UPPLEVD TRYGGHET I FORDON OCH TRAFIKMILJÖ. Hur upplevd trygghet och risk formas och påverkar människors beteenden i fordon och trafikmiljö

Sammanfattning

This bachelor’s thesis examines how perceived safety is shaped and experienced in relation tovehicles and traffic environments, and how road users act accordingly. The aim of the study isto create a deeper understanding of perceived safety in vehicles and traffic environments froman anthropological perspective. The study focuses on how drivers in everyday life experienceand are shaped by social, environmental, and technological aspects of driving, as well as howthey navigate between risk and safety in traffic situations. The study also aims to provide thecollaborating traffic safety company with a deeper understanding of perceived safety that maycontribute to the development of traffic safety practices. The study was conducted from ananthropological perspective through fieldwork consisting of observations and semi-structuredinterviews. The analysis is based on anthropological, sociological, science and technologystudies and analytical concepts including, perceived safety, perceived risk, cultural values,relational theory of risk, reflexive system trust, symbols, symbolic valuation and embodiment.The results show that perceived safety in traffic environments is primarily grounded infeelings of control, familiarity, and trust in one’s own driving ability. Familiar safety systemsbecome embodied and are perceived as self-evident, while more active technological systemsgenerate both perceived safety and risk. The study also demonstrates that the physicalattributes of a vehicle are assigned symbolic meanings. Trust in technological systems appearsto be situational and is continuously reassessed based on experience and context. Theconclusion of the study indicates that perceived safety and risk in vehicles and trafficenvironments are not solely shaped by technical safety systems, but should also be understoodas being formed by social and cultural perceptions. Safety and risk should therefore beregarded as a social phenomenon rather than solely statistically measurable concepts, andstudied accordingly. The study is written in Swedish.