Dr. Amir Sobhani is a leading road safety expert with over 22 years of experience in transport engineering, data analytics, and evidence-based policy development. As the Director of Safe Path Consulting Pty Ltd, he specialises in applying advanced data-driven methodologies to improve road safety outcomes. Amir has held senior research and leadership roles in government, industry, and academia, contributing to groundbreaking initiatives in speed management, enforcement strategies, and Safe System implementation.
His expertise spans statistical modelling, infrastructure evaluation, and connected vehicle data applications, enabling policymakers and practitioners to make informed, high-impact safety investments. Passionate about leveraging technology and data for safer roads, Amir continues to drive innovative, practical solutions to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on our transport networks.
What you’ll learn:
Focusing on systemic failures, not just human behaviour: Amir emphasises that crashes result from multiple system-level factors.
Data is essential for proactive safety: Reactive safety strategies (based only on crash history) lead to missed opportunities for reducing trauma. Data like speed, infrastructure, and behavioural insights are key to prevention.
There are obligations on the side of governments and data providers: Legacy systems, data silos, and organizational resistance are major blockers to using analytics effectively. But data providers need to ensure they set organisations up for success by providing support and maintaining good data governance.
Quotes
“If we focus only on human behavior, we miss a big part of the system — the real reason for most crashes.”
“The safe system principle tells us people will make mistakes, but those mistakes shouldn’t cost lives.”
“We used to simulate these outcomes 17 years ago. Now we have the real data to prove them… Without accurate data, we’re just guessing. With it, we can plan, predict, and prevent”
“The challenge isn’t just collecting data — it’s turning it into something decision-makers can actually use.”
“You can’t improve road safety with good intentions alone. You need good infrastructure, good data, and good analysis.”
“We often say we want evidence-based policy. Well, the evidence is here, but only if we know how to use it.”
Links:
Connect:
Connected with Amir on Linkedin
Connect with Emily via email: emily@compassiot.com.au
Connect with Byte Size via LinkedIn
Connect with Compass IoT (the producer of this podcast) via our website
Share this post