JANUS c. . . safety is an attitude WRITES of
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mind' A'ITEM PTS to assess the problem of road accidents are not furthered by the discovery that organizations or individuals with some claim to expert knowledge often contradict each other. The latest example is revealed in a report by two scientists after a detailed study over three years of 73 deaths on the Ml motorway. Their conclusion, made known in a study published last week by the British Medical Journal, is that the risk of fatal accidents is appreciably higher on the motorway than on other types of road. "It would appear,". they say, "that the greater speed made possible by good road engineering has been offset by increased hazards resulting mainly from driver behaviour."
This opinion does not bear out the findings of the Road Research Board. Even in their report for 1960, they were constrained to declare in favour of the motorway as a result of a comparison with the earlier accident rates on the roads linking London with the Midlands. "It is tentatively estimated ", said the report, "that in the first year of operation the motorway resulted in an overall saving in casualties of about 600 to 800, and an overall saving in fatalities of about 20 to 30." Subsequent statements based on further evidence have given no indication that the Board has changed its opinion on this estimate.
Where scientists disagree, the layman also must remain in doubt. But there may be some significance in the reference in the British Medical Journal to driver behaviour. Over the years there have been several reports, expressions of opinion and appeals touching upon the same point. For a long time the accident-prone driver—or "accident repeater ", as he is sometimes called—has been the object of suspicion and the subject of investigation. There is little doubt that he exists, but great difficulty in knowing what to do about him. Action can no doubt be taken when he reveals his presence by the frequency with which he is involved in accidents. By then much of the damage has been done, but even if psychological tests made it possible to detect him in advance with reasonable accuracy, there would be grave objections to the refusal of his driving licence on these grounds alone.
MODERN EPIDEMIC PLAGUE
Persuasive facts, figures and arguments have been used from time to time to link road accidents with alcohol, fatigue, general health, the criminal record of the drivers concerned and even their desire to make a murder look accidental. With growing frequency the cause of accidents is sought in the individual. This applies not only to the toll of the roads. The recent report of the working party on accident prevention and life saving appointed by the Royal College of Surgeons describes accidents as "the modern epidemic plague ", and calls for deeper study of the physiological and psychological problems involved.
In short, safety is an attitude of mind. The concept should be particularly important in any comprehensive study of road accidents, because of the wide differences of attitude among road users. To sonic of them driving is a c36 profession; to others it is a means of getting from one place to the next; others again enjoy speed for its own sake or find driving a relaxation. Where the mental approach is so varied, it is almost unavoidably necessary for the investigator sooner or later to define his own point of view. For a while he may be content to collect statistics and draw tentative conclusions from them, but he must in due course make some sort of value judgment.
In a sense it is misleading to describe road accidents as an epidemic plague. If this were the case, the organism responsible would surely be the motor vehicle, and by its elimination the plague would be cured. . The Buchanan Report classifies the car as a monster rather than a microbe and suggests that it should be tamed rather than destroyed.' Like Caliban, it is at times a "most ridiculous Monster, a howling monster, a drunken monster ", but, properly controlled, it has its uses. For the _commercial vehicle, Professor Buchanan has less equivocal praise, in View of its indispensable service to trade and industry.
FACTORY ANALOGY
This is as good a point as anyfrom which. to begin a survey of the accident problem. To the commercialvehicle operator, the road is his factory floor, the conveyor belt of industry. If he is efficient, he acquires • the right kind of machines, or in this case vehicles, provides safety equipment where possible, chooses and trains his operatives or drivers. The factory analogy is appropriate to the vehicle owner and also to the driver. It would be idle to suggest that no van or lorry driver ever gets drunk, or races his vehicle where speed can be a danger. But the image which even the motorist has of the good commercial driver working for the responsible operator is of a man who drives sensibly,.skilfully, courteously and well within his capacity.
In other words, he is,in the same category as the responsible worker in a factory. The main difference is that in a factory the worker does not find himself jostled by the general public, some of them with their own machines which they operate with varying degrees of skill and often with scant consideration for him. If he were put in such a situation, he would certainly insist that the interlopers, bringing with them an additional hazard to him as well as to themselves, should be subjected to similar restrictions and compelled to maintain the same high standards. To the public these would seem reasonable requests.
There is a growing realization that a road cannot effectively be at one and the same time a conveyor belt and a track for joyriders. In view of the fact that one function is essential and the other not, there might well be for once a traffic accident survey which takes this as its theme. The conclusions which it reached would not solve the entire traffic problem, but they might throw some light on the mental and physical problems which more and more are attracting the attention of the experts. If even the priorities could be established, it would be a valuable step forward.