It has been 24 hours since I watched Channel 4s “ Pile Up ” for the first time (I may have watched it more than once). If you haven’t see it, it is an experiment which tries to replicate a real world scenario, a truck crossing over a central reservation on a motorway, to see how drivers react and how their vehicles fair. Aside from the social experiment, what it did for me was demonstrate the need for a Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB).

Previous governments had identified the need for an RSIB to take collisions which have occurred and investigate them in minute detail so we can learn the lessons and hopefully reduce the number of road deaths and serious injuries. Unfortunately, the current government did not continue on the same path as their predecessors and the RSIB stalled.

“Pile Up” however, demonstrates why the RSIB is needed. In order to understand how we can prevent road deaths and at least minimise injuries, we need to take a microscopic look at every aspect of the collision, not just the car and the driver. We need to understand the properties of differing road surfaces, how they change with the weather, how design can aid or hinder road users, where technology fits in and so much more. This can help inform and shape the future of road use for the better, helping to keep road users safer, a real contrast to our “head in the sand” approach at the moment. And if you want an example of that, look at micromobility, which has the potential to offer substantial benefit, however our current approach is more about prohibition rather than progression.

History is also littered with instances of accidental inventions and discoveries, penicillin being one of the most notable. Discovered by accident but its impact on humans was immeasurable. What if we are a handful of good research projects away from a transport revolution?

“Pile Up” gave us a fleeting glimpse of what an effective RSIB could look like and how it might work. The most exciting thing about “Pile Up” for me, is that the data gathered during that collision, is that we honestly do not know its value, as our journey to discover has only just started and even by the time the show was broadcast, students from Cranfield University were already talking about ways to make the airbag system more effective.

Imagine what could come from a dedicated road safety research function, like the RSIB, and how much of an impact it could have if it were resourced correctly and given access to the data it needs.