THINK! Road Safety by Mikey

The Road Collision Investigation Project: A new approach to road safety

The September talk will be given by Prof Neville Stanton who will be talking about his work on the Road Collision Investigation Project.

The Road Collision Investigation Project had the aspiration to establish a Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB), similar to those in air, maritime and rail. Initial research was to identify a systemic framework for collision analysis followed by meta-analyses of the incidents analysed using this framework over two years. The meta-analysis revealed that many of the factors that create the preconditions for collisions often go undetected and unchanged. This research has led to government announcing that the first national RSIB is expected to become operational in 2025.

As a road user, I have more than just a research interest in road safety, especially vulnerable road users, as I own (and occasionally ride) a motorcycle.  In this talk I will cover my involvement in the Road Collision Investigation Project funded by the Department for Transport and managed by the RAC Foundation.  This project had the aspiration of establishing a Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB), similar to those in air, maritime and rail.  The first part of this research was the identification of a framework for collision analysis that was systemic in nature.  The second part was to undertake meta-analyses across many incidents analysed using this framework over the course of two years.  The meta-analysis revealed that the road system sharp-end:blunt-end ratio of  factors was approximately 40:60, meaning that many of the factors that create the preconditions for collisions often go undetected and unchanged (as they do not form part of the current approach to collision investigations).  This research has led to government announcing the establishment of the first national RSIB which will undoubtedly save lives on UK roads.  The RSIB is expected to become operational in 2025. 

Prof Neville Stanton

Professor Neville Stanton, PhD, DSc, is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Ergonomist and Chartered Engineer. He is Professor Emeritus of Human Factors at the University of Southampton in the UK. He has degrees in Occupational Psychology, Applied Psychology and Human Factors Engineering and has worked at the Universities of Aston, Brunel, Cornell and MIT. His research interests include modelling, predicting, analysing and evaluating human performance in systems as well as designing the interfaces and interaction between humans and technology. Professor Stanton has worked on design of automobiles, aircraft, ships and control rooms over the past 38 years, on a variety of automation projects. He has published 60 books and over 400 journal papers on Ergonomics and Human Factors. In 1998 he was presented with the Institution of Electrical Engineers Divisional Premium Award for research into System Safety. The Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors in the UK awarded him The Otto Edholm Medal in 2001, The President’s Medal in 2008 and 2018, The Sir Frederic Bartlett Medal in 2012 and The William Floyd Medal in 2019 for his contributions to basic and applied ergonomics research. The Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him and his colleagues the Hodgson Prize in 2006 for research on design-induced, flight-deck, error published in The Aeronautical Journal. The University of Southampton has awarded him a Doctor of Science in 2014 for his sustained contribution to the development and validation of Human Factors methods.

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