The author considers a multidisciplinary approach to accident investigation and compares studies carried out by Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) in the 1970s with more recent studies by the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at Leeds University. The TRRL studies showed that 95% of accidents involved some contributory human factors, 28% involved inadequacies in the road system and 8% involved vehicle defects. The main human factors are listed, e.g. going too fast for the conditions, failing to give way. The ITS study covered 1254 accidents in North Leeds in 1988 on roads with a speed limit of 40 mph or less. The data collected and study procedure are outlined. Contributory factors were defined and placed in a hierarchy of 4 levels. The main findings of the study are discussed and the figures compared with those from TRRL. Overall the contributions of human, road and vehicle factors are very similar. Comparison of contributory human factors shows less emphasis on alcohol impairment, lack of roadcraft and 'too fast for the situation' in the ITS study. The author emphasizes the value of multidisciplinary studies in identifying issues to be addressed.
Samenvatting