Are we in control of the asylum?
Opinion
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The case for developing a national collision investigation solution is put by Inspector Simon Labbett, of Sussex Police...
Road collisions and fatalities are not an inevitable consequence of vehicle operation and with effective intervention, crashes and casualties can be significantly reduced
21st century homosapiens; intelligent, sleek, modern, latest design? In earth time, human achievement and innovation has seen an unprecedented exponential explosion of development but it perhaps belies our evolution.
As smart as we really like to think we are, we are still based on that original Mk I, 200,000-year-old model.
The design that was intended to grub around on the savannah, travelling about 3 mph, perhaps with a maximum speed of around 22 mph for the highly-tuned sports version but only for a very short distance. And throughout this period of our evolution we were content with our lot until someone invented a tin can and put a human inside. We called it the motor car.
From our original design speed of 3 mph we suddenly have the ability to travel at 70 mph and we pass other humans in other tin cans also travelling at 70 mph towards us, separated by about 10 feet. It does not take any feat of intellectual genius to discover that perhaps based on our evolution this may just cause some problems.
From our original design speed of 3 mph we suddenly have the ability to travel at 70 mph and we pass other humans in other tin cans also travelling at 70 mph towards us, separated by about 10 feet. It does not take any feat of intellectual genius to discover that perhaps based on our evolution this may just cause some problems.
Adapted
As a human species, we have adapted reasonably well to this new-found ability for speed and control but the families of 3,000 of us in the UK will discover this year that perhaps we are not always in control.
We all have plans and desires for the future, what we are going to do, what we want to achieve, where we might want to go on holiday.
But for 3,000 of us, this year will be our last year. We will have no future, only a past, as that number of people will be killed in a road traffic collision. Not your choice because you don’t get the option to decide.
Those numbers that will die this year may include you, may include me – we don’t yet know the names but we can be reasonably certain on the general numbers that are going to die.
Due to the proliferation of the incidents and the astronomic statistics, the individual stories and personal tragedies are not national events.
They are localised, as a result the victims of a fatal road crash remain background noise and the anonymous openly-hidden casualties of the UK transport system. Road collisions and fatalities are, however, not an inevitable consequence of vehicle operation and with effective intervention, collisions and casualties can be significantly reduced.
The current UK Government road safety strategy established in 2000 set a challenging 10- year target for the reduction of fatal and serious injury casualties for all road users by 40%, and in the case of child casualties 50%, based on the 1994-98 average. While road deaths have been generally decreasing throughout the 1990s, during recent years there has been a slowing in the overall reduction. To achieve the benefi ts of reductions in road fatalities, focus has rightly been directed towards the causation factors of excess speed, drink/drug driving and failure of vehicle occupants to use seat belts.
Reduced
As casualties are reduced, the challenge to get further reductions becomes harder so therefore we must not become complacent, our approach and analysis of the issues must become more sophisticated to maintain a tangible reduction.
Government has, however, recognised the need for change if the numbers being killed on UK roads each year are to be further reduced.
The key to this is establishing greater structured co-ordination between the currently isolated silos of the various players in casualty reduction, by providing national interaction between quality investigation, linked to evaluated remedial intervention and monitoring of the change process.
In recent years, the police have provided considerable investment in the investigation of fatal incidents. Despite this investment the output of the investigations has not been effectively co-ordinated on a national basis and the benefits and learning remain as local ad hoc intervention measures.
We currently have national air, sea and rail investigation branches but where the problem really exists is road where incredibly there is no national structure. From purely an economic viewpoint with an estimated annual financial burden on society of some £4.5 billion, achieving casualty reduction provides a clear financial motivation.
The required approaches and measures however exceed the level that can be achieved by the police, local authorities and road safety groups in isolation and cannot be achieved without the synergy of an outcome-focused approach to the investigation process.
Quality data from fatal investigations can exceed the current levels provided by STATS19, the present national standard used for recording information. The findings, however, require national co-ordination providing two-way communication and feedback leading to local and national remedial solutions. Importantly, an additional and essential missing element is the monitoring of change and the implementation of recommendations.
Significant
The police, lead institutes, medical groups, motor vehicle manufacturers, local authorities, Highways Agency, academic groups and road safety and driver improvement organisations have a significant role to play in raising the national focus in reducing road death and serious injury within the UK. The synergy of a co-ordinated combined response has the opportunity to produce change. This is entirely possible but will require national coordination to enable substantially more effective involvement and joined up thinking than currently exists.
The steps and direction to cost effectively further reduce fatalities in the UK are within reach, should we as a society choose to take them, with the establishment of a National Collision Investigation Board.
‘Speeding fine cash should be used for investigations’
Opinion
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The case for developing a national collision investigation solution is put by Inspector Simon Labbett, of Sussex Police...
Cash raised from fines imposed on speeding motorists detected by roadside cameras should be used to establish a National Collision Investigation Board.
The Board would be charged with delivering better road safety and monitoring the success of programmes such as the Department for Transport’s long-running Think! campaign.
That was the major conclusion of a paper written by Sussex Police Inspector Simon Labbett, as a result of securing a grant from the charitable arm of GEM Motoring Assist – formerly the Guild of Experienced Motorists – to study accident investigation techniques in the United States.
It was that work that led Insp. Labbett, who in his daily work is responsible for the management of large collision investigation teams, to conclude: “Casualty reduction is tangible and achievable if the causes of the incident are first fully understood and then the actual causes pursued and treated.”
Having investigated numerous fatal road crashes he added: “There is a lack of interaction between the investigation process and those attempting to deliver road safety.
Operations are isolated and not effectively co-ordinated to interact with the development of investigations. It is in this way that society could help to progress the delivery of effective road safety and monitor the progress of campaigns. Each of the annual 3,000+ fatalities in the UK are costing some £1.4 million and this leads to an annual ongoing bill of £4.5 billion.
“This makes a clear cost-effective need to establish a national collision investigation group. Initial set up costs could be provided from existing camera safety revenue.”
He is responsible for administering collision investigation protocol on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers and leading on numerous European projects developing intelligent transport systems, in particular establishing the European requirements for event data recorders.
In addition to his collision investigation, engineering and policing background Insp. Labbett holds an MSc in cognitive psychology and has completed studies and published papers on numerous collision investigation topics and on the national development of collision investigation methodologies.
Between 1999 and 2000 he was chairman of the Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators.
In 2003 he was awarded a Bramshill Fellowship for research into motorcycle fatalities and in 2004/5 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship researching the training and management of road homicide investigations in the United States and to compare and contrast to UK methodologies seeking bilateral development in the area.