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FEMA – 4th European Motorcyclists’ Forum – Brussels 2015

The 4th European Motorcyclists Forum, organised by the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA), hosted by the European Parliament members Inés Ayalá-Sender (S&D), and Wim van de Camp (EPP), Transport Committee Vice-Chairman Dominique Riquet (ALDE) took place in Brussels, on 2-3 February 2015. This year’s Forum focused on the question “How to tackle motorcycle safety challenges for the next decade?

After a series of presentations and discussions on the 2nd of February the second day was used to obtain views on the outcomes of the EU co-financed project RIDERSCAN– A European Scanning Tour for Motorcycle Safety, including the state of the art of motorcycle safety knowledge, access to powered two wheelers, the traffic and road environment, and how to convey safety messages to riding community, in order to set up a result-based PTW safety strategy. Subsequently, the Debate-Session in the Parliament took place in the morning of Tuesday 3rd of February and further expand on motorcycling safety in the context of the mid-term evaluation of Commission road safety policy orientations 2011-2020.

Road fatalities per million population, European Union 2002 – 2013

Ten countries have a better performance than the EU average.Greece is ranked 21st in 2013. Spain reached more than 70% reduction of the rate fatalities per population for the period 2002-2013.

Road fatalities by road user type, European Union 2012

Car drivers are the largest road user group among road fatalities in all EU-23 countries. Together with car passengers they account for 46% of all fatalities.

Road fatalities by road type, European Union 2012

In EU-23, only 7% of road fatalities occurred in motorways. 55% of road fatalities occurred on non motorway rural roads. In Greece, more road fatalities occurred on urban than rural roads.

Road fatalities by age and gender, European Union 2012

Far more males than females are killed in road accidents in all EU-23 countries. Most road fatalities are within the 64+ age group.

Basic Road Fatalities Figures, European Union 2002 – 2013

Road fatalities have decreased by more than 50% during the period 2002-2013, leading to 27.894 less road fatalities (2013) in comparison to 2002. Six countries ( ES, LV, SK, EE, LT, PT) have reached reduction of more than 60% for the period 2001-2013. The performance of Greece in fatalities reduction is ranked 20th.

Prof. George Yannis Lecture at University of Maryland – 2015

NTUA Professor George Yannis has given an invited lecture at the National Transportation Center of the University of Maryland led by Prof. Lei Zhang, on “Traffic and safety data analysis: from correlation to causation and policy support“. The Lecture focussed on the various facets of road safety data, starting from the need for evidence based road safety policies, followed by key road safety analysis methods, the challenges of road safety measures’ assessment and the role of road user behaviour and concluding with an integrated road safety approach from data monitoring and analysis to policy support.

TRB Annual Meeting – Washington 2015

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) 94th Annual Meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in 11-15 January 2015. The TRB Annual Meeting program covered all transportation modes, with more than 4,500 presentations in nearly 800 sessions and workshops addressing topics of interest to all attendees-policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. The spotlight theme for the 2015 TRB Annual Meeting was Corridors to the Future: Transportation and Technology.

NTUA presentations concerned:

Multilevel comparative analysis of road safety in european capital cities

Introducing human factors in pedestrian crossing behavior models

Driving behaviour of drivers with mild cognitive impairment and alzheimer’s disease: a driving simulator study

Do simulator measures improve identification of older drivers with MCI?

Localization and driving behavior classification using smartphone sensors in the direct absence of GNSS

Controlling crest vertical curvature rates based on variable grade stopping sight distance calculation

Management of Road Infrastructure Safety

European Commission – Safety-related aspects of tyre use 2014

The European Commission has recently released a Study on some safety-related aspects of tyre use, prepared by the TNO and TML. The overall aim of the study is to propose policy options concerning the use of tyres for improvement of traffic safety. Centrally to this, is the idea that end users need to make the correct assessment in relation to the tyre condition in order to achieve a level of safety as high as possible. The tyre condition is considered in relation to technical elements (tyre inflation pressure, tyre tread depth, tyre damage, tyre age, and meteorological influences) and one information element (driver awareness). The study addresses the topics of tyre usage and the impact on road safety (which are the potential safety improvements related to tyre usage from a technical perspective) and how can road users be supported to use tyres that have a better safety performance by policy options.

UN Third Global Road Safety Week 2015

The UN Road Safety Collaboration is organising the global campaign for the Third UN Global Road Safety Week, 4-10 May 2015, on the theme children and road safety: #SaveKidsLives. The campaign seeks to highlight the plight of children on the world’s roads, generate action to better ensure their safety and promote the inclusion of safe and sustainable transport in the post-2015 development agenda. The centrepiece of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, which was launched in November 2014, is a child declaration, developed with input from children around the world. The campaign invites all road safety policy-makers and advocates to “sign it”, “show it”, and “deliver it” to those in charge of road safety in countries and communities during the Week.

NTUA best wishes for a joyful and safe 2015

We heartily wish you very joyful Christmas holidays and a very happy and fruitful new year 2015, plenty of personal and professional achievements. Let’s dream, let’s hope and let’s work systematically for a more bright 2015, getting closer to the road casualties zero vision in Europe.

Greek motorways campaign for safe work zones 2014

A joint campaign is organised by the Greek Moorways ‘Attiki Odos‘, ‘Aegean Motorways‘, ‘Gefyra‘, ‘Egnatia Odos‘, ‘Kentriki Odos‘, ‘Moreas‘, ‘Nea Odos‘ and ‘Olympia Odos‘ to raise road safety awareness at work zones. As part of the campaign a brochure is distributed by all the country’s traffic tolls, that invites drivers in mutual commitment to respect human life and thus the safety of all those working on the road.

Swedish Motorcyclists Association – The Motorcycle Vision 2015

The second version of the Motorcycle Vision is now available by the Swedish Motorcyclists Association (SMC). The aim of the Motorcycle Vision is to introduce the motorcyclists’ views on the targets in Vision Zero and how they should be achieved. Six years after the release of the first Motorcycle Vision, SMC releases the Motorcycle Vision version 2.0, updated on the basis of statistics, research, new knowledge and experiences. The Report focusses on the responsibility of the motorcyclists, the interaction with other users, a more motorcycle friendly transport system and the safer vehicles.

A review of Powered-Two-Wheeler behaviour and safety – 2014

A paper titled ‘A review of Powered-Two-Wheeler behaviour and safety‘ co-authored by Athanasios Theofilatos and George Yannis is now published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. Current research on PTW safety is not as extensive as for other road users (passenger cars, etc.) and this research provides a critical review of research on Power-Two-Wheeler behaviour and safety with regard to data collection, methods of analysis and contributory factors, and discuss the needs for further research. Both macroscopic analyses (accident frequency, accident rates and severity) and microscopic analyses (PTW rider behaviour, interaction with other motorised traffic) are examined and discussed in this paper. The research gaps and the needs for future research are identified, discussed and put in a broad framework. When the interactions between behaviour, accident frequency/rates and severity are co-considered and co-investigated with the various contributory factors (riders, other users, road and traffic environment, vehicles), the accident and injury causes as well as the related solutions are better identified.

EC European Transport Safety Research 2014

The European Transport Safety Research Report is just published by the European Commission. In the last ten years, safety has increased across all modes, the EU set ambitious targets in its 2011 Transport White Paper, but much more needs to be done. The purpose of this Report is to demonstrate the amount of research effort being spent in each of Europe’s transport sectors to deliver a safer transport system for the 21st Century.

ERTICO ITS Library 2014

The latest tool of the ERTICO – ITS Europe is the ITS Library, a large collection of ITS related documents, videos, audio recordings and presentations. These materials relate to ITS in general, ITS projects, and ITS publications (academic and other). Thousands of document have been collected and published to provide useful access to a vast amount of knowledge and experience in the development, deployment and testing of intelligent transport systems. Access is free after a simple registration.

European Commission Transport Safety Conference – Genoa 2014

The Conference on Transport Safety: Societal challenges, Research solutions, was organised by the European Commission and the Italian EU Presidency and took place with great success on 4-5 December 2014, in Genoa, Italy. More than 350 road safety experts, stakeholders and decision-makers participated and contributed actively at the Conference structured interactive debates.

The conference addressed the safety challenges specific to each mode but also the common issues and concerns that cut across them – notably human factors, automation and data management – taking into account societal challenges, policy requirements, technological developments and economic benefits to assess the future needs for transport safety, and identify priorities for activities in Horizon 2020 and beyond. The Conference results are summarised at the Conference Final Statement.

NTUA Prof. George Yannis delivered the final key note speech titled: ‘Major societal challenges and research solutions in transport safety in Europe‘

EC Travelling Safely in Europe by road, rail and water 2014

The European Commission has released the new Policy Brochure ‘Travelling Safely in Europe by road, rail and water‘. The publication highlights the contribution of EU research in improving safety of vehicles and infrastructure, and enhancing user behaviour, with the overall goal to improve safety of the European transport systemand meet the ambitious targets to reduce fatalities and injuries on land and sea throughout the European Union.

Simulation of Pedestrians and Motorised Traffic: existing research and future challenges – 2014

A paper titled ‘Simulation of Pedestrians and Motorised Traffic: existing research and future challenges‘ co-authored by Eleonora Papadimitriou, Jean Michael Auberlet, Sylvain Lassarrre and George Yannis is now published in International Journal of Interdisciplinary Telecommunications and Networking. The objective of this paper is the analysis of the state of the art in pedestrian simulation models and the identification of key issues for further research, with particular focus on the modelling of pedestrians and motorised traffic. A review and a comparative assessment of pedestrian simulation models are carried out, including macroscopic models, earlier meso- and miscosimulation models (mostly in Cellular Automata) and more recent Multi-Agent simulation models. The reviewed models cover a broad range of research topics: pedestrian flow and level of service, crowd dynamics and evacuations, route choice etc. However, pedestrian movement in urban areas and the interactions between pedestrians and vehicles have received notably less attention. A number of challenges to be addressed in future research are outlined: first, the need to and account for the hierarchical behavioural model of road users (strategic / tactical / operational behaviour); second, the need for appropriate description and parameterization of vehicle and pedestrian networks and their crossing points; third, the need to exploit in the simulation models the results of statistical and probabilistic models, which offer valuable insight in the determinants of pedestrian behaviour. In each case, recent studies towards addressing these challenges are outlined.

BASt – Ageing and Safe Mobility Conference, Bergisch-Gladbach 2014

The International Conference on Ageing and Safe Mobility, organised by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), the Forum of the European Road Safety Research Institutes(FERSI), the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI), the European Transport Research Alliance (ETRA), the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), the Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) and the Human Centred Design for Information Society Technologies Network (HUMANIST) took place with great success in Bergisch-Gladbach, on 27-28 November 2014.

The Conference was attended by more than 200 road safety experts and focused on the road safety problems of elderly road users and it aimed at elaborating policy recommendations concerning implementation of available road safety evidence based research results. In the nine sessions that took place over two days participants discussed all aspects of the road safety for elderly: human factors, infrastructure, vehicle engineering and traffic management systems.

NTUA presentations concerned:

Assessment of driving performance of drivers with brain pathologies in urban roads, using a driving simulator

Is distracted driving performance affected by age? First findings from a driving simulator study

Exploring the Association between Working Memory and Parkinson’s Disease in a Driving Simulator

Older drivers’ self assessment and cognitive impairments

PRI/TIRF – Communication Technologies and Road Safety Symposium – Abu Dhabi 2014

The International Symposium on Communication Technologies and Road Safety was organised by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society (ETSS), the Arab Road Safety Organization (AROSO), La Prévention Routiére Internationale (PRI) and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) and took place in Abu Dhabi, on 26-27 November 2014. The symposium objective among others was to highlight the solutions offered by modern technology to ensure positive impact on the behaviour of drivers while driving.

NTUA presentation concerned: ‘Distra cted driving and mobile phone use: overview of impacts and countermeasures‘

PIARC – Importance of Road Maintenance 2014

A new report on the Importance of Road Maintenance is now available by the World Road Association (PIARC). The importance of maintenance needs to be recognised by decision makers, funded appropriately and well managed to ensure maximum value is achieved. Inadequate levels of investment or poor management of the road network will have serious consequences for economies and social well-being. This report makes the case for the importance of road maintenance by drawing on robust evidence from around the world.

ROSEE – Road Safety International Conference – Brescia 2014

The International Conference ‘Infrastructures and Behaviours to Enhance Road Safety’ organised by ALOT – the Agency of East Lombardy for Transport and Logistics, took place with great succes in Brescia on 21 November 2014. This event was organized in order to present the final results of the ROSEE project, carried out within the South East Europe transnational cooperation programme (SEE). In this Conference, the current situation of road safety potential in South East Europe was presented by international specialists followed by all the project results, with emphassis on road safety infrastructural and behavioural issues, including the relative pilot actions and investment proposals which emerged from the ROSEE project.

NTUA presentation concerned: ‘Proposals for Road Infrastructure Safety Investments and Interventions in South East Europe‘

Make Roads Safe Hellas – Infrastructures Workshop – Athens 2014

An Infrastructures Road Safety Workshop, organised by Make Roads Safe Hellas took place in Athens on 20 November 2014. The aim of the workshop was to bring together international and national road safety experts, stakeholders and decision-makers and give them the opportunity to share their knowledge and discuss ways to continue improving infrastructures’ road safety. Make Roads Safe Hellas, as the Lead Partner of the SENSoR project had the opportunity to present the results of a comprehensive study regarding the assessment of the TEN-T network safety for first time in Greece, according to the international EuroRAP protocols.

NTUA presentation concerned: ‘Road Safety in South-East Europe‘

SAFER – International Cycling Safety Conference – Gothenburg 2014

The 3rd International Cycling Safety Conference – ICSC2014, organised by SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers, Chalmers University of Technology and City of Gothenburg took place with great success in Gothenburg, on 18-19 November 2014. The conference was a great opportunity for the more than 160 researchers, legislators, politicians, and members of cycling associations to exchange knowledge on cycling safety and discuss new research topics and safety solutions. All the presentations and peer-reviewed papers are now available onto the conference website.

Together for Safer Roads – Private Sector Global Coalition 2014

Ten leading global companies have come together to create Together for Safer Roads (TSR) – an innovative private sector coalition focusing on improving road safety and reducing deaths and injuries by road traffic collisions. The vision of Together for Safer Roads is a world where roads are safe for all people. Members will use their combined knowledge, data, technology and networks to promote safer roads, vehicles and systems; safer road users; and advocacy and thought leadership.

TSR members will also focus on scaling industry best practices that draw on cross-industry expertise. An Expert Panel, drawn from Academia, NGOs, Governments and International Organizations, with the active participation of NTUA Professor George Yannis, advises the Coalition on its focus areas and activities.

PROS – European Road Safety Research Roadmap 2014

A comprehensive European road safety research roadmap has been prepared within the framework of the EC co-funded support action PROS – Priorities for Road Safety Research in Europe. About 120 experts from more than 40 stakeholder organisations – with the active participation of NTUA – have contributed to the development of this roadmap within the two years of running time of the PROS support action. This Report contains a complete research topics list with their priorities together with a long-term road safety research roadmap. This roadmap is expected to be exploited by the European Commission, National Administrations, the Industry and the European Research Community in order to guide road safety research activities within the coming years.

AIG – Building the Way for Safer Roads 2014

AIG has recently released a whitepaper that outlines the issue of road safety and highlights some cutting edge ways AIG aims to improve road safety for all road users. AIG leverages data-driven insights and years of claims experience to understand why road accidents happen with the intent of helping clients remain safe behind the wheel.

WHO – World Day of Remembrance 2014

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year to remember the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads, together with their families and many others also affected, as well as reflect on the tremendous burden and cost of this daily continuing disaster. The Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was first established in 1995 on the initiative of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims. Since 2005 the World Day of Remembrance is endorsed by the United Nations and recognised and honoured on all continents.

In the last years, several special events are organised all over Greece by road safety NGOs (RSI-Mylonas, Efthita-Rhodes, SOS Road Crimes) in order to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance. On the occasion of the 2014 WDR, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transportation and Networks,Michalis Papadopoulos highlighted that it is high priority for the Governement, the design and implementation of a set of measures for wide sensibilisation of citizens in changing driving behaviour and realizing that road safety is a high personal responibility issue for all.

Safe Roads Safe Kids Summit 2014

The Safe Roads | Safe Kids Global Road Safety Summit will take place in Washington D.C., on 11-12 December 2014. This high level Summit will focus on strong action steps to end the epidemic of traffic deaths and injuries that threatens children worldwide. It will bring together International Agencies, Governments, Foundations, NGOs, the private sector and families. The starting point of the discusions is the fact that every day, more than 500 children are killed in a road traffic collision, and tens of thousands are injured, often suffering lifelong disabilities. Unless concrete action is taken now, the global toll of traffic injuries will explode, placing millions of children at risk. The Safe Kids Campaign and the Child Declaration for Road Safety are key global campaigns of road safety for kids.