Author: agouma
Road Safety of car occupants in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2011 recently released at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission as prepared by the DACOTA project. 15.158 car occupants were killed in road traffic accidents in the EU countries in 2009, repersenting 47% of the total road traffic fatalities. This figure represents a 45% decrease in relation to the 27.651 fatalities of car occupants since ten years before in 2000. 
Road Safety on Motorways in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2011 recently released at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission as prepared by the DACOTA project. 2.346 persons were killed in road traffic accidents on motorways in 18 EU countries in 2009. The fatality rate (fatalities per million inhabitants) on motorways decreased by almost 48% between 2000 and 2009, from 10,0 per million inhabitants in 2000 to 5,1 in 2009.
Road Safety of Pedestrians in the EU is highlighted at the Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2011 recently released at the European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission as prepared by the DACOTA project. 6.641 pedestrians were killed in road traffic accidents in the EU countries in 2009, which is 20% of all fatalities. This figure represents a 34% decrease in relation to the 9.476 pedestrian fatalities since ten years before in 2000.
The campaign of the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (EAEE) for the Prevention of Road Accidents in 2011, has been awarded with the creativity award ERMIS ‘silver’ in the category ‘direct – programs of social activity’. The campaign centered on a tow truck with a crashed car on the platform and the message “He drank, he drove, he was killed. What will you do?”. The truck drove around crowded with young people areas of Athens, in order to draw their attention and prevent them from driving under the influence of alcohol. At the same time, a team placed in parked cars and motorcycles over 30,000 leaflets with road safety messages. 
The Road Safety Observatory of the Technical Chamber of Greece organised a Workshop in Athens on June 6th, 2012, titled “Road Safety initiatives in the period of crisis“. The aim of the Workshop was to present the activities of all road safety decision makers (Ministries, Regions, etc.) and stakeholders (Industry, Research, NGOs) in Greece, in order to promote the necessary momentum for the improvement of road safety in Greece.
NTUA presentations concerned:
Needs for Evidence based decision making on road safety in Europe
Manual for the safe driving of older drivers.
The Conference on Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe, organised by the SARTRE4 consortium with the coodination of IFSTTAR, French institute of science and technology for transport, development and networks took place with great success in Versailles on 30-31 of May 2012. The results of the pan-European survey in 19 countries have been presented, with analyses on the attitudes, behaviour, habits and needs of 21.280 car drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians towards road accident risk. Key analysis issues concerned speed, alcohol, drugs and other factors affecting fitness to drive, use of safety equipment, enforcement, ITS, etc.
NTUA presentations concerned:
A paper titled “A statistical analysis of the impact of advertising signs on road safety” co-authored by G.Yannis, E.Papadimitriou, P.Papantoniou and C.Voulgari is just published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. An exhaustive review of international literature was carried out on the effect of advertising signs on driver behaviour and safety and a before-and-after statistical analysis with control groups was applied on several road sites with different characteristics in the Athens metropolitan area. The statistical analysis shows no statistical correlation between road accidents and advertising signs in none of the nine sites examined, as the confidence intervals of the estimated safety effects are non-significant at 95% confidence level. This can be explained by the fact that, in the examined road sites, drivers are overloaded with information, so that the additional information load from advertising signs may not further distract them. 
A public consultation is in progress by the European Commission. The questionnaire will provide input for the drafting of a strategy to reduce the severity of injuries caused by road traffic accidents. The questionnaire addresses general issues related to road safety and more specific issues on how to improve the data available on victims of accidents and their collection at EU level, and on how to target some specific groups of road users. The European Commission will take stock of all the relevant information on this subject with a view to develop the comprehensive strategy on road traffic injuries.
In April 2012, ETSC published the report ‘Drink Driving: Towards Zero Tolerance‘. Drink driving is one of the three main killers. According to the European Commission’s estimates 25% of all road fatalities across the EU are alcohol related. This report provides an overview of the drink driving situation in the European Union and measures taken at the EU level to curb drink driving deaths. Countries’ progress in reducing road fatalities attributed to drink driving between 2001 and 2010 is also presented.
The Transport Division of the United Nations has recently published a report summarising road safety activities. This document presents the UNECE’s Action Plan for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020). This Plan is directly aligned with the UN Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety. It aims to achieve the UNECE’s overall road safety goals by addressing priority areas of work as well as by implementing the ongoing and future initiatives in the UNECE region and beyond.
More than 1.600 transport scientists and professionals contributed to the works of the fourth Transport Research Arena (TRA) Conference, organised by the European Commission and the CEDR, ERTRAC, ERRAC, Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and took place with great success in Athens, Greece, from 23rd to 26th of April, 2012. The main theme of TRA 2012 was sustainable mobility through innovation.
The road safety presentations of NTUA concerned:
Integrating real-time traffic data in road safety analysis
A Special Session of the DaCoTA Research Project took place at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) Conference held in Athens, on April, 25th, 2012. In this DaCoTA Special Session, the stage of development of the European Road Safety Observatory has been presented and the following areas of interest for evidence based road safety policy making were highlighted:
Developing the European Road Safety Observatory – current progress
Dacota overview TRA Special session Road safety policy-making – identifying the characteristics of effective road safety management procedures In-depth accident investigations – developing a network of teams across EU Member States Accident forecasting and comparisons – comparing the development of road safety across countries – state of the art of road safety knowledge eSafety and accident data – identifying the new types of data needed to develop active safety collision prevention and mitigation measures Naturalistic driving protocols – methods to observe normal driving to identify ways to address safety needs.
CERTH/HIT is organising several events in Greece in celebration of ten years since the start of the public awareness campaign “Alcohol – Not Tonight, I am Driving”. The main aims were to raise young people’s awareness of the risk of drinking and driving and to encourage the use of the designated driver concept (as normal behaviour).
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, within the framework of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, organised a workshop on road safety and young people, which took place in Athens on 6th April. At this Workshop the results of the national competition for young artists on road safety digital posters and videos were announced.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the Annual Report 2011, which comprises a synthesis of the main trends and road safety indicators for the year 2010 and preliminary data for the year 2011. It presents longer-term trends in order to better understand the developments taking place in the different countries. It also presents a summary of national road safety strategies and related targets that have been developed in IRTAD countries in the context of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. Recent safety measures implemented are highlighted together with detailed safety data by road user, location and age. Moreover, a report activity of the IRTAD Group for the year 2010 summarising the activities of the Group and detailed reports from 32 countries are presented. NTUA has contributed to the detailed report for Greece.
The European Commission has published road fatalities statistics based on provisional data for 2011 showing that EU progress in cutting road fatalities significantly slowed last year (to–2%) compared with a very promising EU-wide reduction throughout the last decade (on average -6%). Worse still, some EU Member States, like Germany and Sweden, who have very strong safety records, now show a significant increase in deaths. In other Member States, like Poland and Belgium – already lagging behind in road safety – the number of road fatalities went up.
The Hellenic Organisation for Victims of Road Accidents of Rhodes (EFTHITA), member of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) organised a workshop on the Proposals for the improvement of road safety in Greece, which took place on the 22th of March in the island of Rhodes. NTUA Professor George Kannellaidis emphasised the need for cooperation in order to develop a modern, self-explaining and forgiving road environment.
The Road Safety Institute ‘Panos Mylonas’ and the Hellenic Institute of Trasportation Engineers organised the Road Safety Week from 18 to March 24, 2012. Multiple actions took place in Greece. On 20 March a workshop took place in Athens, where road safety issues were presented.
The International Conference on Distracted Driving organised by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), took place in Toronto, Canada on March 1st, 2012. This Conference highlighted current research initiatives from around the world regarding a broad range of distractions, explored lessons learned from legislation and enforcement, and shared experiences drawn from private, public and community approaches to increase awareness and change behaviours.
NTUA Professor George Yannis presented “The Effects of Different Types of Driver Distractions: Findings from the EU”.
A paper titled “Factors Affecting Accident Severity Inside and Outside Urban Areas in Greece” co-authored by A.Theofilatos, D.Graham and G.Yannis is just published in the Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention. From the application of the models, it appears that the factors affecting road accident severity only inside urban areas are young drivers, bicycles, intersections and collision with fixed objects, whereas the factors affecting severity only outside urban areas are weather conditions, head-on and side collisions, demonstrating the particular road users and traffic situations which should be focused for road safety interventions for the two different types of network (inside and outside urban areas).
The 3rd pan-hellenic Highways Engineering Conference, organised by the Technical Chamber of Greece, took place on 9-10 February 2012 in Athens.
NTUA road safety presentations concerned:
Safety in Road Design
Development of a Strategic Plan for the improvement of road safety in Greece, 2011-2020
Application of the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) in Greece
Comparative analysis of road safety parameters on European motorways
Parameters Affecting Greek Drivers Willingness to Pay for the Avoidance of Road Accidents
Recording and Evaluation Procedure of Drivers’ Distraction. The Case of Thessaloniki’s Ring Road.
Contribution to the investigation of behavior of drivers under fatigue, with the use of innovative technologies
Road Safety Audit: principles and implementation in Greece. The case of Attica Tollway (“Attiki Odos”)
Development of a methodology for road safety impact assessment of infrastructure projects in Greece
Analysis of the safety impact of advertising signs on the number of road accidents
A research titled ‘Investigation of the acceptance of a handbook for safe driving at an older age’ co-authored by Sophia Vardaki and George Yannis from NTUA, was recently published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. The handbook was developed with the purpose of increasing elderly drivers’ awareness of their driving abilities and providing information about the effects of ageing on driving and about safe driving practices and compensation strategies. Binary logistic analysis was conducted to identify individual driver characteristics that might predict acceptance of the handbook by active older drivers in terms of reported increased awareness and intended repeated use. The findings of the research indicate a quite positive attitude of elderly active drivers towards the handbook, as more than half of them reported that they had become more aware of changes in their driving after reading it.
The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers published recently its position towards road safety in Greece. This position paper contains an analysis of current road accident causes and problems in Greece and proposes a set of six priority actions: 1. operation of a central road safety authority, 2. enforcement intensification, 3. systematic monitoring, 4. road infrastructure management, 5. redesign of urban infrastructure and traffic, 6. promotion of safer driver behaviour.
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) 91th Annual Meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in January 2012.
NTUA road safety presentations concerned:
Effects of alcohol on speeding and road positioning among young drivers: a driving simulator study
Analysis of pedestrian risk exposure in relation to crossing behaviour
Modelling the effects of weather and traffic on the risk of secondary incidents
Identifying Outlying Power Two Wheeler Riding Behaviors at the Emergence of an Incident
Promoting safe driving at an older age
Towards a global set of injury crash data
Effects of alcohol on speeding and road positioning among young drivers: a driving simulator studyAnalysis of pedestrian risk exposure in relation to crossing behaviour
Modelling the effects of weather and traffic on the risk of secondary incidentsIdentifying Outlying Power Two Wheeler Riding Behaviors at the Emergence of an IncidentPromoting safe driving at an older ageTowards a global set of injury crash data
The National Road Safety Strategic Plan for Greece 2011-2020 has been prepared by the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of NTUA under the scientific supervision of Prof. G.Kanellaidis and has been recently adopted by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Networks and Communication. In this strategic plan, the European quantitative target is adopted: to reduce the number of road fatalities by 50% between 2010 and 2020 and a long term vision is set: to develop road safety culture in the Greek society. On that purpose, a comprehensive list of specific actions within targeted programmes is proposed, in order to be carried out within a new structure of central, regional and local authorities, as well as of all road safety stakeholders in Greece.
The European Union Road Federation (ERF) released recently the ERF 2011 European Road Statistics. This annual publication contains all essential information on the road transport sectorfor the period 1990-2009 for the EU countries, but also for other countries in Europe and worldwide. These statistics concern the road network, infrastructure financing, road maintenance and investing, goods and passenger transport, road safety, taxation and environement. The road safety section contains road fatalities time series, country rankings, safety indicators and basic fatalities characteristics.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published a Special Report on Serious Road Traffic Casualties aiming to identify and assess methodologies for linking different sources of accident data in order to develop better estimates of the real number of road traffic casualties. The report provides a number of recommendations on the use of police and hospital data, and makes suggestions for an internationally agreed definition of serious injury.
The European Commission has published a leaflet demonstrating the situation at the end of 2010 and the progress made since 2001 on the EU roads and by country. The target of the EU was to halve the number of fatalities on European roads by 2010. The reduction in fatalities achieved between 2001 and 2010 for the EU is 43%. The purpose of this leaflet is to allow Member States and European citizens to compare their situation and to encourage them to continue their efforts regarding road safety.
The User Forum on Power Two Wheeler Safety Research took place in Paris on December 14th, 2011. It was organised by the EC co-funded research project 2BESAFE (2-Wheeler Behaviour and Safety), which designed and implemented a broad-ranging research programme (including naturalistic riding experiments) that produced fundamental knowledge on PTW rider behaviour and on interaction between PTW riders and other road users. The produced knowledge was used to propose relevant countermeasures to mitigate PTW accidents’ related fatalities and injuries.
NTUA presented ‘Powered Two Wheeler critical risk factors: Behaviour – Infrastructure – Weather’.
NTUA presented ‘Powered Two Wheeler critical risk factors: Behaviour – Infrastructure – Weather’. 
Basic characteristics of road fatalities in Greece for the period 1991 – 2010 are summarised in a comprehensive Table (data source:ELSTAT). After 20 years, there are about 800 less road fatalities per year in Greece. According to these time series data an important decrease in road fatalities for young people and pedestrians is observed during the last decade, as well as a spectacular decrease in fatalities outside urban areas. On the contrary fatalities decrease during the last decade is limited for motorcyclists and older drivers.
