Author: agouma
Road Safety of single vehicle accidents in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
A significant decrease of 45% in single vehicle accident fatalities was recorded during the decade 2004-2013. Almost 115.360 persons were killed in single vehicle accidents, in the European Union countries within the decade 2004 – 2013. This number represents almost one third of all road accident fatalities in those countries (31,4%). 
Road Safety outside Urban Areas in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
More than 201.000 people were killed in accidents on roads outside urban areas – excluding motorways – in the EU between 2004 and 2013. This number represents 55% of all road fatalities in the EU. Fatalities outside urban areas were reduced by 46% over the last decade (from 26.199 in 2004 to 14.029 in 2013).
Road Safety at Junctions in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, 5.000 people were killed in road accidents at junctions throughout the EU, this number corresponds to a reduction of more than 50% since 2004. The proportion of fatalities occurring at junctions is higher on urban roads than on rural roads or motorways.
Road Safety on Motorways in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
Almost 30.000 people were killed in road accidents on motorways in the European Union countries between 2004 and 2013. This number corresponds to 8% of all road fatalities in those countries. The number of people killed in road accidents on motorways fell by 48% in the decade 2004-2013.
Road Safety of Car Occupants in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
More than 4.000 people died in road accidents involving HGVs and more than 700 people involving buses or coaches in 2013. Since 2004, the total number of fatalities involving HGVs, buses and coaches in EU fell by almost 50%.
Road Safety of Car Occupants in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, 11.838 car occupants were killed in road accidents in the EU. This represents 45% of all road fatalities in the EU in 2013. Of these 11.838 killed car occupants, 8.116 were drivers and 3.722 were passengers. In general, the proportion of car occupant fatalities has decreased by 12% over the period 2004-2013.
Road Safety of Motorcycles and Mopeds in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, at least 741 riders (drivers and passengers) of mopeds and 3.862 riders of motorcycles were killed in the EU in accidents. As compared to 2004 these numbers have decreased by about 60% and 30% respectively.
Road Safety by Gender in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
The road fatality rate of males in 2013 was more than three times the respective female rate. A reduction of 45% in road fatalities in 2013 compared with 2004 is observed throughout the EU, however the proportion of male road fatalities did not change significantly.
Road Safety of Cyclists in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, 2.017 cyclists were killed in road accidents in the EU countries, making up 7,8% of the total number of road accident fatalities that year. The total number of bicycle fatalities in the EU countries decreased by 32% between 2004 and 2013.
Road Safety of Pedestrians in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, 5.712 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in the EU, which is 22% of all fatalities. In the last decade, in the European Union, pedestrian fatalities were reduced by 37%, while the total number of fatalities was reduced by almost 45%.
Road Safety of the Elderly in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013 almost 6.500 elderly people died in road accidents in EU. Although older drivers are involved in less accidents, they represent one of the highest risk categories probably because of their great fragility and reduced tolerance to injury. The number of elderly people who died in the EU countries fell by 26% between 2004 and 2013.
Road Safety of Youngsters in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013 around 630 persons aged 15-17 died in road accidents, in the EU countries. The number of 15-17 years old fatalities in road accidents has decreased by almost 63% between 2004 and 2013.
Road Safety of Young people in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
More than 62.000 young people were killed in road accidents in the EU between 2004 and 2013, less than a fifth of all road accident fatalities in those countries. Young people are at almost twice the risk of being killed in a road accident than the average member of the population across the EU countries as a whole.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is observed on the third Sunday of November each year (this year on 15 November 2015) by an increasing number of countries on every continent around the world. This day adopted by the UN in 2005, was dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashesand their families and communities, as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who daily deal with the traumatic aftermath of road death and injury.
In Greece this year, Efthita Rhodes, member of FEVR (European Federation of Road Traffic Victims) and the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety organised a series of events to commemorate this day, including the promotion of the special video translated in several languages. Furthermore, on the occasion of this day, the Road Safety Institute Panos Mylonas (IOAS) has released the results of the UN Millennium Development Campaign MY World. 
The Road Safety Unit of DG Move of the European Commission has recently released a Report titled ‘Study on good practices for reducing road safety risks caused by road user distractions’ prepared by TRL, TNO and RAPPTrans. The study concluded that 10-30% of road accidents in the EU could have distraction as a contributory factor, although limitations of both data and their definitions mean that this figure requires further validation.
The Study identified a series of countermeasures that can be used to address driver distraction, including non-technology-based approaches
[legislation, certification, public awareness campaigns and education during the licensing acquisition process (as well as for professional drivers)] and the most promising technologies[collision warning systems (forward collision warning and lane departure warning), voice recognition, biometry, head up displays, artificial intelligence, and vehicle automation]. Standardised Human-Machine Interface design should also be an important component of an EU-wide approach to distraction. The Study concluded with nine key cost beneficial recommendations related to data, technologies, awareness & education, and standards addressed to the European Commission but also to all national and international road safety stakeholders (Authorities, Industry, Research, Interest groups).
Road Safety in Urban Areas in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2015 available at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission. These Traffic Safety Basic Facts contain a comprehensive series of statistical tables with the latest available data from the CARE database of the European Commission.
In 2013, 9.919 which is 38% of all road accident fatalities throughout the EU were killed on urban roads. The number of fatalities in urban road accidents has fallen since 2004 by more than a third (42%), the percentage of all fatalities that occurred within urban areas, however, has increased slightly.
The Private Sector Global Coalition Together for Safer Roads (TSR) composed by 11 leading global companies has recently published a White Paper titled “Investing in Road Safety – A global imperative for the private sector“, setting the orientations and priorities of the TSR Coalition for advancing road safety in the world. This White Paper was prepared by the TSR’s Expert Panel composed by international road safety experts, with the active participation of NTUA Prof. George Yannis.
In this White Paper, TSR’s Expert Panel assesses progress since the United Nations General Assembly established theUnited Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety in 2010,identifies gaps, and discusses the role of the private sector in advancing road safety. The role of the Global private sector Coalition is seen under three perspectives: as collaborators with the public sector and NGOs in demonstration projects; as managers of vehicle fleets traversing the world’s roads; and as participants in specific industries that have unique opportunities to improve road safety. With the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety at its midpoint, business has an opportunity to drive a groundswell of meaningful cross-sector action and help save millions of lives.
The 4th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI 2015) organised by the ARRB Group together with SAFER took place with great success was held in Sydney, Australia, on 9-11 November 2015. As driver distraction and inattention continue to be major contemporary road safety problems worldwide, DDI 2015 brought into the spotlight developments in research from mainstream and neighbouring disciplines, and showcased new and emerging technologies, products and countermeasures. The major themes for the conference this year included distraction and the automated vehicle, and the relationship between research findings yielded in experimental versus real world studies.
Athanasios Theofilatos has successfully defended his PhD thesis titled: An advanced multi-faceted statistical analysis of accident probability and severity exploiting high resolution traffic and weather data. This PhD thesis was carried out at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens under the supervision of Prof. George Yannis.
The objective of this PhD thesis is the investigation of accident probability and severity exploiting high resolution traffic and weather data from urban roads and motorways, collected on a real-time basis, with specific focus on Powered-Two-Wheelers. For that purpose, an advanced mesoscopic multi-faceted statistical analysis was conducted in order to expand previous road safety work and contribute to the further understanding of the complexity of accident probability and severity. Linear and non-linear models were developed on the basis of 6-year accident data from urban roads as well as an urban motorway in Greater Athens area (Attica Tollway). Empirical findings indicate that high resolution traffic and weather data are capable of opening new dimensions in accident analysis in urban roads and urban motorways. The multi-faceted statistical analysis conducted in the thesis has revealed a consistent and strong impact of traffic parameters on accident probability and severity. It is interesting that weather parameters were not found to influence accident probability and severity when linear relationships are considered, however, the application of cusp catastrophe models demonstrated that it is likely that even small traffic and weather changes may have a critical impact on road safety in urban roads as sudden transitions from safe to unsafe conditions (and vice versa) may occur, especially for PTW traffic. 
The 7th International Congress on Transportation Research, organised by the Hellenic Institute of Transport and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers took place in Athens, on 5-6 November 2015. The main topic of the Congress was: ‘From basic research to innovative application‘. This Conference series on Transport Research (ICTR), is considered a well established event in the transport sector in Greece in which more than 250 transport experts, decision makers and stakeholders contributed and discussed state of the art research findings and challenges ahead for more efficient, safer, and environmental and energy friendly transportation systems, with focus on the design, development and implementation of innovative new applications.
NTUA road safety presentations concerned:
Multivariate Statistical Methods for explaining Powered Two Wheelers’ Traffic in Urban Arterials Development of an Educational Scheme for Road Safety Auditors in Greece
The World Road Association (PIARC) has recently published the long waited second edition of the Road Safety Manual. The PIARC Road Safety Manual is aligned with key pillars of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 (1: Road Safety Management, 2: Safer Roads and Mobility and 4: Safer Road Users) and isdesigned to assist countries at every stage of infrastructure development and to fulfill road safety objectives. This comprehensive resource builds on the broad range of knowledge and experience provided by PIARC in the first edition. It includes new thinking on road safety and offers a clear argument on why adopting a Safe System approach is crucial for each country. The Safe System approach aims for a more forgiving road system that takes human fallibility and vulnerability into account. Under the Safe System approach, everyone (public agencies, automobile manufacturers, road users, enforcement officials, and others) must share the responsibility for road safety outcomes.
A workshop on the innovative internet platform e-Drive organised by the General Directorate for Road Safety of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks and supported by the European Commission and Digital Greece, took place with great success in Athens, on November 2nd, 2015. e-Drive is expected to become a central road safety web platform in Greece, for developing and exchanging road safety knowledge and resources with final objective to gradually develop conciousness towards an ecological and safe driving behaviour in Greece. The e-Drive Academy platform contains currently a series of programmes, destined for training of young, novice, older and professional drivers.
The XXVth PIARC World Road Congress took place with great success in Seoul, Korea on 2-6 November 2015. The congress was organized in close cooperation between the World Road Association (PIARC), responsible for the content and development of the programme, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea, the Korea Expressway Corporation, the Korea Road & Transportation Association and the PIARC Korean National Committee. The main theme of the XXVth World Road Congress concerned “Roads and Mobility – Creating New Value from Transport” with focus on sustainability and new technologies with the active five-days participation of thousands government officials, experts and business people from the road sector.
The European Road Federation (ERF) launched recently its Position Paper towards improving Traffic Signs in European Roads: “Improved Signage for better Roads“. This Position Paper advocates for authorities to avoid or tackle the over-proliferation of traffic signs and to ensure that those installed display a clear message, in order to achieve better road safety and traffic flow, and good use of public resources. Road authorities need to set a multiannual maintenance action plan. The need to adapt to the needs of an ageing driver population, by introducing a minimum maintenance standards for safety critical signs under the Vienna Convention is highlighted. This position paper calls for all stakeholders involved to examine the benefits of greater harmonisation of signs within the Vienna Convention to maximise the safety benefits of new vehicle technologies as well as to provide for a more familiar environment for increasing cross-border traffic volumes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015, which highlights that road traffic injuries are a major global health and development problem. This Status Report presents information on road safety from 180 countries out of a total of 195 WHO Member States, covering 6.97 billion people or 97% of the world’s population. It indicates that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths has plateaued at 1.25 million per year, with the highest road traffic fatality rates in low-income countries.
This WHO Global Status Report is accompanied by:
– country profiles with detailed background road safety data and information,
– comparative data tables, each one with detailed data of a specific topic by country/area,
– infographics illustrating the main road accident safety causes,
– an interactive world map highlighting the main road safety indicators in each country,
– the respective press material and the data collection methodology.
NTUA has contributed actively to the country profile of Greece.
An international conference on road accidents, injuries and rehabilitation organised by the Health School of TEI of Crete and Hannover Medical School, took place with great success in Iraklion, Crete, on 22-23 October 2015. During this Conference, the results of the EU co-funded project ‘Reducing the Harm and the Burden of Injuries and human Loss caused by road traffic crashes and Addressing Injury Demands through effective interventions‘ (REHABIL AID) were presented and discussed together with the socio-economic aspects of road accidents in Europe. More than 200 road safety experts, professionals and stakeholders contributed and discussed state of the art developments for road accident and injury prevention and safety promotion in Grece, in Europe and worldwide.
NTUA presentation concerned: ‘Road infrastructure safety management‘
The 9th Internationational Congress on Vascular Dementia (ICVD 2015) took place with great success on 15-18 October 2015 in Ljubljiana, Slovenia. The goal of this Congress is to facilitate a fruitful exchange of knowledge between clinicians and researchers in the field, with a particular interest in its overlaps with Alzheimer’s disease as well as the effects of vascular brain disease.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently released a Research Report on Improving Safety for Motorcycle, Scooter and Moped Riders. This Report summarises the findings of the work of the Working Group on the Safety of Powered Two Wheelers set up by ITF in 2010 aiming to review trends in powered two-wheeler crashes and examine the factors contributing to these crashes and their severity. In this Report are presented in a consolidated way, a set of countermeasures targeting user behaviour, the use of protective equipment, the vehicles and the infrastructure and discussion on motorcycle safety strategies in the context of a Safe System approach. NTUA has contributed actively to the preparation of this Report.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published a Report on Why Does Road Safety Improve When Economic Times Are Hard?. In this Report previous studies were reviewed and new ones are presented demonstrating that there is clear evidence that when economic growth declines, and particularly when unemployment increases, road safety improves, particularly among young people.
Furthermore it was found that the economic downturn in 2009-10 may well have contributed to about two-thirds of the decrease in road fatalities since 2008. It is suggested that policy makers need to take careful account of these results when setting up road safety targets and when designing road safety strategies for the future. NTUA has contributed actively to the preparation of this Report.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published a Report on Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM), that describes in a comprehensive way the most consolidated RISM procedures, analyses their use worldwide, identifies possible weaknesses and barriers to their implementation, provides example of good practices and aims to generally contribute to the scientific assessment of RISM procedures. The RISM procedures considered concern: Road Safety Impact Assessment, Road Safety Measures Efficiency Assessment Tools, Road Safety Audit, Network Operation, Road Safety Performance Indicators, Network Safety Ranking, Road Assessment Programme, Road Safety Inspection, High-Risk Sites and Road Accident In-Depth Investigation.
This report is considered of high interest for the decision makers, scientists and practicioners in the field of road infrastructure safety management. NTUA has contributed actively to the preparation of this Report.
