CARSP SNN Interview – Nicolas Saunier
Kristine D’Arbelles
Welcome to the sixth in a series of video interviews featuring members of the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals. My name is Kristine D’Arbelles. I’m Senior Director of Public Affairs at CAA and I joined the Safety Network Newsletter editorial committee in 2025. I’m delighted that one of my first tasks is to introduce you to one of our association’s leading members.
I have the pleasure of presenting my interview with Nicolas Saunier, a full professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. His many research interests include smart transportation, road safety and transportation data science. Without further ado, here’s my interview with Nicolas…
Kristine D’Arbelles
To begin with, I have a couple of questions to help our members get to know you a little better. First off, if I asked you to share a fun fact about yourself, what would it be?
Nicolas Saunier
A fun fact? Well, it can be funny how we end up where we are, in our positions.
For instance, I work on transportation in the civil engineering department. I’m assigned to the civil engineering program, which deals a little with transportation. Road safety is often classified under civil engineering, or associated with it. But I consider it a very multidisciplinary field, and I’m not a civil engineer.
I’m a data engineer who started out working in telecommunications. The funny thing is, I went to school in France, and back then you had to take competitive exams. You’d prepare yourself and then take entrance exams for different schools in the French system. It turned out I was eligible for one of those schools. In other words, my grades were good enough to get into that school. It’s called the École des ponts et chaussées [literally, the school of bridges and roadways]. I looked at the curriculum, etc. And I saw there were things related to civil engineering, including specializations in concrete. I asked myself, “Concrete?”
“No, that doesn’t interest me.” I’m not even sure I knew exactly what concrete was. I just wasn’t interested. There was no way I’d study something like that. Instead, I took artificial intelligence at a telecommunications school. Years later, I became a professor in the civil engineering department, and my colleagues were making concrete. I still don’t know much about concrete.
But there you have it. Your career path can take some ironic turns.
Kristine D’Arbelles
A lifetime of being followed by concrete.
Nicolas Saunier
It’s an important subject, that’s for sure. But it’s not my field of expertise. Anyway, I haven’t been able to get away from it.
Kristine D’Arbelles
Excellent. Here’s my second question: What led you to work in the field of road safety? Why road safety?
Nicolas Saunier
I don’t know if others would say the same thing, but it’s like my answer to the first question. Simply put, it was a matter of chance.
After finishing my engineering degree, I wanted to do a doctorate. I met a graduate who was working in transportation, and that’s how I got into the field. My research involved looking at different aspects of road safety, doing experiments. It was purely by chance, I have to admit. But since then, transportation is what has tied everything together. The common thread to all my work. Yeah, the subject sort of just fell into my lap.
I think we realize it’s out there, but at the same time we don’t always see it as something that directly affects our lives.
It’s easy to forget just how important it is, and I’m fascinated by how it shapes so many aspects of life.
And if I’m still working on it today, it’s because I find it so important for public health.
Kristine D’Arbelles
Well, we’re happy to have you as a member and that you’re working in the field of road safety.
Speaking of road safety, what would you say is one of the most pressing research needs in the field?
Nicolas Saunier
That’s a rather difficult question. It’s always hard to choose just one thing.
Right now, I’m working on a fairly big project that’s trying to unite different research initiatives. But the focus is on data. That’s also my area of expertise, as I explained earlier. I’m very interested in data analysis.
Most of us who work in road safety deal with accident data. As they say, accidents happen. And they’re what we want to prevent. But by the time accidents happen, it’s already too late. We need to be more proactive.
Once again, it’s something I started working on during my doctorate. I was looking for a different methodology, one that didn’t require waiting for accidents to happen. So, I’ve been interested in one specific topic since I was a doctoral student.
It’s called conflict techniques. At the same time, we use other methodologies to analyze traffic, the real-life phenomenon. And we try to diagnose issues before an accident happens. I think data is key to all this. Why do I say that? Today, we could do a lot of things if we had access to that data, to all available data. People share a lot of data with certain stakeholders, data that reflects their movements or how they live their lives. Just think about smartphones and other devices. Whether we’re aware of it or not, a lot of that data ends up being collected by other organizations.
For example, insurance companies offer usage-based policies that rely on telematics. And we know that this data could be used to diagnose different issues and analyze factors affecting road safety. But the data in question is held by organizations that don’t like to share it. So, we’re back to the question of data. If we had access to all the existing data, we could do a lot more in terms of improving road safety.
But right now, we don’t really have the necessary governance framework or working approach. Once again, the data isn’t really being used to its full potential. For that, we need to be able to share it or to create a framework or governance structure for working with the people who have the right data, and to connect them with the government agencies that are working to improve road safety.
The issue isn’t a lack of technical solutions. We already have a good idea of what we could do with available technologies. It’s a matter of getting access to the data and being able to share it.
Kristine D’Arbelles
Of course, because having access to data can change how we approach road safety and what we do to improve it. It’s a very important topic. To wrap things up, what advice would you give someone interested in a road safety career?
Nicolas Saunier
That’s a tough one. As I was saying, it’s not necessarily seen as a separate field. There aren’t any dedicated programs. You can’t become a road safety engineer. Well, you can, but that will be just one aspect of your training.
I don’t think it would even occur to me to encourage my children to become one, or to focus on road safety specifically.
Generally speaking, I think you need intellectual curiosity. That’s an important factor. I think you need to work on something that interests you.
I also think that road safety is a field where you can really have a positive impact on society. I do think it’s an important area of study, but I find it difficult to recommend or offer specific advice.
I think you need to follow your curiosity, explore subjects that interest you. You might end up working in road safety, but you might also find yourself working in a similar field that has the same kind of impact, that connects you to people in the same way or that also makes a positive overall contribution to society. But in my experience, the field is as likely to choose you as you are to choose it.
Kristine D’Arbelles
You mentioned curiosity. I think it’s really important and that it could help a young person who wants to work in road safety. Being curious helps a lot.
Well, those are all my questions. Thanks so much for your time today. Would you be willing to share your experiences in the field of road safety? We’d love to feature you in an upcoming member interview. We can even do it in French, like this one…
You can email us at info@carsp.ca. Until next time, thank you.