Observing observation of road user behaviour: A scoping review into current practices in scientific literature

Observation of road user behavior has been reported since the 1930s already, but especially during recent years the number of (peer-reviewed) studies and reports is increasing rapidly. Several methodologies have been used to study road user behavior (e.g., direct observation, driving simulator research and microsimulation), but an overview of the current extent, range and nature of this type of research is lacking. Therefore, a scoping review was performed in order to identify how road user behavior observation studies have been conducted, which topics have been covered and which research gaps still exist in literature. The aim of this paper is to a) provide an overview of conducted road user behavior observation studies, b) assess their usefulness, c) prevent duplicate research efforts, d) identify which indicators have been applied and e) indicate which areas of road user behavior research needs further examination.