Close Calls on the Road: A Study of Drivers' Near-Misses

Other conference contribution, 2004

Joining a long standing tradition in the field of industrial accident prevention, traffic accident research has begun to extend the study of accidents and serious incidents to include also near-misses and unsafe conditions. As part of a Swedish project called FICA (Factors Influencing the Causation of Incidents and Accidents), a study has been conducted to investigate near-misses, with the aim of clarifying different types and frequencies, as well as possible causes at the blunt and sharp end. The near-miss study made use of an analysis method called Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method. The purpose of the method is to uncover the main socio-technical (MTO) factors involved in scenarios leading to traffic accidents. The study resulted in valuable understanding of near-misses in traffic and their aetiology, suggestions for improvements of the analysis method, and a basis for further, more extensive, near-miss studies.