posted on 2009-03-25, 14:00authored byHeikki Jahi, Gilles Vallet, Lindsay Cant, Charlotte L. Brace, Lucy Rackliff, P. Aloia, D. Shingo Usami, Dietmar Otte, Michael Jaensch
The notion of independence, as commonly used, is somewhat fuzzy. Some
public bodies, such as the Federal Reserve System in the United States or the
European Central Bank are independent. The Court of Justice of European
Communities is also an independent and autonomous institution. These
institutions have characteristics consistent with the formal definition of the
notion of independence. They are independent, in the limits of their missions,
because they are not subject to outside control. They are separate and do not
take instructions from other public bodies. They are financially autonomous and
the members of these institutions themselves are qualified and independent.
In relation to the field of research, the meaning of independence does not seem
excessively problematic. As for the central banks or the judicial institution, a
certain amount of independence –independence of the entity, that of the
researchers and of the research itself– would be vital for the impartiality and the
quality of the research process and its results. Therefore, an independent
accident investigation body should not be subject to outside control in the
pursuit of its mission. It should be separate from other bodies, public or private,
having financial or other interests in the results of its investigations. It should not
take instructions from other bodies or outside personalities. It should have
adequate control over the use of its investigation results. Finally, it should be
financially autonomous and its members be qualified and independent
themselves.
In the United States, the contrast between National Transportation Safety Board
and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is most interesting. While
NTSB has a solid reputation as an investigation body, wearing several hats puts
NHTSA in a somewhat uncomfortable position. In that particular case, the main
problem seems to arise from the ties it has to the manufacturers as the authority
responsible for the safety regulations and for the safety investigation.
In Europe there are several Directives or Regulations, as well as a White Paper,
a Communication from the Commission and a Work Programme, that concern
transport safety.
In the field of civil aviation, there are two specific European Directives:
1. Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21 November 1994 establishing the
fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation
accidents and incidents; and
2. Directive 2003/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
13 June 2003 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation
The purpose of a safety (or accident) investigation, the authorised methods and
practices, as well as the definitions have been set by the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) since the 1944 Chicago Convention. Accident
investigations in Europe and worldwide rely on the Chicago Convention Annex
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13. The first version of the Annex 13 was drafted in 1951; the current version
(9th) was agreed upon in 2001.
The European Directives’ focus is on the structural, financial and functional
independence of the investigating body. National laws adapting the international
and European requirements concerning the independence of the safety
investigation and of the investigation body exist in all studied Member States,
namely in Germany, France, Italy, Finland and United Kingdom. All these
Member States have an independent civil aviation accident investigation body.
In the field of maritime transport, there is one general European Directive:
1. Council Directive 1999/35/EC of 29 April 1999 on a system of mandatory
surveys for the safe operation of regular ro-ro ferry and high-speed
passenger craft services
The purpose of a safety (or accident) investigation, the methods and practices,
as well as the definitions have been set by the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO). The accident investigation in Europe and worldwide tends
to respect the IMO Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and
Incidents, agreed upon by the Resolution A849/20 from 1997.
The European Directive structures the maritime transport in a quite general
manner. It is not specific to accident investigation and does not require the
Member States to establish an independent investigation body. However, the
Directive’s aim is to ensure the harmonised enforcement of some principles
agreed upon within the IMO, particularly the IMO Code for the Investigation of
Marine Casualties and Incidents. The IMO Code states that ideally an
investigation on a marine casualty should be separate from, and independent
of, any other form of investigation. Therefore, while the Member States have no
formal obligation to establish an independent investigation body for the
investigation of marine casualties, this remains an objective. National laws
adapting the international and European recommendations concerning the
independence of the safety investigation and of the investigation body exist in
Germany, France, Finland and United Kingdom.
In the field of rail transport, there are three general Directives:
1. Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's
railways amended by the
2. Directive 2001/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
26 February 2001; and
3. Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on
safety on the Community's railways
The purpose of a safety (or accident) investigation, the methods and practices
as well as the definitions are set by the 2004 Directive. It requires the Member
States to establish an independent accident investigation body. The European
Directives’ structure the rail transport in a quite general manner. The
International Union of Railways (UIC) uses the European definitions for its
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Safety Data Base project. National laws adapting the European requirements
concerning the independence of the safety investigation and of the investigation
body exist or will shortly be acted in all studied Member States.
In the field of road transport, there are no European Directives or Regulations
nor any other international legal framework. National laws on safety (or
accident) investigation and the investigation body exist in France and in Finland.
Italy, Germany and United Kingdom have opted for separate investigation
bodies for different transport modes. France has opted for separate
investigation bodies for civil aviation and maritime, while all the land transports
are investigated by one body. Finland has an investigation body for civil aviation
and all major accidents, whether they involve a mode of transport or not, and
another system for investigating road and cross-country accidents.
It is clear that road accident investigations differ from the accident investigation
in other transport modes. Only two of the Member States, whose accident
investigation practices have been assessed, have a legal national framework
applicable to road accident safety investigation. In France, the decision on
opening a safety investigation on a road accident is taken by the Minister of
Transport. In 2004, only three accidents involving road traffic vehicles were
investigated. In Finland, all fatal road accidents and some non-fatal road
accidents are investigated. On average, some 500 road accidents, of which 370
fatal, are investigated annually.
The bulk of the research in road safety in all involved Member States, with the
exception of Finland, is therefore made by research bodies that do not have the
legal status of a body responsible for conducting safety (or accident)
investigations.
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Citation
JAHI, H. ... et al., 2005. Building the European Road Safety Observatory. SafetyNet. Deliverable D4.1 Bibliographical analysis
Publisher
European Commission, Directorate-General Transport and Energy