Journal article
Road transport in drift? Applying contemporary systems thinking to road safety
Safety Science, Vol.50(9), pp.1829-1838
2012
Abstract
Despite the extent to which the proximal causes of road traffic injury are known, road trauma remains a substantial and growing component of the global health burden. Application of contemporary sociotechnical systems theory to the problem of traffic injury suggests that the lack of progress globally may be a consequence of "drift into failure". This article considers the new systems perspective on safety, explores the utility of this approach for road safety efforts, and specifically examines the 'drift into failure' hypothesis. It is argued that road transport systems do currently display characteristics of complex systems in drift and that greater understanding of complexity theory-based models will support improved road safety efforts. However, the extent to which such models can support road safety practitioners appears to be limited by the lack of practical tools for translating theory to practice. The article concludes by drawing attention to similarities between complex systems theory and the contexts in which the discipline of Human Factors has been developed, and suggests that Human Factors methodologies could be usefully used to facilitate further research in this field.
Details
- Title
- Road transport in drift? Applying contemporary systems thinking to road safety
- Authors
- Paul M Salmon (Author) - Monash UniversityRoderick McClure (Author) - Monash UniversityNeville A Stanton (Author) - University of Southampton, United Kingdom
- Publication details
- Safety Science, Vol.50(9), pp.1829-1838
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Date published
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ssci.2012.04.011
- ISSN
- 0925-7535
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450385202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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