The Safe System Approach – A Road Safety Strategy Based on Human Factors Principles

Larsson, Peter; Tingvall, Claes · 2013 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39354-9_3

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Summary

This paper addresses the strategic shift in road safety management from an individual-focused model to a system-based approach grounded in human factors principles. The authors argue that traditional road safety strategies, which place primary responsibility on individual road users and aim to eliminate human error through education and enforcement, are insufficient for preventing fatalities and serious injuries. Motivated by the global rise in traffic casualties and the adoption of policies like "Vision Zero" and the "Safe System" approach, the paper outlines how road safety strategies must evolve to acknowledge human frailty and the complex nature of socio-technical systems. The authors analyze the Safe System approach by comparing it to established human factors concepts, specifically focusing on human capability and systems theory. They define human factors as a discipline that manages error by adapting systems to human physical, cognitive, and psychological limitations. The paper posits that while traditional human factors focus on preventing errors, the Safe System approach extends this by also addressing the mitigation of consequences when errors occur. The analysis relies on theoretical frameworks from systems engineering and human factors literature, rather than empirical data collection, to derive design principles for road transport systems. The study identifies four core design principles for the Safe System approach. First, road infrastructure and vehicles must be designed to guide safe behavior and mitigate the consequences of common human errors, recognizing that humans are inherently fallible. Second, speed limits must be set according to the biomechanical tolerance of the human body and the safety standards of the infrastructure, ensuring that crash energies do not exceed levels that cause serious injury. Third, regulations must be developed from a human factors perspective, distinguishing between unintentional errors, which are rarely corrected by punishment, and intentional violations. Fourth, all design solutions and regulations must be evidence-based and integrated, combining road user behavior, infrastructure, vehicle technology, and speed management into an optimized "integrated safety chain." The significance of this work lies in its argument that the Safe System approach offers a more holistic framework than traditional human factors models. While both acknowledge human limitations and the systemic nature of accidents, the Safe System approach uniquely incorporates the biomechanical tolerance of the human body as a critical design constraint. By treating accidents as emergent phenomena and focusing on managing kinetic energy to prevent fatal outcomes, the approach provides a robust theoretical foundation for achieving zero deaths and serious injuries. This perspective shifts the burden of safety from the individual to the system design, implying that future road safety improvements depend on integrating infrastructure, vehicle technology, and regulatory frameworks to absorb the consequences of inevitable human error.

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Topics

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• pre crash contributing factors
• traffic safety culture
• human error taxonomy
• behavioral adaptation risk compensation