Introducing a Novel Systems Thinking approach inspired by STPA: Road Safety Intervention design case study

2026-01-14

AI Summary

Current road safety measures struggle to effectively prevent fatal crashes due to persistent safety blind spots in advanced mobility systems and infrastructure. This study conceptualizes road safety as a dynamically evolving socio-technical system and introduces, for the first time, a systems-thinking approach inspired by STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis). The proposed framework comprises four sequential steps: identifying stakeholders, modeling their interactions, deriving lethality hypotheses, and enabling dynamic monitoring throughout the system’s lifecycle. The work further develops a holistic risk-monitoring mechanism and a novel set of key performance indicators (KPIs) tailored to the entire safety management process. Feasibility is demonstrated through a case study on the UK road network, offering actionable guidance and quantifiable metrics for identifying and mitigating unjustifiable safety risks.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness
• Multiagent Systems: Multiagent Systems under Uncertainty

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

According to the latest provisional statistics released by the UK Department for Transport, Great Britain recorded 1,633 road deaths in 2024, representing a slight increase from 2023 and raising concerns about safety progress, which indicates that preventable fatalities remain a challenge. The deployment of advanced mobility systems, even certified and safety-assessed, is not sufficient to deliver improved safety outcomes, and existing road infrastructure is not sufficiently equipped to prevent severe collisions. Successful application of the ``Safe System''approach demands systems thinking in an integrated and holistic manner, encompassing all aspects of road safety. This paper argues that road safety must be managed as a complex socio-technical system where risk evolves dynamically and must be continuously monitored. To address these safety gaps, we propose a systems thinking approach that identifies factors contributing to fatal outcomes and mitigates them. The framework consists of four steps: 1) List stakeholders who influence road safety, 2) Model the interactions between these stakeholders, 3) List assumptions that might be identified as factors for fatalities, and 4) Monitor these assumptions throughout the system lifecycle. The approach is applied to the United Kingdom (UK) road network to demonstrate feasibility. The study provides actionable guidance and new KPIs categories for stakeholders to implement road safety monitoring and eliminate any unreasonable road safety risks.

Problem

• road safety
• socio-technical system
• preventable fatalities
• systems thinking
• safety gaps

Innovation

• Systems Thinking
• STPA
• Road Safety
• Socio-technical System
• Safety Monitoring