According to an observational study carried out by NTUA under the coordination of Prof. George Kanellaidis, 75% of motorcycle riders use their helmet. Young females (16-24) have fewer helmet use rates than young males, while the opposite is the case for the other age groups. Only 41% of motorcycle passengers use their helmet inside built-up areas. More than 90% of riders use their helmet outside built-up areas. 

According to an observational study carried out by NTUA under the coordination of Prof. George Kanellaidis, around 1 out of 4 drivers do not use seat belts. Females have higher seat belt use rates. Only 19% of rear seat passengers use seat belt inside urban area and 28% outside urban area. Child restrain use is 57% with no significant difference inside / outside urban area. 

The impact of speed enforcement on road safety has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Traffic law enforcement influences driving behaviour through two processes: general deterrence and specific deterrence. Positive effects of speed enforcement on both speeding behaviour and the number of crashes are reported. 

Road safety of novice drivers has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Novice drivers pose a greater risk to themselves, their passengers and to other road users than other drivers do. In most countries, novice drivers, under the age of 25, account for the largest share of traffic crashes and fatalities. 

Mobile telephone use as a major road safety issue has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. A range of studies conclude that the use of a mobile phone while driving distracts the driver and causes various changes in driving behaviour that negatively affect traffic safety. Driver reaction times are 30% slower when telephoning while driving than driving with BAC levels of 80mg/100ml and 50% slower than under normal driving conditions. 

Road safety of Powered two wheelers has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. PTW’s are more popular in southern European countries. Greece has the highest ownership rate with 150 mopeds and 100 motorcycles per 1000 inhabitants.The total number of PTW fatalities in 2005 in Europe  was 7030, which is 15% of all traffic fatalities. 50% of fatally injured moped riders were under the age of 25. 

Speeding as a major road safety issue has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Speeding is one of the biggest road safety problems, consisting as a key factor in about 30% of fatal road accidents. It also greatly increases the risk of an accident. Some 40- 50% of drivers drive faster than the recommended speed limit and 10- 20% exceed the limit by more than 10 km/h. Not only does speeding raise the risk of a crash, it also increases the likelihood of severe injuries or death from an accident. 

Post-impact care is a strategy which aims to reduce the severity of injury consequences once a road traffic crash has occurred. Post-impact care has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Despite the fact that the cost of years of life lost from road trauma is larger than from cancer or cardio-vascular diseases, the attention paid by health policymakers, by the medical community and by the road safety field to trauma-related care and research has been disproportionately small so far. 

The road safety problem of Pedestrians and Cyclists has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Walking and cycling are transport modes where relatively unprotected road users interact with traffic of high speed and mass, 20-40% of all journeys are travelled by cycle or on foot. Of all traffic fatalities in EU countries, the proportion of pedestrian fatalities is about 17% and the proportion of cyclist fatalities is about 6%. 

Work-related road safety has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Work-related motor vehicle road crashes occur at the workplace and in driving associated with work (excluding commuting). Most work-related crashes involve company cars. Scientific understanding and monitoring of key problem areas, solutions and their effects on road and occupational crash injury, however, is limited and needs to be developed further. 

Vehicle Safety has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Improving vehicle safety is a key strategy used in addressing international and national road casualty reduction targets and in achieving a safer road traffic system. Vehicle safety addresses the safety of all road users and currently comprises measures to help crash avoidance and crash protection. Substantial and evidence-based improvements have been made in the last 15 years and research has identified large scope for enhancing vehicle safety further. 

The road safety problem of older drivers has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Older drivers have the second highest fatality rate. Only the youngest group of drivers (18-and 19-year olds) has a higher fatality rate. Older drivers are not so much a risk to others, but they are at risk themselves. This means that older drivers are not a risk to others’ transport safety, but they are frailer, making them vulnerable to personal injury or fatality risk in the event of a crash. 

An introduction to the safety rating systems in use internationally has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Safety rating systems present impartial information on aspects of traffic system safety. Safety ratings in use today are objective tools for the assessment and improvement of aspects of the safety of vehicles, the road network, work-related road safety and international safety performance. Safety ratings in use either predict safety outcomes for given designs or provide a retrospective assessment based on crash data. 

The elements of the road safety management system have been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Based on current knowledge, fatal and long term crash injury is largely predictable, largely avoidable and a problem amenable to rational analysis and remedy. Safety is produced, just like other goods and services and the production process is viewed as a management system with three levels: institutional management functions produce interventions, which in turn produce results. 

Road design has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Many of the basic principles for good road design were developed up to 40 years ago, and are still valid today. Although further refinements have been explored since then, there still remains uncertainty about relationships associated with design details and recent engineering innovations. Road infrastructure should be designed taking account of the same injury tolerance criteria as those developed for vehicle occupant protection and pedestrian impacts, so that roads and vehicles together provide an effective safety system.

Quantitative road safety targets has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Quantitative targets represent the road safety results which a country or jurisdiction wishes to achieve over a given time frame. Targets provide the focus for the national road safety strategy and the level of their ambition drive decisions about coordination needs, legislative needs, funding and resource allocation, promotion needs, monitoring and evaluation, as well as research, development and knowledge transfer.  

A Cost-benefit analysis has been released by the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. A recent road safety impact assessment is used to illustrate the findings of cost-benefit analyses of road safety measures, showing which measures are found to be the most cost-effective. There is still a large potential for improving road safety by using cost-effective road safety measures. Analyses in Norway and Sweden – both of which are comparatively safe countries – suggest that fatality reductions of about 50 % can be realised by applying cost-effective measures.   

Fatigue as a road safety issue has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Fatigue leads to a deterioration of driving performance, manifesting itself in slower reaction time, diminished steering performance, lesser ability to keep distance to the car in front, and increased tendency to mentally withdraw from the driving task. Fatigue is a major factor in a large proportion of road crashes (range 10-20%). A person who drives after being awake for 17 hours has a risk of crashing equivalent to being at the 0.05 blood alcohol level (i.e. twice the normal risk).   

eSafety is defined as a vehicle-based intelligent safety systems which could improve road safety in terms of exposure, crash avoidance, injury reduction and post-crash phases. eSafety has been analysed at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. The evaluation of eSafety measures is a young science. However, research in the EU and elsewhere has confirmed that the following measures could make a large contribution to efforts to meet ambitious safety targets. the EU and Member States should establish a monitoring system to evaluate the design, development and implementation of new in-vehicle technologies and their short, medium, and long-term impacts on road safety. 

Alcohol as a major road safety issue has been highlighted at the recently released synthesis of the European Road Safety Observatory as prepared by the SafetyNet project. Alcohol is one of the biggest road safety problems, about 25% of all road fatalities in Europe are alcohol related whereas about only 1% of all kilometres driven in Europe are driven by drivers with 0.5 g/l alcohol in their blood or more. Compared to a sober driver the crash rate of a driver with a BAC of 0.8 g/l (still the legal limit in 3 of 25 EU-member states) is 2.7 times that of sober drivers. Not only the crash rate grows rapidly with increasing BAC, but the crash also becomes more severe.   

The International Conference Road Safety and Simulation took place in Paris, in October 2010.

NTUA presented ‘About pedestrian safety in Europe – 2009‘.  

The objective of this research is to create an overall picture of pedestrians’ road safety in European countries, to identify factors associated with increased pedestrian fatality risk, and to propose countermeasures for the improvement of pedestrians road safety in Europe.

The 4th IRTAD Conference took place in Seoul and brought together more than 100 road safety experts from around the world to discuss the use of safety data for setting targets and monitor road safety performance and to encourage knowledge transfer for data collection and analyses.

NTUA presentations concerned:

  CADaS – A common road accident data framework in Europe

  Road safety and the elderly in Europe

  Analyses using the European Road Safety Observatory

The New Road Code as revised by the Revising Committee of the Hellenic Ministry of Transport has been voted by the Parliament and it is in force.  

A Diploma Thesis titled ‘Pedestrian behaviour characteristics in urban roads’,  was presented by Sofia Tourou in July 2009. This diploma thesis has been awarded with the Ecocity award 2010. An experimental process in real road conditions was carried out. A linear regression model was developed to investigate the impact of certain parameters in the walking speed. A binary logistic model was also developed to investigate the impact of the parameters in the pedestrians’ decision on which section to cross and in the route choice. From the models application it appears that the age and the gender of the pedestrian, the low pedestrians’ flow and the choice of the most pleasant route have statistically significant impact to the walking speed. The pedestrians route choice is influenced by the possibility to walk often, the choice of the fastest route and the number of the direction’s changes. 

The Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) of the European Commission released the Statistical Pocketbook 2010 ‘EU Transport in figures’. In this Statistical Pocketbook, key road safety Tables are contained, together with several other Tables on transport statistics, providing a complete picture of current trends in transport in Europe. Data on road fatalities for the EU member states and associate countries allowed for time series comparisons and country rankings.  

A United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) conference on Improving Global Road Safety: Setting Regional and National Road Traffic Casualty Reduction Targets was organized in Halkida, in June 2009.

NTUA presented ‘Assessment of Road Safety Measures in Greece’  and ‘National Strategic Plan for the Improvement of Road Safety in Greece (2006-2010)’. Despite some progress in recent years, South Eastern European countries are still suffering from high numbers of causalities on the road.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank jointly issued the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention on World Health Day 2004, dedicated by the WHO to the improvement of global road safety. The report’s publication signaled a growing concern in the global community about the scale of the health losses associated with escalating motorization and a recognition that urgent measures had to be taken to sustainably reduce their economic and social costs. Implementing the report’s recommendations has become a high priority for low and middle-income countries and the guidelines presented in this report have been prepared to assist this task. 

In June 2009, ETSC published the PIN Annual Report. Over the period 2001-2008, best results have been achieved by countries with a medium level of safety Luxembourg, France and Portugal already the top three for their progress up to 2007, keep their leading position with reductions of 49%, 48% and 47% respectively up to 2008. For Greece the reduction is 15%, whereas the anerage reduction for EU is 28%. 

WHO has published a European status report on road safety. In 2008, WHO carried out a global assessment of road safety since then. This publication provides an overview of the results for the European Region and 49 country profiles on road safety, based on the data collected in the survey. In the WHO European Region alone, road crashes result annually in 120,000 deaths, 2,4 million injuries and a great economic burden. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among people 5–29 years old.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global status report on road safety, which highlights that road traffic injuries are a global health and development problem. More than 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads every year, and as many as 50 million others are injured. Over 90% of the deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries.