The accelerated development of detailed research (e.g. on the psychological attributes of
I53
I’: J ~‘?ITEI FM
driver behaviour) has also served to confuse some more general points which are quite
fundamental. A road traffic accident as an event in space and time is the result of several
different factors in interaction and it is possible to view this situation as some kind of
breakdown in a loosely defined system resulting from the failure of one or more components.
The component which has failed usually defines the range of interest of the professional
researcher and the orientation for subsequent analyses. The approach carries with it a strong
implication that the original “design” (if it is possible to use such a word in this context) is
without major defects and the answer to component failure, therefore, lies in some aspect of
quality control amongst component suppliers-people, roads or vehicles. Since accident researchers
are concerned with some aspect of component quality control, and these are relatively
well understood, it will be necessary to expand a little on the design of the system itself.