Vehicles don’t crash, people do

Collision prevention takes growth mindsets, psychological safety and a just culture says best-selling writer Matthew Syed at the recent National Highways ‘Driving Change’ conference in the UK.

Road safety is not a transport issue – it’s a health and safety issue. This was the call to action from UK’s National Highways head of commercial vehicle incident prevention, Mark Cartwright.

He says: “Statistically, five people will die on our roads each day. Statistically, 50 to 60 people will be seriously injured, many with life-changing injuries. But they’re not statistics. That’s five families devastated. They’re not statistics. They’re someone’s mum, dad, son, daughter, brother or sister. They’re your neighbour, your colleague or your mate.”

Fourteen expert speakers addressed how safety interventions were effected in aviation and rail; the benefits of psychological safety; and the need for open investigations into collisions and near misses, within a ‘just culture’.