ABSTRACT

Volvo Chair Professor Emeritus, Transportation Research & Injury Prevention Programme,

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India

In this chapter we have outlined the conceptual basis of injury control and emphasized the fact that the issue of road traffic injuries has to be treated as a public health problem and must be dealt with as we would tackle any serious disease. It is important to understand that we must move away from finding fault with victims, and seeking retribution, to a more reasoned approach with dealing with systemic improvements and finding solutions which by and large do not put an extra burden on road users. Road traffic injuries result from a complex interaction of sociological, psychological, physical and technological phenomena. Since injuries result from an exchange of energy between the environment and the human body, it is possible to develop

Planning and

safety policies and strategies in a scientific and comprehensive manner. Haddon’s ten strategies and the Haddon Matrix have been discussed in this chapter that help us organise our thoughts and for resource allocation analysis, strategy identification, and planning.