LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF SAFETY

In the early 1960s, J.J. Gibson and W. Haddon, Jr. published papers that had a profound effect on modern safety. The papers provided a simple formula to analyze the cause of injuries and offered a framework for medicine and engineering to systematically design preventive strategies. According to one estimate, the work has led to the prevention of approximately 5,000 traffic deaths per year since 1966. This paper traces the separate paths that led two scientists to the same remarkable conclusion.