The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has just released its strategic road safety research priorities for Horizon 2020 the next Multi-Annual framework programme for research and innovation of the European Commission. This road safety research road mapidentifies six priority areas which the ERF believes can contribute significantly towards the ambitious goal set by the European Commission of reducing fatalities by 50% compared to 2010 levels. More specifically, ERF urges policy makers to devote research funding in the following areas:

– Adapting the infrastructure to meet the challenges of 21st century traffic

– Alternative tools for financing and maintaining roads

– Developing tools for more cost-effective road operation and maintenance

– In-depth statistics into the causality of accidents

– Infrastructure and vulnerable road users

– Wider deployment and harmonisation of ITS Solutions.