Accidents. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company, 1976. 4Black, S, Man and Motor Cars. London, Secker and Warburg, 1966. Whitlock, F A, Death on the Road: A Study in Social Violence. London, Tavistock Publications, 1971. 6 Sabey, B E, and Staughton, G, paper presented to the fifth international conference of the International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine, London, 1975. 7Selzer, M L, Rogers, J E, and Kern, S, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1968, 124, 1026. 8 Brown, I D, in Problems and Applications: An Introduction to Psychology, Units 14-16. Milton Keynes, Open University Press, 1974. 9Eysenck, H J, New Scientist, 1960, 8, 18. 10 Borkenstein, R F, et al, The Role of the Drinking Driver in Traffic Accidents. Indiana University, Department of Public Administration, 1964. " Haddon, W, Suchman, E A, and Klein, D (editors), Accident Research: Methods and Approaches, p 385. New York, Harper and Row, 1964. 12 Shaw, L, and Sichel, H S, Accident Proneness. Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1971. 13 Kahneman, D, Ben-Ishai, R, and Lotan, M,_Journal of Applied Psychology, 1973, 58, 113. 14 Brown, I D, paper presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Aston, 1977. 15 Barrett, G V, and Thornton, C L, J7ournal of Applied Psychology, 1968, 52, 169. 16 Goodenough, D R, Human Factors, 1976, 18, 53.
1553 17 Brown, I D, Journal of Applied Psychology, 1969, 53, 419. 18 Brown, I D, in Transport Ergonomics, special edition of Ergonomics, in press. 19 O'Neill, B, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1977, 9, 157. 2(1 Burney, G M, Behaviour of Drivers on Yellow Bar Patterns, Supplementary Report 263. Crowthorne, Transport and Road Research Laboratory, 1977. 21 Shaoul, J, in Symposium on Road Safety. University of Salford, Road Safety Research Unit, in press. 22 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Driver Behaviour. Paris, OECD, 1970. 23 Storie, V J, Male and Female Car Drivers. Laboratory Report LR761. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1977. 24 Transport and Road Research Laboratory, leaflet LF565. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 25 Mackie, A M, Research for a Road Safety Campaign-Accident Studies for Advertising Formulations, LR 432. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1972. 26 Quenault, S W, Driving Behaviour-Safe and Unsafe Drivers, LR 70. Crowthorne, Road Research Laboratory, 1967. 27 Harvey, C F, Jenkins, D, and Sumner, R, Driver Error, Report SR 149UC. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 28 Sumner, R, and Baguley, C, Close Following Behaviour at Two Sites on Rural Two Lane Motorways, Laboratory Report 859. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1978. 29 Colbourn, C J, Brown, I D, and Copeman, A K, Human Factors, 1978, 20(1), 1. 31' Robertson, A, A Road Sign for Warning of Close-following: Form and Message Design. Supplementary Report 324. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1977. 31 Mackie, A M, and Russam, K, Instructions to Drivers to Maintain Safe Spacings Between Following Vehicles. Supplementary Report 166UC. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 32 Raymond, S, in Proceedings of the Environmental and Traffic Management Seminar, Planning and Transportation Research and Computation Ltd, summer meeting, 1978. London, PTRC, in press.
Hozv to do it Apply for a research grant JAMES HOWIE British Medical Journal, 1978, 2, 1553-1554
Success in applying for a research grant depends on producing clear evidence of a good question that needs to be answered; of a capacity to make a promising attempt at finding the answer; of reasonable opportunity to do the work in good conditions and within a defined period; and of the need for specified finance for stated purposes. The application will be read and assessed by experienced, sceptical officials-lay and scientific-and by chosen assessors-usually senior academics who have a good knowledge of the subject and a capacity for fair and reliable judgment of people and proposals. Answers to applications are seldom available in under three months; and it may take much longer, depending on dates of meetings, and whether the application is clear or vague (in which case the applicant may be asked to provide supplementary information). In some circumstances delays of six months are quite reasonable; applicants
Newtonmore, Inverness-shire PH20 1AR Sir JAMES HOWIE, MD, FRCPATH (retired), formerly director of the Public Health Laboratory Service
should allow plenty of time, and find out from the grant-giving body the best date for submitting an application. Usually a standard application form has to be completed, and this should always be clearly typed, and suitable for copying. If the form does not allow enough space for a full answer under any of its headings, submit an appendix and indicate that you have done this by a note at the corresponding place on the form. A good question to be answered One of the distinguishing attributes of a good research worker is his ability to find good questions to be answered. A good question is one whose answer will matter. It may matter because it clarifies a fundamental issue of medical or pure science, or affects medical practice in some appreciable way. The answer must advance knowledge or understanding, which means that it must be more than a mere footnote. It must convey positive information. Negative findings, however useful to others working on the same subject, are not of themselves a good complete answer. Nor is it enough simply to provide an account of new methods for doing things without showing that the results mean something. "I'm not interested in recipes-only in puddings," said one leading assessor. So the applicant must
A
1551
2 DECEMBER 1978
Modern Epidemic
Road accidents and driving behaviour BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
British
Medical_Journal, 1978, 2,
1551-1553
Do people drive as they would like to live ? Many authorities have argued that they do, and have presented evidence that aggressive and irresponsible behaviour is an important factor in road accidents.'I5 But many others would disagree, and the results of the Berkshire on-the-spot survey6 and the impressions of the police support the view that overt aggressive and irresponsibility cause relatively few accidents.
Behaviour and personality More often, however, irresponsible driving leading to an accident arises from some temporary disturbance,3 6 whether a row just before the journey or a more chronic stress. Is accident proneness, then, perhaps a labile state that might befall anyone ? Widely differing groups of "accident repeaters" have been studied, with widely differing results;38 and no psychological test can predict "proneness" any better than a person's accident record. People with extremely low and high IQs and those at the extremes of extraversion, aggression, and anxiety may be high-risk groups,8 9 as well as the poorly educated.2 10 As a concept, accident proneness has fallen out of favour, partly because different measures of it tend to give different impressions of its importance; but some believe that it has been unjustly dismissed. The evidence was reviewed critically by Haddon," and more sympathetically by Shaw and Sichel." If accident repeaters could be reliably predicted they might be excluded from jobs requiring driving,'3 and for private motoring perhaps have special training. But their precise failings are presumably varied, and still not entirely clear; and in any case more people have isolated accidents. Research has, however, thrown light on some of the mental processes and attitudes characterising safe and unsafe driving. If driver training and attempts to influence behaviourparticularly in the "accident-prone" young-were based on such knowledge they might genuinely help to reduce accidents.
Perception and information processing The young and inexperienced may overconcentrate on the mechanics of driving," though these are not the main difficulty. Perceptual tasks and information processing-organising cues from the environment-are more demanding and more affected by experience. For example, salient features have to be extracted from a complex environment, and accident repeaters may be less adept at this and thus at coping with an unexpected emergency.' 1-16 The young and the old, women, and those impaired by alcohol, fatigue, or brain damage tend to have the most difficulty in picking out the essential features of the scene. Although driving normally leaves the brain with plenty of
spare capacity, a simultaneous task impairs perception and judgment, though not the automatic control functions.'7 The reserve capacity increases with experience, but in some people more than others, and avoiding an accident may depend on having the maximum reserve. The brain's total processing capacity also varies among individuals and may be inversely related to accident rate.8 Selective attention is a subconscious economy measure to prevent swamping of the brain's capacity, but selecting appropriately comes with experience-again to varying degrees; and inability to switch attention efficiently may also be related to accidents.8 Though the brain's bias and filtering devices are essential on the road as elsewhere, an emergency in an unexpected quarter may spell disaster, and the "tunnel vision" that comes with prolonged fast driving and fatigue is particularly dangerous. Nevertheless, people could be instructed in habits of search, for example, and taught to compensate for any deficiencies-if only by allowing a safe margin in all procedures (even the simple maxim "If in doubt, wait" has sound psychological backing8). Ideally there should be screening tests to pick out the vulnerable driver needing special help, but none are so far available. Another approach is to make the road environment and signposts kinder to human error.
Perception of risk "It couldn't happen to me" sums up the usual attitude of drivers-arising partly from the remarkably high opinion most have of their own driving.' 3 This low expectation of risk is itself a danger. When Sweden went over to right-hand driving in 1971 there was actually a decrease in accidents, even those due to overtaking and switching lanes, though after six months they started to increase again3; drivers appeared to more than compensate for the hazards of the changeover by taking extra care. Psychologists believe that driving should not be made too easy or safe: easy driving may lead to a loss of alertness, and awareness of safety to more speeding and other risk taking.3 18 According to this "danger compensation" theory, then, a supposed safety measure might even result in more accidents.7 19 More probably there will be some saving but not the expected one. On this view hazards should be made more evident rather than eliminated, and the driver's sense of risk increased.'4 Yellow bar patterns at the approaches to roundabouts, for example, can enhance awareness of speed,20 and alerting devices such as rumble strips can artificially manipulate the sense of risk.
Training Clearly, driving instruction should cover not only skills but behaviour in the widest sense-good manners on the road as well as habits of attention. The present chaos leaves much to be desired. Firstly, Britain is the only country where amateur
1552
instruction is common, though this is not always inferior and certainly may be more lavish than professional tuition. Secondly, the competence of driving instructors varies greatly (the Government plans legislation to revoke trainee license arrangements so that instructors could no longer train on the job). Thirdly, the driving test is much too easy and restricted in its coverage, and the novice may acquire a license without ever having driven at night, on motorways, or in other demanding conditions-though there are obvious practical difficulties. A compulsory certificate of instruction covering minimum requirements could be a step in the right direction; but would there be enough qualified instructors? And anyway what precisely should instructors be teaching ? Surprisingly, this is still far from clear.21 22 Driving instruction clearly has to concentrate on the practical control skills and procedures, but could it not be more tailored to the individual ? Women, for instance, more often fail to see hazards than men do.23 Partly this reflects inexperience; but since there are also individual differences in perceptual style, including age and sex differences, teaching strategies should take account of these. Is there, then, any way of compressing some of the learning that comes with experience into a period of instruction ? A structured approach, with a logical sequence of programmed instruction, has been tried by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, but not fully assessed.24 In general, teaching the inexperienced to avoid and recognise hazards could be more explicit; carrying out the recommended procedures correctly is not enough if the manoeuvre should never have been attempted in the first place.21 Interviews with drivers suggested that the main cause of their accidents had been lack of awareness of the presence or movement of another vehicle.25 Apparently they had on the whole checked whether anything was in sight but not very thoroughly and often too early, without rechecking just before the manoeuvre. A common reason for error was "not paying much attention." Both publicity campaigns, as Mackie suggests, and driving instruction could use information of this kind. The "safe" drivers studied by Quenault were characterised by, among other things, being more skilled in the use of the rear mirror.26 Close following is an obvious cause of accidents27 and a frequent error among drivers.28 Judging the safe distance presents genuine difficulties29 and is a challenge for driving instruction; and the Transport and Road Research
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
Laboratory has experimented with both road signs (autpmatically activated)30 and instructions to drivers.3' Driver education, both theoretical and practical, in the school curriculum has long flourished in the United States. Large-scale evaluations, however, have cast doubt on its ability to reduce accident rates appreciably.32 In Britain such courses are given in 5% of secondary schools, and a project in Salford has attempted to discover their effectiveness.'2 The "trained" girls later had fewer injury accidents per mile driven than the untrained ones, but girls anyway had fewer accidents than boys-who did not have a lower accident rate with training. The trained boys did, however, have fewer accidents altogether, simply because they drove less than the untrained, especially at night and in bad weather (a finding in some American studies also). These students also wore seat belts more often. Thus the emphasis put on safety in the instruction possibly did influence these young people in deciding whether to drive, even if when actually driving they were no better than the others. But further research is needed on alternative methods of instruction. Some local authorities give predriving courses (sometimes with simulators) to all age groups, again emphasising safety and not just practical skills. Local driving schools say that students from the Harrow Driving Centre seem more considerate than average as drivers, having learnt the principle of "give and take" in traffic. The Harrow centre and the London Borough of Camden and a few other local authorities also offer more advanced instruction, and are prepared to give help to drivers with particular difficulties, including those with handicaps. A variety of retraining schemes (even including group therapy) have been tried with problem drivers, especially in the United States.2 On the whole, results have been inconclusive, though better for those with the more socially acceptable attitudes. But any scheme that concentrates both on the problem driver's attitudes and on his practical difficulties seems worth trying. We must, however, continue to experiment and evaluate. I am grateful to the following for helpful discussion and comment: Dr I D Brown, MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge; Professor C I Howarth, department of psychology, University of Nottingham; Mr R L Moore, transport studies group, University College London; Dr S Raymond and Dr Jean Shaoul, road safety research unit, University of Salford; Mr K Russam, Transport and Road Research
If preventable why not prevented? This man might have become one of the annual total of over 23 000 casualties from bicycle accidents. Such accidents are especially common in shopping areas, and in a study of four towns by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory a third of these were caused by car doors opening unexpectedly-in defiance of the Highway Code-in the cyclist's path. To make matters worse, the cars were often illegally parked. How can motorists be made to obey the laws ? Reproduced by kind permission of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
2 DECEMBER 1978
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
2 DECEMBER 1978
Laboratory; Mr H Walker, London Borough of Camden; and Mr G Woodcock, Harrow Driving Centre.
References
'Parry, M Y, Aggression on the Road. London, Tavistock Publications, 1968.
2 Goldstein, L G, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1972, 4, 153. 3Naatanen, R, and Summala, H, Road-user Behaviour and Traffic Accidents. Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company, 1976. 4Black, S, Man and Motor Cars. London, Secker and Warburg, 1966. Whitlock, F A, Death on the Road: A Study in Social Violence. London, Tavistock Publications, 1971. 6 Sabey, B E, and Staughton, G, paper presented to the fifth international conference of the International Association for Accident and Traffic Medicine, London, 1975. 7Selzer, M L, Rogers, J E, and Kern, S, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1968, 124, 1026. 8 Brown, I D, in Problems and Applications: An Introduction to Psychology, Units 14-16. Milton Keynes, Open University Press, 1974. 9Eysenck, H J, New Scientist, 1960, 8, 18. 10 Borkenstein, R F, et al, The Role of the Drinking Driver in Traffic Accidents. Indiana University, Department of Public Administration, 1964. " Haddon, W, Suchman, E A, and Klein, D (editors), Accident Research: Methods and Approaches, p 385. New York, Harper and Row, 1964. 12 Shaw, L, and Sichel, H S, Accident Proneness. Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1971. 13 Kahneman, D, Ben-Ishai, R, and Lotan, M,_Journal of Applied Psychology, 1973, 58, 113. 14 Brown, I D, paper presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Aston, 1977. 15 Barrett, G V, and Thornton, C L, J7ournal of Applied Psychology, 1968, 52, 169. 16 Goodenough, D R, Human Factors, 1976, 18, 53.
1553 17 Brown, I D, Journal of Applied Psychology, 1969, 53, 419. 18 Brown, I D, in Transport Ergonomics, special edition of Ergonomics, in press. 19 O'Neill, B, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1977, 9, 157. 2(1 Burney, G M, Behaviour of Drivers on Yellow Bar Patterns, Supplementary Report 263. Crowthorne, Transport and Road Research Laboratory, 1977. 21 Shaoul, J, in Symposium on Road Safety. University of Salford, Road Safety Research Unit, in press. 22 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Driver Behaviour. Paris, OECD, 1970. 23 Storie, V J, Male and Female Car Drivers. Laboratory Report LR761. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1977. 24 Transport and Road Research Laboratory, leaflet LF565. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 25 Mackie, A M, Research for a Road Safety Campaign-Accident Studies for Advertising Formulations, LR 432. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1972. 26 Quenault, S W, Driving Behaviour-Safe and Unsafe Drivers, LR 70. Crowthorne, Road Research Laboratory, 1967. 27 Harvey, C F, Jenkins, D, and Sumner, R, Driver Error, Report SR 149UC. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 28 Sumner, R, and Baguley, C, Close Following Behaviour at Two Sites on Rural Two Lane Motorways, Laboratory Report 859. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1978. 29 Colbourn, C J, Brown, I D, and Copeman, A K, Human Factors, 1978, 20(1), 1. 31' Robertson, A, A Road Sign for Warning of Close-following: Form and Message Design. Supplementary Report 324. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1977. 31 Mackie, A M, and Russam, K, Instructions to Drivers to Maintain Safe Spacings Between Following Vehicles. Supplementary Report 166UC. Crowthorne, TRRL, 1975. 32 Raymond, S, in Proceedings of the Environmental and Traffic Management Seminar, Planning and Transportation Research and Computation Ltd, summer meeting, 1978. London, PTRC, in press.
Hozv to do it Apply for a research grant JAMES HOWIE British Medical Journal, 1978, 2, 1553-1554
Success in applying for a research grant depends on producing clear evidence of a good question that needs to be answered; of a capacity to make a promising attempt at finding the answer; of reasonable opportunity to do the work in good conditions and within a defined period; and of the need for specified finance for stated purposes. The application will be read and assessed by experienced, sceptical officials-lay and scientific-and by chosen assessors-usually senior academics who have a good knowledge of the subject and a capacity for fair and reliable judgment of people and proposals. Answers to applications are seldom available in under three months; and it may take much longer, depending on dates of meetings, and whether the application is clear or vague (in which case the applicant may be asked to provide supplementary information). In some circumstances delays of six months are quite reasonable; applicants
Newtonmore, Inverness-shire PH20 1AR Sir JAMES HOWIE, MD, FRCPATH (retired), formerly director of the Public Health Laboratory Service
should allow plenty of time, and find out from the grant-giving body the best date for submitting an application. Usually a standard application form has to be completed, and this should always be clearly typed, and suitable for copying. If the form does not allow enough space for a full answer under any of its headings, submit an appendix and indicate that you have done this by a note at the corresponding place on the form. A good question to be answered One of the distinguishing attributes of a good research worker is his ability to find good questions to be answered. A good question is one whose answer will matter. It may matter because it clarifies a fundamental issue of medical or pure science, or affects medical practice in some appreciable way. The answer must advance knowledge or understanding, which means that it must be more than a mere footnote. It must convey positive information. Negative findings, however useful to others working on the same subject, are not of themselves a good complete answer. Nor is it enough simply to provide an account of new methods for doing things without showing that the results mean something. "I'm not interested in recipes-only in puddings," said one leading assessor. So the applicant must
