Archive photo
Photo: Vadim Daniel
Road Safety Authority names new chief scientist
Authority’s director-general says Prof David Shinar ‘one of the top researchers in Israel and the world in the area of human factors in road accidents’
Prof David Shinar from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was appointed the new Chief Scientist of the National Road Safety Authority as of August 1, 2007.
The Road Safety Authority is responsible for the coordination of all government activities to increase highway traffic safety. In confirming the appointment, Director-General of the Authority Lior Carmel commented that “this is a man who has researched driver and pedestrian behavior and the cause of road accidents for more than 30 years.
“He is one of the top researchers in Israel and the world in the area of human factors in road accidents,” Carmel said, adding that “the appointment reflects a huge leap in the level of our activities and demonstrates the Authority’s desire to recruit the best people for road safety.”
The appointment was announced by Minister of Transportation Shaul Mofaz on the recommendation of the director of the board of the Road Safety Authority Dr. Yoav Sarne.
At Ben-Gurion University Shinar established a driver behavior research program that includes a laboratory with a full size state-of-the-art driving simulator and an eye movements tracking system.
Upon hearing of his appointment, Shinar said he would “assume responsibility for the planning of long-term and short term research to identify causes of and countermeasures to road accidents and injuries.”
