Towards models of cooperation versus competition to analyze car driver behaviors

This paper aims at presenting and discussing definitions, typologies and models of cooperation or competition between human operators and at trying to apply them to analyze the cooperative and competitive activities of the car drivers. It pays special attention on a so-called benefit-cost-deficit model to analyze cooperation or competition between human operators in terms of both positive and negative consequences. The application of such a model to assess the car drive activities focuses on three interactive organizational levels: the coordination between drivers directed by the highway code, the road infrastructure on which these drivers are moving and the traffic flow.