Author: agouma
The Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR) and the European Association for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (EuroSafe) co-organised the EU-Safety 2023 Conference which was held with great success in Reykjavik, on 5-6 October 2023. Road Safety with focus on vulnerable road users was one of the main topics of the conference. 
The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) released recently a new guide titled “How Do Kids Experience Streets? The Reverse Periscope Companion Guide“. GDCI’s Streets for Kids Reverse Periscope is a do-it-yourself tool that encourages planners, city officials, and others to experience the obstacles and attractions of city streets from a child’s perspective. With this guide, anyone could learn how to create Reverse Periscope, what to look for when using it, and how to hold a community workshop to help more people experience Streets for Kids.
The HADRIAN Symposium was held in Graz, Austria, on 9-10 May 2023, under the theme “Shaping automated driving for human mobility needs“. The Horizon 2020 project HADRIAN (Holistic Approach for Driver Role Integration and Automation Allocation for European Mobility Needs) evaluated an holistic approach to shape automated driving to meet societal mobility needs. Over the last three years, the HADRIAN consortium investigated innovations within this scope and tested and demonstrated them in driving simulators and in real vehicles on test tracks and open roads. Results revealed that the “Integrated fluid HMI” had a great improvement in takeover performance and distraction prevention as well as outperformed with less mental or cognitive effort, higher comfort in use, and control feeling.
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
The European Commission published preliminary figures on Road Safety in the EU, showing that around 20,600 people were killed in road crashes last year, a 3% increase in 2021 as traffic levels recovered after the pandemic. This represents however 2,000 fewer fatalities (-10%) compared with the pre-pandemic year 2019. Remarkable is that within urban areas vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and users of powered two-wheelers) representing just under 70% of total fatalities.
iRAP with the suport of FIA Foundation and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has created the iRAP Safety insights Explorer, which can shine a light on the true scale road crashes, the safety of the world’s roads, and the positive impact that can be made with investment. With the iRAP Safety Insights Explorer you can explore: Estimates of the numbers and types of injuries that occur for every country by age and sex, star Ratings and key design attributes for more than 502,000km of roads in 84 countries, the business case for investing in safer roads, including the life-saving impact of ensuring that most travel occurs on roads rated 3-stars or better for everyone for every country.
The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “Well-Prepared Projects, A PIARC Collection of Case Studies“. This collection of case studies includes 17 cases from 10 different countries participating in this task force, plus one case dedicated to the use of the SOURCE platform in the preparation of transportation projects. The objective of this collection is to provide a variety of highly relevant examples from the real life. Each case outlines good practices in place in a country with a focus on a particular aspect of the project preparation.
The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “Documents Relevant to Road Infrastracture and Transportation Security“. This Literature Review is the first step in the development of a full technical Report on road infrastructure and transport security. The document contains a review of literature on road infrastructure and transport security. The review focuses on the following topics: Legislations and policies, Standards, Studies and researches, PIARC reports, Other reports, Manuals and books, Case studies and best practices, Events and situations. It is also completed with conclusions and recommendations, a glossary and appendices.
The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “Good Practices in Maintenance and Traffic Operation of Heavily Trafficked Urban Road Tunnels“. This Report makes amends in detailing the challenges and inherent good practices for maintenance and operation from traffic management, to design and renovation. It was cowritten by a panel of designers, owners, operators, policy makers in the field of tunnels, from around the world taking inspiration from previous PIARC Case Studies.
AMRKS and Tempulli Academy co-organised with great success the 9th International Conference “Road Safety Assessment-Challenges and Opportunities” which was held in Prishtina on 25 January 2023. This year’s conference came as a result of fruitful cooperation in several activities for road safety with the Kosovo Insurance Bureau BKS and with other institutions in this field in the country and abroad. It managed to serve as a powerful discussion platform to address the challenges and opportunities related to the road factor, which, along with the other two factors (the human factor and the vehicle factor), constitute the basic triangle of the causes of road accidents. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation :
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation :
The EU Methodology for Network Wide Road Safety Assessment
Are you involved in urban transportation planning? Your voice is valuable for PHOEBE project, which aims to improve road safety prediction tools holistically! Please participate in the PHOEBE’s 20-minute survey that studies the key outputs and analyses supporting transport policy and safety objectives.
You are invited to send us your input by 28 February 2023!
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organised with great success the 102nd Annual Meeting, which was held on 8-12 January 2023 in Washington DC. The meeting program covered all transportation modes, addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. More than 600 workshops and sessions were presented. NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:
NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:
The NTUA Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS) together with the European Technology Platform ALICE co-organised with great success the 9th International Physical Internet Conference (IPIC 2023) which was held in Athens on 13-15 June 2023. This year’s conference was open to all physical internet topics and focusing on Physical Internet as a suitable approach to overcome the latest global breakthroughs. The Call for contributions welcomes submissions related to the Physical Internet principles with a variety of themes to be covered.
The European Commission has published the EU Methodology for Network-Wide Road Safety Assessment, as developed by NTUA, FRED and FPZ and adopted by the EU Member States. Τhis Methodology will assist EU National Road Authorities to carry out safety assessments of their road network easily and efficiently, as required by the EU Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive. The Methodology comprises both a reactive (crash based) and a proactive (feature based) safety assessment, covering issues such as lane width, road curvature, junctions design, roadside layout and potential conflicts between motorised vehicles and vulnerable road users. Subsequently, the two assessments are integrated into a common safety rating system classifying all roads in a country. This way, Road Authorities will be able to identify priorities for future road safety interventions and investments.
A new publication titled EU Road Safety: Towards “Vision Zero” has been recently published by the European Commission. This publication presents a comprehensive overview of projects managed by CINEA and funded under Horizon 2020-the EU’s R&I programme that develop, test and exploit innovative solutions for a safer road transport. This document calls for a new approach to safe mobility to be achieved by 2030: one rooted in safety as a core value, and not one in which safety may come second to factors such as cost, speed, aesthetics, or profits. It draws on work done in the past few years by the H2020 funded projects.
The European Commission together with 2Zero, ERTRAC and CCAM organised with great success the Road Transport Research Results Conference (RTR Conference) which was held in Brussels on 14-16 February 2023. For the past six 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 had 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.
RDW (The Netherlands Vehicle Authority) hosted the CITA International Conference which was held in Rotterdam on 6-8 June 2023. The theme of the Conference was “Safe and Sustainable Road Transport”. Beside the plenary sessions, with top level representatives of the most relevant stakeholders, there was an opportunity to attend different split sessions: Vehicle compliance in Low and Middle Income Countries, new technologies and data management, environmental protection, corporate Members’ presentations, inspection procedures and methods, electric Vehicle & New transport modes, the Roadworthiness Package, vehicle approval.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently published a new Policy Brief titled Improving motorcyclist safety: Priority actions for Safe System integration. This Brief summarizes the current extent of PTW usage worldwide, highlights pressing safety issues for motorcyclists and presents priority actions for improving motorcycling safety. It results from a series of virtual workshops on motorcyclist safety held in 2021 and co-hosted by the ITF and key roadsafety partners.
The World Health Organization has released the 2nd edition of the Road Safety Manual for Powered Two- and Three-Wheeler (PTW) Safety. This 2nd edition offers guidance to help decision makers and practitioners put in place a comprehensive set of laws, regulations and actions needed to save lives. Rooted in new case studies and evidence, including from low- and middle-income countries, it includes guidelines on developing safer roads, ensuring safer mobility for all road users, vehicle safety standards, and actions to improve emergency responses to crashes.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum(ITF/OECD) published the Road Safety Annual Report 2022 focusing on the development of road safety in the year 2021, the first year of the Second Decade of Action. The analysis draws on road safety data from 34 IRTAD member countries. It outlines short‑term trends for the year 2021 and long‑term trends for the period 2010‑19. The Report also presents provisional data on road deaths for the first semester of 2022 (January to June).
Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has recently published a new Report titled “Progress in Reducing Drink-driving and other Alcohol-related Road Deaths in Europe“. This Report aims to provide an updated overview of the drink-driving situation in Europe, covering 30 countries: 25 Member States of the European Union together with the United Kingdom, Israel, Norway, the Republic of Serbia and Switzerland. It looks at country-by-country progress in reducing road deaths attributed to drink-driving over the past decade. A range of recommendations for further tackling drink-driving are included for national governments and the EU institutions throughout this Report.
A paper titled “The transformation of the insurance industry and road safety by driver safety behaviour telematics” authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Virginia Petraki, Armira Kontaxi and George Yannis, has been published in Case Studies on Transport Policy. The aim of the present research is to expand on the aforementioned topics based on trends from recently published research and discuss the transformation of the insurance industry by driver safety behaviour telematics. An overview of the relevant technological advancements is provided, followed by the integration practices of telematics adopted by the insurance industry. 
The European Commission organised with great success the EU Road Safety Results Conference which was held as a hybrid event (in Brussels and online), on 8 December 2022. The Conference was an opportunity to engage with EU Member State authorities and all stakeholders across the road safety community. In addition, it allowed participants to exchange views and experiences on the efforts to reach Vision Zero. The EU Road Safety Results conference 2022 Presentations are now available.
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has recently launched the FIA Road Safety Index, a tool that provides organisations with a methodology to assess their road safety performance and calculate their safety footprint, relying on a similar concept as the carbon footprint calculators. The safety footprint of an organisation refers to the number of fatalities and seriously injured persons as a result of road crashes occurring within its entire value chain. Designed on the basis of a long-term commitment, the index offers a systematic approach to identify, measure and follow up road safety results from a value chain perspective.
A paper titled “One year of COVID-19: Impacts on safe driving behavior and policy recommendations” authored by Eva Michelaraki, Marios Sekadakis, Christos Katrakazas, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Journal of Safety Research. This study presented a descriptive overview of several driving behavior indicators as well as road crash data in correlation with the strictness of response measures in Greece and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results indicated that during the lockdown periods, speeds were increased by up to 6%, while harsh events were increased by about 35% in the two countries, compared to the period after the confinement. However, the imposition of another lockdown did not cause radical changes in Greek driving behavior during the late months of 2020.
The approval of the National Road Safety Strategic Plan for the period 2021 – 2030 took place at the Fourth Meeting of the Road Safety Governmental Committee which was held on 29 November 2022. The Strategic Plan adopted, developed with the scientific support of NTUA, aims to reduce road fatalities by 50% by 2030 through 44 actions and 200 measures following the safe system approach and the vision zero fatalities by 2050. Committee Chairman, Deputy Minister for Transport, Mr. Michalis Papadopoulos, stated that “the improvement of road safety level in our country is one of the key priorities of the Government and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for safe traffic for everyone and everywhere”. 
The International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 7th Meeting of the Safer City Streets Network, which was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 18-19 October 2022. The Meeting’s agenda reflected plenty of key issues such as Monitoring Progress in Urban Road Safety – Release of new data and report and Inclusion, Equity, Gender, Sustainability and Participatory initiatives.
The Turkish National Police Academy – Directorate of Traffic Institute has organised with great success the 2nd International Road Safety Congress which was held in Istanbul on 17-20 November 2022. The International Road Federation (IRF Global) organised a special session on Artificial Intelligence for Safer Road Mobility in which NTUA contributed with the following presentation:
The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) together with the Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of NTUA, co-organised with great success the 8th ITS Hellas Conference, which took place in Athens on 7-8 December 2022. This Conference was held under the theme “Transportation & Logistics 2022: Research. Reshape. Innovate.”, focusing on the developments in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems in Greece. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation :
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation :
The United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in cooperation with participating ESV member countries organised the 27th International Technical Conference on The Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) which took place in Yokohama, Japan, on 3-6 April 2023. The conference was held under the theme “Enhanced and Equitable Vehicle Safety for All: Toward the next 50 years”.
Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 2nd LEARN Flash Report titled “The Role of Education in Reducing Deaths among Children and Youngsters on European Roads“. This Report provides an overview of the road safety of children and youngsters across Europe. It focuses on the progress in reducing road deaths during the past decade (2011-2021) as well as differences in road safety between the different countries, age groups as well as genders. It also provides recommendations to improve the provision and quality of traffic safety and mobility education.
