In-vivo Sampling of Naive Drivers: Benefits, Practicalities and Ethical Considerations

Anybody who applies principles from quantum physics to everyday life is either in the business of selling quack medical cures, or plain wrong. As I am selling nothing, I know I am making a mistake when I say studies of driver behaviour often make me think of Werner Heisenberg. As you may know, Heisenberg argued that the very act of observation can change the thing being observed. Although he was concerned with the weird world of subatomic particles, and what goes on there does not apply to the large-scale world where cars, pedestrians and other such interesting things live, it is still intriguing for us as researchers to ask whether a similar principle might apply in traffic analysis. Could our attempts to study people’s traffic behaviour be undermined because our observation changes the very behaviour we wish to study?