Abstract
Error depends for its definition, commission, and the seriousness of its consequences on the circumstances in which it occurs. As such, it is argued, in this overview of a large number of contemporary papers on (driver) error, that an erroneous act is only a useful index of behaviour where the background to that act is properly understood. The role of error in the development of skill, and its relationship to accident causation and risk-taking is discussed from this point of view.