The University of Adelaide CENTRE FOR AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY RESEARCH

home   /   centre for automotive safety research   /   Publications   /   List   /   Details

Publication Details

TitleTraffic accidents in metropolitan Adelaide
AuthorsMcLean AJ, Ryan GA
Year1965
TypeJournal Article
AbstractRoad transport in a metropolis represents a complex system in which the road users, the vehicles, and the road system interact. Optimum design of this system for efficiency and safety requires factual knowledge of the way these elements function and interact. One important method of gaining an understanding of a system is to study the circumstances in which the system breaks down. The first requirement for this is a factual description of accidents and the circumstances in which they occur. Analysis of such material can provide design data for more efficient systems. The Traffic Accident Research Unit of the Department of Pathology, University of Adelaide, was set up in late 1962 under the direction of Professor J. S. Robertson with a grant from the Australian Road Research Board. The aim of the unit was to obtain information on Australian conditions basic to the design of roads and vehicles and the organization of traffic, by the objective study of the medical and engineering aspects of injury-producing accidents, i.e., to find out WHAT happens in accidents. The unit is multidisciplinary, with A. J . McLean as mechanical engineer and G. A. Ryan as medical officer. Dr. Ryan and Mr. McLean have prepared the following account of how they tackled this assignment.
Journal TitleAustralian road research
Journal Volume (Issue)2(5)
Page Range43-62
Page Count20

Reference
McLean AJ, Ryan GA (1965). Traffic accidents in metropolitan Adelaide. Australian road research, 2(5), 43-62.