The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) together with the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) have launched “Learn – Ride – Enjoy – Repeat”, a European-wide Campaign designed to encourage novice and experienced riders to take high-quality voluntary motorcycle training. This Campaign aims to inspire European riders to take the next step in their journey by enrolling in certified training programmes, ensuring more riders have access to advanced tools and knowledge to enjoy motorcycling safely and responsibly. The Campaign builds on the success of the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label – voluntary certification of high-quality post-license training courses across Europe. As motorcycling continues to serve as a key mobility and leisure tool for millions across Europe, improving rider safety remains a top priority.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Single Vehicle Crashes Facts and Figures Report which looks at single vehicle fatalities, which means fatalities in crashes including only one moving vehicle. According to this Report, in the EU in 2022, 6,369 people were killed in a single vehicle crash and the number has decreased by 11% in the last decade and amounts to 35% of all road fatalities. Moreover the share of single vehicle fatalities within all road fatalities is highest in Southern and Western Europe. Furthermore, there are proportionally more single vehicle fatalities during weekends both during daytime (26%) and nights (16%) compared to other road user fatalities (21% during daytime and 9% at night).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Serious Injuries Facts and Figures Report which looks  at serious injuries resulting from road crashes in EU and EFTA countries. According to this Report, the police-based data indicates an average decrease of 19% in serious injuries over the decade 2012-2022, as well as average around 8 serious injuries for every road fatality on EU roads (France and Italy excluded among others). Moreover, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) make up a large share of serious injuries (57% EU average), with most of the serious injuries in the EU occurring on urban roads, accounting for 57%, half of which are pedestrians.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Regional Distribution Facts and Figures Report which looks at the regional distribution of road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, the number of fatalities per million inhabitants  is highest in Eastern Europe. Some of the regions with the highest mortality rates can be found in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. In most countries, there are regions with a comparatively low mortality rate as well as a comparatively high one. Furthermore, the trend in the rate over time tends to vary between regions. In Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia there has been a decrease in all regions. Furthermore, Regarding road types, the share of fatalities on rural roads within the total number of fatalities is high in Central, North and West Europe, while the rate for urban roads is high in East and South Europe.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Powered Two-Wheelers Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities at motorcycle and moped riders’ fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, respectively, 3% and 16% of all road fatalities in the EU in 2022 were moped riders and motorcyclists. Taken together therefore, almost one in five road fatalities were powered two wheeler riders. Moreover, in fatal moped and motorcycle crashes, often no other road user was involved as 29% and 37% of moped riders and motorcyclists respectively died in a single vehicle crash (i.e. a crash with no crash opponent).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Pedestrians Facts and Figures Report which looks at pedestrian fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, almost one in five of all road fatalities across the EU were pedestrians. The absolute number of pedestrian fatalities fell from 5,410 to 3,740 fatalities between 2012 and 2022 (-31%), which is a greater decrease compared to the decrease for the total number of road fatalities (-22%). Furthermore, around 1 in 2 pedestrian fatalities (47%) in 2022 were seniors aged 65 or older.

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the New Forms of Mobility Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities of users of motorized micro-mobility devices and pedelecs on European roads. According to this Report, in 2022, 76 motorized micro-mobility device fatalities and 385 pedelec fatalities were recorded in the 15 European countries reporting data on these transport modes. Furthermore, the share of fatalities on motorized micro-mobility devices on urban roads, where all transport modes are represented, amounts to 72% in 2022, while fatalities on pedelecs are lower with a share of 50% on urban roads.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Gender Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities on European roads distributed by gender. According to this Report, in 2022, the share of males among fatally injured road users was 77% male versus 23% of female fatalities within the EU countries. The ratio of male to female fatalities has been stable between 2012 and 2022. Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Portugal have a share of male fatalities of 80% or higher. The absolute number of male fatalities has decreased by 21% in the period 2012-2022 and the number of female fatalities by 25% in the same time period.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Cyclists Facts and Figures Report which refers to cyclist fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, in contrast to the number of fatalities in crashes with other modes of transport, the number of cyclists killed on EU roads has remained at more or less the same level for the past decade: since 2012 a decrease of -3%, since 2019 a decrease of -1%. In 2022, half of all cyclist fatalities (50%) were cyclists aged 65 years or older on average and more than half of cyclist fatalities occurred in crashes on urban roads (57%), 42% on rural roads and 1% on motorways.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Children Facts and Figures Report which looks at road fatalities among children on EU roads. According to this Report, the absolute number of fatalities among children aged 0-14 decreased between 2012 and 2022 by 33% to 455 fatalities in 2022, while the short-term change from 2019 to 2022 is a decline of 7%. The relative share remained constant throughout this time at just over 2% of all EU fatalities.  

The UN Road Safety Collaboration is organizing the global campaign for the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week, which will be held on 12-18 May 2025. World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with partners, are organizing periodic UN Global Road Safety Weeks. This 8th edition offers an opportunity to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe, by highlighting concrete and specific interventions that can be taken by different stakeholders – governments, international agencies, civil society, businesses and schools. These actions will help promote and facilitate a shift to walking and cycling, which are more healthy, green, sustainable and economically advantageous modes of transport. 

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Transportation Systems are organizing the 37th ICTCT Conference which will take place in Berlin, Germany, on 23-24 October 2025. The objective of this Conference is to support the understanding and the execution of suitable approaches to move towards a transportation system without severely injured or killed road users. Due to the rapid progress in the development of powerful computing technology and the enormous potential of artificial intelligence, participants will have the opportunity to uncover the effects of traffic infrastructure, physical conditions, traffic environment and other risk factors, as for example human behaviour, on traffic safety. Researchers can sumbit their abstracts until 15 April 2025. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Traffic Safety Culture Thematic Report which emphasizes on growing a positive Traffic Safety Culture (TSC). This Thematic Report highlights that TSC encompasses shared values, norms, and attitudes that impact behaviours across the road system, influencing not only individual road users but also key stakeholders such as public authorities, private companies, NGOs, vehicle manufacturers, and infrastructure designers. An important way to leverage TSC as a concept to improve road safety is through organisations and companies, also preventive efforts to tackle risk behaviours should be made, ideally by focusing on long-term behavioural change.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Professional Drivers Thematic Report which mainly refers to the safety of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and buses. This Thematic Report highlights that the safety of HGVs and buses are significantly influenced by road infrastructure due to their unique characteristics such as mass, maneuverability, and acceleration/deceleration capabilities, as well as the fatigue and distraction of the drivers. Furthermore, countermeasures about separating these heavy vehicles from other road users, providing professional drivers with timely warnings about hazardous or restricted road sections and addressing the need for adequate and well-managed overnight parking facilities for HGVs are suggested.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Children Thematic Report which refers to the safety of children. This Thematic Report highlights that children are, along with elderly people, the most vulnerable road users with boys being most at risk due to greater exposure and risk-taking behaviour. Moreover, a series of specific countermeasures are suggested, such as road infrastructure that prioritizes vulnerable users, 30 km/h zones around childcare facilities, mandatory protective equipment, the enhancement of active and passive vehicle safety, traffic laws with strict penalties, as well as better Traffic Safety and Mobility education in schools.  

The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and the International Transport Forum (ITF) organized with great success the 39th Meeting which took place in London, UK, on 9-10 April 2025. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. Members and observers from many countries enriched the discussion aimed to improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to road safety data collection and analysis.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Smart Maps supporting safe driving behavior using multi-source large-scale data

The European Commission published the collision matrix for fatalities on rural roads in the EU. The available EU-wide data for 2023 contained in the CARE database, demonstrate that 52% of road traffic fatalities occurred in rural areas, with vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooters and users of powered two-wheelers) representing almost 36% of total fatalities. This collision matrix shows clearly that rural road user fatalities occur overwhelmingly when a crash involves cars and heavy vehicles (lorries and heavy goods vehicles). Furthermore, the high number (41% of total fatalities) of fatalities in single vehicle crashes involving cars and motorcycles demonstrate the critical role of speeding on rural roads.   

The European Commission published the collision matrix with fatalities on urban roads in the EU. The available EU-wide data for 2023 contained in the CARE database, demonstrate that 38% of road traffic fatalities occured in urban areas, with vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, users of powered two-wheelers and personal mobility devices) representing almost 70% of total fatalities. This collision matrix shows clearly that urban road user fatalities occur overwhelmingly when a crash involves cars and lorries, underlining the need to improve protection of these vulnerable road users. Furthermore, the high number (44% of the total fatalities) of fatalities in single vehicle crashes of cars and two-wheelers demosntrate the critical role of speeding in the cities.   

The European Commission published a breakdown of fatalities in the EU by road user and (other) “main vehicle” involved in the crash. The matrix shows clearly that fatalities overwhelmingly occur in collisions involving cars, and the need  to increase the protection of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcyclists, cyclists and e-scooter riders. EU policies are already evolving in this direction with the new mandatory safety measures introduced by the General Safety Regulation focused on VRUs.  

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organized with great success its bi-annual Main Council Meeting which was held in Krakow, Poland on April 3-4, 2025, where all the latest road safety developments and policies in Europe were discussed. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  City-wide 30km/h Speed Limit at the New Road Code of Greece & the NTUA Marathons Campaign

The World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS) is organizing the 17th World Conference on Transport Research which will be held in Toulouse, France, on 6-10 July 2026.  For the last 40 years, WCTR has been organized every three years by the WCTR Society, uniting specialists from the transportation sector worldwide. Topics for discussion at the World Conference on Transport Research are grouped into 9 distinct themes which include maritime and air transport logistics, infrastructure design, traffic management in urban environments or the emergence of transport in developing countries. Researchers can submit their papers until 1 September 2025. 

BMW in cooperation with Chip Design Germany are organizing the 2025 BMW Summer School which will take place in Saint-Raphaël, France on 29 June – 4 July 2025. This year’s event will focus on the topic of trust and safety in artificial intelligence, a broad field of discussion and growing relevance at the crossroads of technology, psychology, product safety, law, economics, and ethics. Submission deadline is extended to April 7, 2025. 

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 48th PIN Flash Report titled “Reducing Serious Injuries on European Roads“. This Report examines the underreporting of serious injuries in European roads. According to official sources, approximately 1,291,000 people are reported injured annually in the European Union, with 141,000 of these injuries being serious. While most serious injuries are suffered as a result of collisions involving motor vehicles and are much more likely to be reported by police, many involving pedestrians and cyclists where no motor vehicle was involved go unreported. The current performance in the European Union is not on track for reaching the target to reduce serious road traffic injuries by 50% between 2020 and 2030 and further action targeting serious injuries reduction is needed.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Annual Statistical Report on Road Safety, April 2025 in the EU, which provides an overview of crash data for 2013 to 2023 from 27 EU Member States and the four EFTA countries. According to this Report, 53% of road traffic fatalities occurred on rural roads, versus 38% in urban areas and 9% on motorways. It was also revealed that car occupants (drivers and passengers) represented 44% of all fatalities, while pedestrians accounted for 18%, users of powered two-wheelers (motorbikes and mopeds) 17%, and cyclists 10%.  

NTUA within the framework of the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week is organizing a Scientific Workshop titled  “Artificial Intelligence for Road Safety and Mobility” which will take place in Athens (and online) on May 15th, 2025. The objective of this Workshop is to highlight through an intensive flow of presentations the main findings and challenges of key road safety and mobility research projects carried out within the NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering and to open up the discussion in a round table with high-level experts on key innovations in road safety  and mobility research in Greece, in Europe and worldwide.

• Participation is free upon registration
• Connect to Workshop
• Programme can be found here

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) together with the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and European Commision organized with great success the EURSE Workshop of Road Safety: Urban Safety and Safety of PTW, which took place in Athens, on 31 March – 1 April 2025.  The main focuses of this event included information on the new regulations, as well as good practices to enhance road safety. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:   City-wide 30km/h speed limits – Challenges and perspectives

A paper titled Identifying driving profiles after take over request in automated vehicles at SAE levels 2 and 3 authored by Marios Sekadakis, Sandra Trösterer, Peter Moertl and George Yannis has been published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. The analysis included clustering to develop distinct driving profiles based on key measurements collected through a driving simulator experiment, such as acceleration, deceleration, and speed, offering a deep understanding of driver behavior in responses to take over requests. Findings suggest that the nervous driving profile, although less frequent, poses significant safety implications due to higher deceleration rates and variability in speed and deceleration. The study also highlights that non-driving related tasks increase the need for longer take over time with greater variability observed at higher automation levels. These insights can inform the design of more adaptive HMI systems, enhance real-time feedback mechanisms, and improve driver training programs to ensure safer transitions during take over requests. 

A paper titled Evaluating the Environmental and Safety Impacts of Eco-Driving in Urban and Highway Environments authored by Marios Sekadakis, Maria Ioanna Sousouni, Thodoris Garefalakis, Maria Oikonomou, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis has been published in Sustainability. Within a group of 39 participants aged 18–30, multiple driving scenarios were conducted, both without and with eco-driving guides, to assess the impact of eco-driving behavior on environmental sustainability and safety outcomes. Data on pollutant emissions, as well as crash probability were utilized using linear regression models, while binary logistic regression models were employed to assess crash probability. The analysis revealed thateco-driving led to a significant reduction in pollutant emissions, with CO₂ emissions decreasing by 1.42%, CO by 98.2%, and NO_x by 20.7% across both urban and highway environments, with a more substantial impact in urban settings due to lower average speeds and smoother driving patterns. These findings support the integration of eco-driving techniques into transportation policies and driver education programs to foster sustainable and safer driving practices. 

A paper titled Examining the effects of texting, web surfing, and navigating apps on urban driving behavior and crash risk authored by Maria Oikonomou, Foteini Orfanou, Marios Sekadakis, Dimosthenis Pavlou and George Yannis has been published in Traffic Safety Research. This study collects driving data from 36 young adult drivers through a driving simulator experiment, supplemented by a survey to gather participant characteristics and driving profiles. Data analysis utilized linear and binary logistic mixed models to explore the effects of texting and web surfing on speed and its deviation, headway distance and its deviation, and crash risk. Results indicate that using texting, web surfing and navigating applications while driving elevate crash risk by 10% and decrease speed, speed deviation, headway, and headway deviation by 9%, 23%, 6%, and 18%, respectively. These findings underscore the crucial role of specific smartphone applications in shaping driving behavior and emphasize the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the associated risks in urban driving scenarios. 

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “The impact of alcohol consumption on driving in rural roads using a driving simulator” was recently presented by Giorgos Papadakis. For this purpose, a driving simulation experiment was conducted with 35 drivers of different characteristics, who were required to drive under varying blood alcohol concentration levels. Additionally, data were collected through questionnaires, including demographic characteristics, driving habits, and perceptions regarding alcohol-impaired driving. Data analysis was performed using statistical and mathematical models, such as linear regression and binary logistic regression, revealing that increased BAC leads to a longer reaction time, higher accident probability, and reduced ability to maintain a safe distance from the preceding vehicle. The results confirm the significant impact of alcohol consumption on driving safety and emphasize the necessity of additional preventive measures.