Hello Loughborough University

This week I have started the first module working towards a MSc in Road and Vehicle Safety, led by Dr Richard Frampton.  The course is being run from the stunning Loughborough Design School, which opened in September 2011.

Loughborough Design School

So far in the first module, 'Principles of Road and Vehicle Safety' taught by Dr Andrew Morris and Professor Brian Fildes, we have briefly looked at the history of Road Safety and a global perspective of the current and future problems the world faces.

This has highlighted something I have really failed to grasp properly in my time as a Road Safety Officer:  the scale of the global problem.  With the rapid growth in car ownership across developing nations such as China, India and Brazil, combined with poor infrastructure, we are likely to see a huge global rise in road fatalities over the next decade from 1.3 million to approximately 1.9 million per year.  This growth will see road traffic accidents become the third highest cause of disease and/or death.  Sobering stuff really!

More to follow this week, particularly looking in more detail at the 'Safe System Approach' rather than the 'Transportation Model' which has traditionally been used in the UK.