This meeting of experts has provided a concentrated review of a large and important problem, safety in motoring with particular reference to vehicle design in relation to injury. I am very grateful to all who have taken part. There have been fifteen speakers each of whom has spoken from a particular viewpoint but whose comments necessarily have overlapped in subject matter. The scope that we had hoped to cover in discussion has been too wide to allow adequate consideration of the many factors involved. It is clear that further discussions could usefully be held upon more restricted sections of this subject and that further research into some of them is desirable. Nevertheless, one of the great needs of today is not only to spread more widely amongst the general public the knowledge that has already been gained but to see that this knowledge is translated into action. Progress has already been made, as is exemplified by the gradual development of safety belts; improved visibility from within motor vehicles. Improvements in vehicle design; improved road surfaces and better lighting of roads; extension of speed limits and one way streets; and better road engineering, particularly of motor ways. In each of these fields much more progress is needed for which the knowledge is available. However, the most difficult and incalculable factors in safety are the ones concerned in road user behaviour and here the interests of the individual and the responsibilities of the State overlap.
Abstract