Variable speed limits (VSL) are dynamic traffic management systems designed to increase the efficiency and safety of highways. While the macroscopic performance of VSL systems is well explored in the existing literature, there is a need to further understand the microscopic behavior of vehicles driving in VSL zones. Specifically, driver compliance to advisory VSL systems is quantified based on a driving-simulation experiment and introduced into a broader microscopic behavior model. Statistical analysis indicates that VSL compliance can be predicted based upon several VSL design parameters. The developed two-state microscopic model is calibrated to driving-simulation trajectory data. A calibrated VSL microscopic model can be utilized for new VSL control and macroscopic performance studies, adding an increased dimension of realism to simulation work. As an example, the microscopic model is implemented within VISSIM (overriding the default car-following model) and utilized for a safety-mobility performance assessment of an incident-responsive VSL control algorithm implemented in a MATLAB COM interface. Examination of the multi-objective optimization frontier reveals an inverse relationship between safety and mobility under different control algorithm parameters. Engineers are thus faced with a decision between performing multi-objective optimization and selecting a dominant VSL control objective (e.g. maximizing safety versus mobility performance).