Chapter 1 - How Many E’s in Road Safety?

Abstract

This chapter discusses Harvey's three E's that is education, enforcement, and engineering, and their contribution to road safety. The three E's have dominated perspectives on road safety, with occasional forays into the literature by safety experts advocating increasing the number of E's in road safety. One of the virtues of the three E's is the succinct summary they offer of what remain the primary parameters of safety. However, in each case, drawing the remit of each “E” narrowly limits not only the scope but also the extent of the potential to contribute to safety. This is demonstrably so with respect to “education.” Education has come to mean the transmission of an established body of knowledge and skills to those who lack these. Enforcement is likely to be by far the most important determinant of the likelihood of apprehension for a criminal act, and as such it is critical to deterrence. Traditionally, safety benefits from engineering would have been anticipated from improvements to vehicle build quality, reliability, improved braking performance, and the protection offered to vehicle occupants. Others arise from improvements to road design, surface quality, reduced deterioration during adverse conditions, safer roadside furniture, and less confusing signage.