Resilience engineering to support safe mobility in road transport

Paris, France - 9 November 2010

More information on: http://www.resilience.humanist-vce.eu

Technological development within the road transport system towards a progressive automation, particularly the recent development of intelligent cooperative systems, is bringing about new conditions to the road environment and the driving task, which might compromise safety if their impact at different levels will not be deeply studied.


Cooperative systems introduce a new reality, in which interaction and cooperation processes involve the entire road transport system, integrating the driver, the environment, the vehicle and in-vehicle technologies, as well as road traffic management systems. Therefore, the development of a strategy towards RESILIENCE within the road transport system seems to be a relevant research approach aiming at understanding and limiting human unsafe behaviour. Thus, the necessary mechanisms to create foresight to recognise, anticipate and defend against paths to failure that arise as the system and technology evolve should be developed. This could represent the appropriate answer to the integration of technological innovation and the related needs for optimising safety and efficiency of road transport.


Being a complex and safety critical system, best practices from other safety critical systems (aviation, railways, nuclear industry, health systems) and the corresponding methodological approaches should be collected, as well as advices from experts on this scientific approach. Considering safety a core value, successful innovative approaches applied within other safety critical systems where people deal with uncertainty should therefore be explored in order to develop a methodological framework for an appropriate further application within the road transport system.


This workshop has been set up in the frame of the HUMANIST Association Task Force γ – Towards Resilience within an Intelligent Road Transport System.