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Author: agouma

Driving Instructors & Safe Driving Workshop – Athens 2016

A workshop on ‘Driving Instructors and Safe Driving: The primary sector of road safety‘ organised by the Pan-hellenic Federation of Driving Instructors within the framework of Athens Money Show 2016, took place with great success on April 23rd, 2016, in Athens. Several presentations and discussions highlighted the key current road safety challenges in Greece, whereas driving instructors delivered safe and eco-driving seminars to visitors of Athens Money Show 2016 with the support of car and motorcycle driving simulators.

NTUA presentation concerned: Road accident charasteristics and countermeasures.

NTUA presentations at the European Transport Research Arena – Warsaw 2016

During the European Transport Research Arena Conference 2016, that took place in Warsaw from 18 to 21 April 2016, NTUA has contributed a series of road safety presentations with key results from the various national and international road safety research activities that is involved:

An Exploration of Road Safety Parameters in Belarus and the European Union (BeSafe)

Pedestrian Risk Taking while Road Crossing: A Comparison of Observed and Declared Behaviour (PedMod)

Innovative Insurance Schemes: Pay As/How You Driver (PhD)

Predicting Road Accidents: a Rare-Events Modeling Approach (PhD)

Use of Accident Prediction Models in Road Safety Management – An International Inquiry(PRACT)

Development of a Transnational Accident Prediction Model (PRACT)

Management of Road Infrastructure Safety (IRTAD)

Road Safety Investments and Interventions in South East Europe (ROSEE)

Investigating the Effect of Area Type and Traffic Conditions on Distracted Driving Performance(Distract)

Which are the Critical Measures to Assess the Driving Performance of Drivers With Brain Pathologies? (DriverBrain)

How Safe Are Cyclists on European Roads? (ERSO+)

Characteristics and Causes of HGV and Buses Accidents in Europe (ERSO+)

Socioeconomic status and traffic safety of pre-school children: a study in Athens (PhD)

Transport Research Arena, Warsaw 2016

The 6th Edition of the Transport Research Arena 2016 (TRA 2016) took place with great success in Warsaw, Poland from 18 to 21 April 2016. TRA is the major European Conference on Transport Research, supported by the European Commission (EC), the Conference of European Road Directors (CEDR) and the four European Technology Platforms on surface transport: the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC), the European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC), WATERBORNE TP, and the Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration (ALICE). TRA 2016 Conference contributed to innovation in sustainable mobility for Europe, with the active participation of more than 2.200 participants from more than 50 countries. The main theme of TRA 2016 was – MOVING FORWARD Innovative Solutions for Tomorrow’s Mobility. TRA 2016 seeked to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the transport sector and, for this reason, addressed all stakeholders in both the public and private sectors and all professionals, regardless of their roles (researchers, practitioners, designers, constructors, operators, administrators, policy makers etc.). Several road safety sessions and discussions were among the key activities of the TRA 2016 Conference.

UGroningen – Traffic Psychology and Sustained Mobility MSc Programme – 2016

The MSc programme ‘Traffic Psychology and Sustained Mobility‘will start running on 1 September 2016, by the University of Groningen. The programme is based on differenct disciplines covering the broad theme of mobility and offer courses that examine social perspectives that consider how a decline in the ability to process information affects mobility and that focus on the clinical effects of ageing (e.g. dementia). Road Safety in the modern mobility framework is a key issue addressed by this MSc Programme.

UN Resolution to Establish Road Safety Trust Fund 2016

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution seeking to establish a road safety trust fund, Aimed at Halving Global Number of Traffic Deaths and Injuries. Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted a draft resolution titled “Improving global road safety” (document A/70/L.44), expressing concern that road traffic crashes killed more than 1.25 million people and injured as many as 50 million people a year. It invited Member States and the international community to step up collaboration to meet target 3.6, and encouraged the upcoming United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development to consider road safety and safe, affordable public transport. Jean Todt, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Road Safety, stated that the Road Safety Trust Fund is a priority, taking into account that the cost of road accidents and their consequences is estimated to around $500 billion a year.

Towards an integrated approach of pedestrian behaviour and exposure – 2015

A paper titled ‘Towards an integrated approach of pedestrian behaviour and exposure’ authored by Eleonora Papadimitriou is now published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. An integrated methodology for the analysis of pedestrian behaviour and exposure is proposed. The paper builds on existing research on pedestrian exposure, namely the Routledge microscopic indicator, and uses integrated choice and latent variables (ICLV) models of pedestrian behaviour, taking into account road, traffic and human factors. The method is tested with data from a field survey in Athens, Greece, which used pedestrian behaviour observations as well as a questionnaire on human factors of pedestrian behaviour. The results suggest that both pedestrian behaviour and exposure are largely defined by a small number of factors: road type, traffic volume and pedestrian risk-taking. The probability for risk-taking behaviour and the related exposure decrease in less demanding road and traffic environments. A synthesis of the results reveals conditions of increased risk exposure: principal urban arterials (where risk-taking behaviour is low but the related exposure is very high) and minor arterials (where risk-taking behaviour is more frequent, and the related exposure is still high). A “paradox” of increased risk-taking behaviour of pedestrians with low exposure is found, suggesting that these pedestrians may compensate in moderate traffic conditions due to their increased walking speed.

ICTTP Symposium: Older Drivers 2016

A dedicated Symposium on Older drivers is organised to take place on 3 August 2016, during the Sixth International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology (ICTTP2016) in Brisbane, Australia. This symposium will address current issues in older driver safe mobility and will present the results of significant research undertaken across two continents. Using the experiences learned from naturalistic driving studies, the participants will become aware of what is known about the driving patterns of older adults.

EU road safety statistics call for fresh efforts to save lives on EU roads 2015

The European Commission has published the most recent statistics on road fatalities, based on provisional data for 2015 road deaths in Europe, confirming that European roads remain the safest in the world despite a recent slowdown in reducing road fatalities. 26.000 people lost their lives on EU roads last year, 5.500 fewer than in 2010. There is however no improvement at EU level compared to 2014. In addition, the Commission estimates that 135.000 people were seriously injured on EU roads. The social cost (rehabilitation, healthcare, material damages, etc.) of road fatalities and injuries is estimated to be of at least €100 billion. The country-specific statistics reveal that the number of road fatalities still varies greatly across the EU, though this gap is becoming smaller every year. It is the first time ever that all EU countries present a rate of fatalities per million population of less than 100.

Relating traffic fatalities to GDP in Europe on the long term – 2016

A paper titled ‘Relating traffic fatalities to GDP in Europe on the long term‘ with emphassis to turbulent financial situations, co-authored by Costas Antoniou, George Yannis, Eleonora Papadimitriou and Sylvain Lassarre is now published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. For this analysis, time series of the number of fatalities and GDP in 30 European countries for a period of 38 years (1975–2012) were exploited. This process relies on estimating long-term models (as captured by long term time-series models, which model each country separately). Based on these developments, utilizing state-of-the-art modelling and analysis techniques such as the Common Correlated Effects Mean Group estimator (Pesaran), the long-term elasticity mean value equals 0.63, and is significantly different from zero for 10 countries only. When we take away the countries, where the number of fatalities is stationary, the average elasticity takes a higher value of nearly 1. This shows the strong sensitivity of the estimate of the average elasticity over a panel of European countries and underlines the necessity to be aware of the underlying nature of the time series, to get a suitable regression model.

European Commission new enforcement and road safety rules 2016

The European Commission has adopted a series of rules applicable to road hauliers and road passenger transport operators. They include a common classification of serious road safety infringements undertransport legislation, as well as new specifications for smart tachographs (the device that records driving times of lorry, bus and coach drivers), making the best use of new digital technologies such as Galileo. The objective is to enhance road safety, contribute to a fairer competition between road transport operators and to facilitate a consistent enforcement of EU rules across borders.

Road fatalities characteristics, Greece 1991-2014

Basic characteristics of road fatalities in Greece for the period 1991 – 2014 are summarised in a comprehensive Table (data source: ELSTAT). Since 2001, there are more than 1.000 less road fatalities per year in Greece. According to these time series data a spectacular decrease (more than 60%) in road fatalities for young people and children is observed during the last decade, as well in fatalities outside urban areas, especially in junctions and in in accidents with heavy goods vehicles. On the contrary, fatalities decrease during the last decade is quite limited for motorcyclists and cyclists, older drivers, women drivers and non resident riders, as well as in junctions inside urban areas.

Greece’s impressive road fatalities drop is stalled in 2015

According to provisional data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the number of road fatalities in 2015 shows a slight annual increase of 1,3%, whereas injury accidents show a slight decrease of -1.1%. This road fatalities increase is observed for the first time since 2004, ending an impressive 49% road fatalities decrease in the economic crisis period 2008-2014 (-23% in injury accidents). Greece has reached a point where there is great need for extra effort to further improve road safety in the Greek roads, with systematic actions from the Authorities and serious engagement from the society despite the continuous economic and social crisis in Greece.

ETSC – How safe are new cars sold in the EU? – 2016

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has just published the 30th PIN Flash Report ‘How safe are new cars sold in the EU?‘. In the last decade the long term road safety trend has been positive across the EU countries, and although the reduction in deaths may be a result of many factors, including better enforcement, changing behaviour and safer infrastructure, there is little doubt thatimproved vehicle safety standards since the late 1990’s have played an important role. One important indicator of the level of vehicle safety in Europe overall is what proportion of the number of tested vehicles actually sold meet Euro NCAP’s highest safety ratings. The last assessment of the progress of the Euro NCAP programme carried out by ETSC in 2009 found that there were very significant differences between the average Euro NCAP rating of new cars sold in Eastern and Central European countries, compared to their Western European counterparts.

Road fatalities by transport mode, Greece 2014

According to the ELSTAT final road accidents data for 2014 in Greece, 34% of road fatalities are passenger car occupants, whereas 38% of road fatalities are power two wheelers. Most car occupant fatalities occur outside built-up areas while most motorcycle and pedestrian fatalities occur inside built-up areas. Accident severity is higher outside built-up areas for all transport modes.

Road fatalities by weather conditions, Greece 2014

According to ELSTAT data, the majority of road accidents and fatalities occur during clear sky, both inside and outside built-up area. However, accident severity is increased during raining and other weather conditions.

Road fatalities by lighting condition, Greece 2014

According to ELSTAT data, most fatalities occur at daytime and at night with good street lighting inside built-up area, or with no street lighting outside built-up area. Accident severity is increased at night with no street lighting or poor street lighting.

Road fatalities by road type, Greece 2014

According to ELSTAT data, among the 795 persons killed in Greece in 2014: 415 were outside built-up areas and 401 were inside built-up areas. 59% of road fatalities outside built-up area occurred on national roads. More than 80% of road accidents and half of fatalities occurred inside built-up areas. However,accident severity is almost 5 times higher outside built-up areas in total.

Road fatalities by age, gender, road user type, Greece 2014

According to ELSTAT data, 795 persons were killed in Greece in 2014: 539 drivers, 130 passengers and 125 pedestrians. Male drivers account for 64% of all road fatalities in Greece. Young male drivers aged 15-24 years old account for 17% of male driver fatalities and older people account for more than 50% of pedestrian fatalities. The higher accident severity was found in accidents involving older persons (7 fatalities per 100 accidents) and younger persons (4.6 fatalities per 100 accidents).

Road fatalities by accident type, Greece 2014

According to ELSTAT final road accidents data for 2014, collisions with stopped vehicle and when running off the road are the two most common accident types outside built-up areas. At angle collisions, pedestrian accidents, come off the road and collisions with stopped vehicle are the most common accident types inside built-up areas. Accident severity is more than 5 times higher outside built-up areas and 8 times higher at pedestrian accidents.

NTUA Civil Engineering School ranked 8th in Europe 2016

The Civil Engineering School of the National Technical University of Athens was ranked this year 8th in Europe and 33rd worldwide among all Civil Engineering Schools. This ranking is produced by the QS Organisation based on the following criteria: Research, Teaching, Employability, Facilities, Internationalization, Innovation, Engagement and Access. NTUA road safety activities have contributed to this ranking. Professor Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Dean of the Civil Engineering School said that this great improvement is the result of the systematic and collective efforts of all Faculty members, researchers and students for academic and research excellence.

ETSC Safe & Sober Campaign Workshop, Athens 2016

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), together with the Road Safety Institute ‘Panos Mylonas’ organised a round-table event under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks and in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute of Trasportation Engineers in order to raise awareness amongst policy makers, the private sector and key opinion leaders of how to strenghten a systemic approach to reduce alcohol misuse in road transport, especially in poorly-performing EU Member States. The Workshop took place with great success on 21 March 2016 in Athens and NTUA Professor George Yannis coordinated the presentations and discussions among the more than 130 road safety decision makers, stakeholders and experts. During the conference the innovative system alcohol interlock was presented that does not allow the vehicle to start if the driver is found under the influence of alcohol.

Road Safety & Tourism Workshop in Peloponnese 2016

A Workshop on Road Safety and Tourism in Peloponnese, organised by the Greek Society of Regional Scientists and Make Safe Roads Hellas, took place with great success on 19 March 2016, in Vrachati Corinthias, Greece. The aim of this workshop was to emphasize on the necessity of regional level planning for road safety, with particular focus to touristic periods and related vulnerable road users and tourist industry professionals. More than 80 key decision makers and stakeholders from the regional tourist and road safety sectors contributed and discussed problems and solutions for the upgrade of road safety in tourist areas in Peloponese and in Greece in general.

All the presentations are now available:

NTUA presentation concerned: ‘Road safety in Greece and at its touristic areas‘

PIARC Improving safety in road tunnels through real-time communication 2016

The World Road Association (PIARC) has recently released a Report titled ‘Improving safety in road tunnels through real-time communication with users‘. This report is a continuation of the one published by PIARC in 2008 on ‘Human Factors and road tunnel safety regarding users‘. It describes human behavioural aspects when driving, andhow to communicate information to tunnel users in normal, congested and critical situations. It details the various systems that can be activated for real-time communication with users and reviews how these devices can be used in cases of congestion, a serious incident and fire and how the activation of these systems and devices must be adapted to the changing circumstances of the event.

ETSC new film on Seat Belt Reminder Systems Importance 2016

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has released a new film that is calling the European Commission to require the fitting of Seat Belt Reminder Systems in all passenger seats in new cars when it reviews vehicle safety regulations later this year. The short video highlights thecritical importance of seat belt wearing to prevent serious injury and death and cites research showing that up to a quarter of rear seat passengers are still failing to belt up. Seat Belt Reminder systems are already required on drivers’ seats thanks to the last update to vehicle safety regulations in 2009. The film features experts in vehicle safety, post-collision rehabilitation and police enforcement.

European Commission – Road Safety Country Overview for Greece 2015

A comprehensive Overview of Road Safety in Greece 2015has been recently published at the European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) of the DG Move Road Safety Unit of the European Commission, with the active contribution of NTUA, KFVand ERF. This Overview is part of the 2015 Edition of the EU Road Safety Country Overviews recently published at ERSO, based on most recent disaggregate data from the CARE Database as well as on structured information gathered from the EU Member States. At this Overview a comprehensive picture of Road Safety in Greece is provided covering the road safety structure and culture, the related measures and programmes, some safety performance indicators, the road casualties figures and the related social costs. From this Overview, the impressive road fatalities decrease of almost 50% since 2009 is clearly depicted, together with all the strengths and weakness for the further improvement of road safety in Greece.

ETSC new film on Intelligent Speed Assistance 2016

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has released a new film that makes the case for making overridable Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) a standard feature on all new vehicles in Europe. The five-minute video has been launched as the European Commission continues work on the development of the next generation of vehicle safety standards, expected to be launched later this year. A major study published last year by the European Commission found that Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is one of several new vehicle technologies which are now suitable for mandatory fitting on new cars as they are ‘feasible in terms of the technology required’, already available on the market and offer a positive benefit-cost ratio.

The Ultimate Guide to Road Safety Apps 2016

Personal Injury Claim has launched its Ultimate Guide to Road Safety Apps, an online guide that looks at the main areas of road safety where smartphone apps are available to promote safer driving through the use of apps. While smartphones often act as distractions and can actually cause collisions, they can also reduce the level of risk through specific applications.

5th International Cycling Safety Conference, Bologna 2016

The 5th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC2016) organised by SWOV, TU Delft, TNO and Chalmers, will take place on 3-4 November 2016 in Bologna, Italy. The conference invites contributions on new developments, approaches and knowledge in the areas of cycling safety. Topics for the conference include: Human factors – Safety-related behaviors and attitudes – Bicycle accident causation – Bicycle accident prevention – Active safety systems – Medical aspects of bicycle accidents – Cyclists’ injury prevention – Cycling infrastructures – Cycling education – Naturalistic cycling – Interaction between cyclists and cars/trucks – Helmet use – Cyclists’ impairment, distraction and inattention – Bicycle engineering including intelligent technology – Safe cycling in cities. The deadline for abstract submission is 30 April, 2016.

22nd International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment Crete, Greece, 21-23 June 2016

The 22nd International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment organised by Wessex Institute and the University of Naples Federico II, took place with great success in Crete, Greece, on 21-23 June 2016. This event has been successfully held annually for more than 20 years and its distinctive element is the interaction between academic and practical perspectives where theories and ideas are debated and their practical applications rigorously tested.

Road Safety for the International Business Traveler – Gothenburg 2016

A Road Safety Conference for the International Business Traveler, organised by the Department of Public Health, University of Gothenburg in cooperation with the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Vehicle and Traffic Safety Center at Chalmers (SAFER) will take place in Gothenburg, on 30 May 2016. The aim of the conference is to review road safety from the aspects of the quality of roads, cars, and drivers with a focus on developing countries, and to discuss corporate travel policies and how they can be tailored to avoid collisions and serious injuries among business travelers.