2018 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. Purpose This chapter first provides the motivation for writing this book. It then describes the challenges involved with assessing societal safety through the analysis of transport system crashes. It concludes with a summary of the contents of the remainder of the book, identifying how various dimensions of the transport system challenges are addressed. Methodology/Approach This chapter discusses important real-world and methodological challenges that practitioners, academics and researchers face in making a more sustainable highway system through a reduction in the number and severity of transport network crashes resulting in fatalities, injuries and property damage. Findings The chapter first describes important challenges, such as complexity of the driving task, the challenges of engineering transport systems for humans, unanticipated effects that arise from differences between driver safety and security, the co-mingling of mobility modes of travel, and challenges in evaluating road safety. The chapters are separated into five general themes: driver behaviour, the transportation network, vulnerable road users, methods for understanding and predicting safety performance, and methods for evaluating safety impacts of countermeasures. Practical Implications Comprehending the challenges associated with road crashes is a first step in making the roadway system more sustainable. This book provides a broad and understandable description of these challenges and how they can be overcome by academics and practitioners working in transport network safety management. Originality This book presents a clear understanding and offers insights about the challenges and potential solutions that can be brought to bear to make a more sustainable and safe transport system, whether it is located in an urban or rural area, and for a wide variety of functional classifications and designs. The topics covered in this book are intended to be useful and applied to tackle transport system management anywhere in the world.
