ABSTRACT
Very few of us stop to consider the basic characteristics of our road transport system. When we visit low-income countries we note with a wry smile that motorcycle helmet and seat belt use are rare, that walking on the road is common, and that when sidewalks do exist, they tend be filled with traders and their goods. These are things we, in motorised societies, no longer tolerate, but we do tolerate, unquestioningly, seriously unsafe designs, even though they are within our understanding and in front of our eyes every day. We tolerate and blithely accept them because we have grown up with them and we believe that we are totally in control of our own destiny on the roads, and that serious crashes only happen to unskilled or reckless others.
