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Abstract
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In any fail-safe operation, one of the essential elements of the system must be the compatibility between the hardware, software, and the operator utilizing each. The three elements must be treated as a system. In the transportation field this is a difficult task, but it can be accomplished, and commercial aviation is a good example of that achievement. Commercial aircraft are tested extensively before acceptance. Commercial pilots' qualifications, training, and testing assure compatibility between the operator and the particular aircraft he is going to fly. Airports are designed and qualified to handle specific aircraft as are the control tower operators and ground personnel at those airports. Overseeing this entire operation to assure a systems approach is one organization at the Federal level, the Federal Aviation Administration.
In the highway field, we have almost the exact opposite situation. The automobile manufacturer turns out a vehicle that is tested generally only by the producer, and its design is usually governed only by the ability to market the vehicle to the general public. It is true it must meet pollution standards and a few safety standards, but its center of gravity, acceleration, size, etc., are decided in the market place.
The operators of these vehicles meet only the bare minimums and rarely are even tested in the critical aspects of vehicle operation. I know of no state that tests a driver on his reaction time, and yet perception-reaction time is tremendously variable from one person to another, and it is an essential component making up a safe driver. Then we get to the design of the highway, and we again have the third part of the system of highway transportation that is designed with little or no consideration of the vehicle and driver who are going to use the facility. Unfortunately, in the highway mode of transportation, we do not have one organization like FAA at the Federal level treating the mode as a system. Instead, we have FHWA overseeing the physical plant, NHTSA overseeing the vehicle and no organization even interested in the operator. The same is basically the case at the state level with the highway departments interested in the physical plant only, the Department of Motor Vehicles interested in the vehicle and no one interested in the operator, until he becomes a statistic. It is true we do have drivers' licensing procedures, but they are totally ineffective in testing the driver's ability to be compatible with either the vehicle he drives or the highway on which he is driving. A friend of mine in Maryland recently stated that in his state, the most critical element in testing a driver for adequacy was his ability to parallel park within a two minute time period.
If we are ever going to be successful in reducing the tremendous highway toll of 50,000+ fatalities per year, we are going to have to take drastic steps toward treating the highway mode of transportation as a system, and I would like to point out a few of the problems that need improvement from a highway engineer's viewpoint. |