The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) announced today at the IRF World Congress 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey, the enhancement of the Star Rating for Designs (SR4D), a tool that allows the safety of road designs to be measured before the commencement of civil works. Using the tool, road engineers and designers can define a road’s geometry and code its features to obtain a globally recognised iRAP safety Star Rating, along with fatal and serious injury estimations, and safety investment plans to optimise safety.
The Horizon Europe research project metaCCAZE has recently released the metaCCAZE 1st Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded metaCCAZE project aiming to accelerate the deployment of smart systems that combine electric, automated and connected technologies and infrastructure, enabling zero-emission shared mobility services for both passengers and goods in European cities.
The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has released the Road Statistics Yearbook 2024” with the active contribution of NTUA. As for many years, this publication provides the road community with important updated information on road transport sector and road infrastructure in Europe and beyond as an essential key element of the global mobility with one section focusing on road safety.
The European Commission published the latest figures on Road safety in the EU, showing that 20,400 people were killed in road crashes in 2023, a 1% decrease in relation to 2022. While the underlying long-term trend is downward (-10% compared to 2019), the current pace of decline falls short of the required 4.5% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU’s goal of halving road deaths by 2030. Preliminary figures for the first six months of 2024 indicate the number of deaths on EU roads has remained the same, compared with the same period in 2023.
A new book titled “Governance Recommendations from Innovative Interdisciplinary Collaborations” authored by Imre Keserű, Samyajit Basu, Marianne Ryghaug and Tomas Moe Skjølsvold has been recently published. This book supports the transformation towards a more sustainable mobility and logistics system through its interdisciplinary approach and by formulating concrete policy recommendations. NTUA actively contributed with the following chapter, co-authored by Virginia Petraki, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis:
The Young and aging drivers Thematic Report of the European Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published with the active contribution of NTUA, containing a wealth of information on road safety in 39 countries across Europe, America and Asia-Oceania, based on the ESRA3 survey. This Thematic ESRA3 Report describes the self-declared behaviours and perceived acceptability (social and personal) related to driving while impaired, speeding, and distraction, among young and aging drivers. Furthermore, it includes comparisons among the participating countries as well as results in relation to age and gender.
The Speeding Thematic Report of the European Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published with the active contribution of NTUA, containing a wealth of information on road safety in 39 countries across Europe, America and Asia-Oceania, based on the ESRA3 survey. This Thematic ESRA3 Report describes the self-declared behaviour, acceptability, attitudes and support for policy measures regarding speeding. Factors associated with speeding per area and road type are also analysed. Furthermore, it includes comparisons among the participating countries as well as results in relation to age and gender.
The Infrastructure Thematic Report of the European Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published with the active contribution of NTUA, containing a wealth of information on road safety in 39 countries across Europe, America and Asia-Oceania, based on the ESRA3 survey. This Thematic ESRA3 Report describes the use and the safety perception of infrastructure among different road users, including car drivers, moped riders and motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. Furthermore, it includes comparisons among the participating countries as well as results in relation to age and gender.
Road Safety Support organized with great success the National Safer Roads Partnerships Conference which took place in Manchester, on 25-26 September 2024. Key topics discussed in this conference were science and technology within policing, a new way to measure traffic safety and road safety as a government priority. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:
The Transportation Infrastructure Scientific Association of Italy (ASIT) in cooperation with the Order of Engineers of the Province of Naples organized with great success the Traffic Moderation Conference, which was held online, on 9 October 2024. This conference aims to provide an overview of the results of the most recent national and European experiences related to the implementation of the speed limit of 30km/h in urban areas and traffic moderation. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:
The Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM) of the European Commission has recently delivered a set of Recommendations for the Commission’s mid-term review of the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030. More precisely, these recommendations focus on active mobility and road safety for Vulnerable Road Users. Furthermore, definitions and initial statements, as well as a set of recommendations for people who walk, cycle and use light electric vehicles, micromobility devices and powered two-wheelers, are being provided.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has launched a Vulnerable Road Users promotion activity focusing on children, cyclists, pedestrians and Powered Two-Wheelers (mopeds and motorcycles). According to the new Reports from the European Road Safety Observatory, the high vulnerability of non-motorised road users in urban areas is highlighted, with a disproportionately high number of fatalities in these areas for children (46% of total fatalities) and pedestrians (73%), compared to the average for all road users (38%). Recommendations to reduce fatalities among vulnerable users, including infrastructure improvements, protective equipment and vehicle design are also provided.
NTUA Professor George Yannis has been awarded an Honorary Distinction during the Environmental Awards 2024, organised by Boussias events, held on 30 September 2024 in Athens. Professor George Yannis was awarded for his campaign promoting city-wide 30km/h speed limits in as many cities as possible worldwide, as a key policy for safer, healthier and greener cities, through his challenge of 30 Marathons in 30 months. These unique Awards highlight and reward good practices and initiatives for environmental protection and sustainability, as well as innovative “green” projects, technologies or programmes.
Eva Michelaraki has successfully defended her PhD dissertation titled: Improving driver safety tolerance zone through holistic analysis of road, vehicle and behavioural risk factors, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. Data from 190 drivers who participated in a large on-road and simulator driving experiment were exploited. An innovative methodology, consisting of both statistical analyses (Generalized Linear Models, Structural Equation Models) and machine learning techniques (Decision Trees, k-Nearest Neighbors, Neural Networks and Random Forests) was implemented. Results indicated that RF models outperformed the DT and kNN models across all metrics, making them the most effective for predicting speeding and headway, with overall accuracy up to 90%. It was also revealed that task complexity was positively correlated with risk, while coping capacity was negatively correlated with risk, indicating that drivers with higher coping capacity are better equipped to handle challenging driving situations.
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is organising the 26th International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT) which will be held in Munich, Germany, on 20-24 July 2026. The primary objective of ISTTT is to facilitate scientific discourse and collaboration by convening leading experts and promising young researchers. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 9 December 2024.
The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) final event was held with great success in Tampere, Finland, on 26 September 2024. SHOW has generated a wealth of knowledge by directly addressing the mobility needs of passengers and logistics clients. The SHOW Final Event took stock of all project achievements, with a look forward to how that knowledge can be applied and replicated by cities. NTUA actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:
The 24th International Walk21 Conference on Walking and Liveable Communities will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 14-18 October 2024. The future city needs to be able to adapt to transitions with smart urban design and new mobility solutions. Key topic areas that will be discussed concern pedestrian safety and include positive public space, inclusivity, investing in walking and good governance. Researchers can register until 14 October 2024.
The European Commission together with 2Zero, ERTRAC, CCAM and BATT4EU are organising the Road Transport Research Results Conference (RTR Conference) which will be held in Brussels, on 11-13 February 2025. For the past seven years, the RTR Conference has been a unique entry point into the achievements of EU-funded projects in road transport. Once again this year, participants will have the chance to learn about results and expected impacts of CINEA supported Horizon 2020 projects, and the next steps in key areas for road transport research.
The I-Sense Group of the Institute of Communications & Computer Systems (ICCS) organised with great success the “Hi Drive International Summer School 2024“, which was held in Athens, Greece, on 25-26 September 2024. This Summer School session with theme “Navigating the Future with Advanced and Safe Automated Driving” aims to delve deeper into the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the dynamic field of Automated Driving (AD), which is a major component of road safety.
A paper titled “Detection of dangerous driving behaviour with wide-scale data from smart systems and machine learning techniques” authored by Hector Kamvoussioras, Thodoris Garefalakis, Eva Michelaraki, Christos Katrakazas and George Yannis has been published in Advances in Transportation Studies. Specifically, four classification models: Ridge Classifier (RC), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests (RF), and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) – were developed. These models were utilized to categorize driving behaviour into three defined levels of “Safety Tolerance Zone (STZ)”. The results revealed that the RF and XGBoost models achieved high accuracy, reaching 95% in prediction accuracy. By identifying the factors that influence risky driving behaviour, this framework offers valuable insights for guiding safety interventions , ultimately contributing to enhanced road safety.