The Accident Mechanisms Department (MA) was set up for research on accidentology based on Detailed Accident Studies (DAS) and benefits from nearly 25 years of unique experience in this field, both domestically and internationally. As research has developed, the team has grown with researchers and technicians from various disciplines. This has enabled us to improve the quality and plurality of accident data gathering and to develop research directly from accidentology data analysis and by looking further upstream to study the elements in the road system that are involved in the production of accidents.

For the MA personnel, consistency in the Research Unit is obtained through the study objective – accidents – and is also based on a common culture, a certain community of viewpoints concerning scientific preconceptions and methods. This notably includes:

Instead of the “human factor” paradigm, which tends to consider that “human causes” can be dissociated from “technical causes”, the Department’s researchers prefer the “system approach” reference framework and consider that the roles of technical and human components in accident production cannot be take in isolation without looking into the interactions between such components, whence the importance of multidisciplinary work.

The notion of linear causality is not considered as being sufficient for accident studies: the complexity of the systems involved needs to be recognized, as there are many causal loops at work, playing a major role in their operation.

The researchers at the Accident Mechanisms Department stress comprehensive methods based on in-depth analyses of the processes and mechanisms at work. These studies are complementary to those carried out at the other INRETS research units, such as epidemiological approaches, public policy evaluations, etc.

Mutual enrichment occurs between accident studies on the one hand and the analysis of systems and their operations in non-accident situations on the other. This justifies a back-and-forth movement between accidentology research and other forms of research ‘farther’ from accidents in various disciplinary fields.

The Accident Mechanisms Department’s development is part of the more general scientific evolution in the field of safety research: the progressive extension of investigations toward determinants that increasingly located farther “upstream”. This evolution, which affects research as well as techniques and social representations, is sensitive in various fields, for example, vehicles, layouts and issues of responsibility.

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