Road safety: defeat, complicity and the bankruptcy of science

Road traffic accidents (RTA's) continue to be a serious problem. The paper argues that much research and effort to minimise this problem is locked into a fundamental misconception in so far as it assumes that blame, responsibility or engineering inadequacies can explain RTA's. The whole sy...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Accident analysis and prevention 1983-01, Vol.15 (2), p.153-160
Main Author: Whitelegg, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Road traffic accidents (RTA's) continue to be a serious problem. The paper argues that much research and effort to minimise this problem is locked into a fundamental misconception in so far as it assumes that blame, responsibility or engineering inadequacies can explain RTA's. The whole system of motorised transport, mobility patterns, land uses, governmental intervention and large company support has deprived society of realistic alternatives to the motor car and bequeathed a deficient technology with several societal disbenefits. Long term solutions to the problem of RTA's involve basic change to this systems design. Anything less will continue to reinforce the present trajectory.
ISSN:0001-4575
1879-2057
DOI:10.1016/0001-4575(83)90070-2