ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR BIAS POTENTIAL

Recent and on-going behavioral research suggests a potential for bias on the part of the accident investigator who relies on personal subjective judgment rather than thorough objective analysis. Experience suggests that such bias has the greatest potential for producing accident reconstruction errors; these errors reflect an expected low self-testing investigator behavioral predisposition, one that tends to augment damage, danger and threat. The most obvious ameliorative solution to this problem is extensive objective analysis training (in engineering and basic science) for accident investigators. However, because even engineers exhibit behavioral biases in traffic engineering decisions, such training must be coupled with expressive awareness training.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/8674831
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • Hutchinson, J W
  • Robets, J M
  • Scorsone, F G
• Publication Date: 1981-5

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 255-262
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transportation Engineering
  • Volume: 107
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-947X
  • Serial URL: https://ascelibrary.org/journal/jtepbs

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bias (Statistics); Crash investigation; Errors; Personnel; Research; Traffic crashes; Traffic surveys
• Uncontrolled Terms: Subjective analysis
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00335088
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 28 1981 12:00AM