Aetiology of traffic accidents.

This paper considers accident causation in terms of the vehicle-environment-road user system. An investigation by an interdisciplinary team (mechanical engineer, psychologist, surgeon and traffic engineer) of a total sample of 625 accidents in rural and urban areas, shows the road user factor, either alone or in combination, to be present in 90% account for 4.3%, and in combination for 19% of accidents. This low including indicates that recent legislation to improve vehicle safety will affect the causal aspects of only a small proportion of accidents. Tables and diagrams show the distribution of causal factors and of road user errors in accidents, and the frequency and distribution of injuries. Language: en