Author: Konstantinos Kaselouris
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory the Car Occupants Facts and Figures Report which refers to car drivers as well as car passengers (front or rear seat). According to this report, the total number of car occupant fatalities in the EU27 has decreased by 9% since 2019 and 45% of all road fatalities in the EU27 in 2022 were car occupants. Furthermore, 82% of fatally injured car drivers are men, with the highest rates in single vehicle crashes being recorded for the age group 20 to 24 years old. Remarkable is that two thirds of car occupant fatalities in the EU occurred on rural roads. 
The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 9th Newsletter. The Newsletter provides information on the latest outcomes of the project. The SHOW Dashboard brings all the pilot sites in a cohesive and user-friendly interface. The combined efforts have brought real-life pilots to over 15 cities across Europe, paving the way for some countries to embark on their inaugural operations with shared Automated Vehicles. SHOW’s aim is to enhance urban mobility and automation by understanding people’s needs.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Main Figures Facts and Figures Report which examines road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, there has been a 9% decrease in road fatalities for the EU27 between 2019 and 2022, with far more males than females being killed in road crashes. Moreover, 47% of total road fatalities are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) and over a half of road fatalities occur on rural roads (53%). On urban roads, the share of killed pedestrians is highest with 33%.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) Facts and Figures Report which refers to lorries under 3.5 tonnes. The development of the number of fatalities in LGV crashes throughout the years varies across European countries, with Northern and Central European countries having a lower share of fatalities in LGV crashes in the total number of road fatalities than countries in Southern and Southeastern Europe. Furthermore, LGV crash fatalities display a different distribution during the week compared to all road crash fatalities, but show some similarities compared to HGV crash fatalities.
The Distraction & Fatigue Thematic Report of the European Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared the Portuguese Road Safety Association, with the support of NTUA, containing a wealth of information on road safety in 39 countries across Europe, America and Asia-Oceania, based on the ESRA3 survey. This Thematic ESRA3 Report concerns distraction and fatigue in traffic. Results on distraction focus on the use of a mobile phone while driving a car, while only results for car drivers are included for fatigued driving. The Report also includes comparisons among the regions as well as results by age and gender group within each region, by country, and the identification of factors that influence the self-declared behaviour of talking on a handheld mobile phone while driving a car and driving a car while fatigued.
Basic characteristics of road fatalities in Greece for the period 2012-2022 are summarised in a comprehensive infographic prepared by the NTUA Road Safety Observatory (data source: ELSTAT). According to these time series data, a spectacular decrease in road fatalities for moped riders (-40%), in junctions inside (-42%) and outside built-up areas (-71%) was observed during the period 2012-2022. 
The new EU road fatalities interactive infographic of the NTUA Road Safety Observatory, based on European Commission CARE data for 2022, allows for performance comparisons for different types of road crashes. It is demonstrated that disaggregate data can reveal hidden road safety problems, allowing national Authorities to focus on targeted road safety countermeasures.
The 11th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS) will be held as a hybrid event in Porto, on 2-4 April 2025. The purpose of this conference is to bring together engineers, researchers and practitioners interested in the advances and applications in the field of Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems. This conference will cover areas such as Connected Vehicles, Data Analytics, Intelligent Transport Systems and Infrastructure, Intelligent Vehicle Technologies and Smart Mobility and Sustainable Transport Services. Researchers can submit their papers until 29 October 2024.
A paper titled “Unfolding the dynamics of driving behavior: a machine learning analysis from Germany and Belgium” authored by Stella Roussou, Eva Michelaraki, Christos Katrakazas, Amir Pooyan Afghari, Christelle Al Haddad, Md Rakibul Alam, Constantinos Antoniou, Eleonora Papadimitriou, Tom Brijs and George Yannis has been published in European Transport Research Review. Thirty German drivers’ trips and Forty-Three Belgian drivers were analyzed using Long-Short-Term-Memory Networks and shallow Neural Networks, revealing factors contributing to risky behavior. Results indicate i-DREAMS interventions significantly enhance driving behavior, with Neural Networks displaying superior performance among the algorithms considered. 
The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 3rd Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded ‘Predictive Approaches for Safer Urban Environment’ (PHOEBE) project aiming to increase the road safety of vulnerable road users, especially those who use active mobility and e-scooters. Special focus is given to the assessment of current mobility pilot plans in Athens, carried out by NTUA.
A paper titled “Safety evaluation via conflict classification during automated shuttle bus service operations” authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Maria Oikonomou, Marios Sekadakis and George Yannis has been published in European Transport Research Review. To investigate impacts of autonomous shuttle bus services and to further examine their operational speed, the microscopic simulation method was performed. By analyzing the trajectory data extracted from microsimulation, traffic conflicts were identified and further analyzed by developing Mixed-Effects Multinomial Logit Regression models (ME-MLMs) in order to associate conflict type taking into account network characteristics as well as traffic conditions. The analysis yielded several significant findings that provide quantitative measurements and assessments of the effects observed, enabling a better understanding of the safety implications associated with the widespread adoption of automated services.
The 92nd General Assembly of the United Nations urged accelerated action to reduce deaths and injuries from traffic crashes worldwide by implementing the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030. Precisely, it urged Member States and relevant actors to accelerate and scale up efforts to implement the Global Plan, making road safety a political priority and ensuring its relevance in the broader sustainable development agenda. Furthermore, the General Assembly invited Member States to consider adopting comprehensive legislation on key risk factors, including the non-use of seat belts, child restraints and helmets, and driving under the influence.
Within the framework of the Horizon Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Industrial Doctoral Network IVORY – Artificial Intelligence for Vision Zero in Road Safety, a call for applications for the following Industrial PhD candidate has been launched, to be hosted by National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Centre of Road Safety Research Excellence with global recognition. The submissions deadline is set for 26 July 2024. Detailed description, including the required mobility rules, can be found below and at:
PhD title
PhD #7 Data fusion of traffic, behaviour & infrastructure for holistic driver assistance
Vacancy description
Within the IVORY doctoral network, this PhD position aims to exploit multi-parametric data for the creation of a holistic AI framework for road safety-related evaluation of driver behaviours, to define appropriate traffic, behaviour and infrastructure parameters or other Key Performance Indicators to be collected and used in the AI-based models, to create new AI algorithms harmonising the selected parameters to comparable datasets and to integrate the developed AI algorithms to telematics-based applications focusing on driver assistance and support.The position contributes to road safety research by acquiring new knowledge on integration and harmonisation of traffic, behaviour and infrastructure big data parameters, and developing a functional AI framework incorporating these elements based on driver telematics with transferability evaluations, that will lead to the development of new and seamless road safety solutions.
A case-study utilising driver telematics in an urban area will be conducted, with actionable results, compatible with the vision and activities of OSeven. The related framework can be used to develop an app providing personalised recommendations to drivers based on their trip/route habits.
Project description
IVORY (ivory-network.eu) is a Horizon Europe MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE ACTION Industrial Doctoral Network consisting of 22 partners (universities, industry, and non-governmental organizations). The project aims to develop a new framework for the integration of AI in road safety and train a new generation of leading researchers in the field, in order to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals target 3.6 (halving the number of traffic fatalities by 2030) and EC ‘Vision Zero’ strategy (eliminating traffic fatalities by 2050).
PhD students will obtain their PhD degree from the relevant academic partner, and spend at least 50% of their PhD time at the relevant non-academic partner.Academic host: National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Athens, Greece
School of Civil Engineering, Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering Months 19-36 of PhDIndustry host: OSeven, Athens, Greece, Months 1-18 of PhD
Secondment(s): Royal Haskoning DHV, Amersfoort, the Netherlands, Duration:4 months
Research field(s): Transport engineering; Traffic safety; Data science; Driver telematics
Type of contract: Fixed-term
Employment status: Full time (1.0 fte)
Eligibility criteria
- A Master’s degree (or equivalent);
- Not in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment;
- Recruited applicants can be of any nationality and must undertake trans-national mobility (i.e., move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. In particular, at the time of selection, the recruited applicant for this position must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Greece for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.
- A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in computer science, mathematics, computer/electrical engineering; other Master’s degrees (i.e. physics, civil/transport/mechanical engineering) will also be considered, if you have experience in algorithm development
- Familiarity and hands-on experience with machine learning algorithms
- Familiarity with statistics (statistical tests and regression)
- Coding skills in Python
- Strong conceptual and analytical skills
- Proven capacity to undertake research
- Excellent research, academic writing and presentation skills
- The ability to work both independently and as part of a team
- High level of proficiency in English
- Commitment to undertaking multi-year (3 years or more) doctoral research
Optional skills (preferred but not required)
- Familiarity with data handling and manipulation, experience working with big data
- Passion about road infrastructure and transport safety fields
Proof of English language proficiency at a Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level of C1, or an MSc degree in English, or IELTS: minimum 8.0 / TOEFL: minimum 110
Salary
The successful candidate will receive an attractive salary following the MSCA regulations for doctoral candidates. The exact salary will vary depending on the country of the host partner and will be confirmed upon appointment. The salary includes a living allowance, a mobility allowance, and a family allowance (if the recruited doctoral candidate has or acquires family obligations during the duration of the fellowship), and is very competitive overall.
Other benefits
In addition, the doctoral candidate will benefit from extensive training within the IVORY network, which includes internships/secondments in other laboratories, a variety of training courses (including transferable skills), and active participation in workshops and conferences.
Application process
Candidates should apply electronically using the link indicated in the PhD position(s) of their interest; Candidates should provide the following documents:- Detailed CV, including information on the candidate’s proficiency in English;
- Motivation letter (1 page), describing why the position fits the applicant
- Contact information of 2 references
Applications to be sent to: Prof. George Yannis: geyannis@central.ntua.gr
Academic host
The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is the oldest Engineering University in Greece and it plays a paragon role in the scientific, technical and economic development of Greece but also in Europe and worldwide, consistently ranking as the best Greek technical university. Currently, it is ranked among the top engineering and technology universities (3rd in Europe and 7th worldwide) by Shanghai World University Rankings. NTUA has been involved in more than 160 road safety research projects since the early 1990s, comprising 70 European Commission projects, 14 International Organisation projects (UN-ECE, WHO, EIB, World Bank, ITF, CEDR) and 76 Greek projects. NTUA has well established communication channels to promote research findings: more than 800 road safety scientific publications highly cited globally, including more than 220 in scientific journals and 550 in scientific conferences. The NTUA Road Safety Observatory (NRSO) (www.nrso.ntua.gr) has a widespread recognition at the global road safety community as a center of research and innovation excellence on road safety, having received during the last 10 years more than 150.000 road safety visitors and more than 2,800,000 visits (today steadily more than 3.000 visits per month).
Industry host
OSeven is a VC backed, high technology company and part of Endeavor Global network. The company provides world-class telematics solutions for insurance companies, banks, telecom, automotive, leasing, and fleet management companies around the globe. OSeven’s AI-enabled, Big-Data telematics solution analyses data collected from different sources (smartphones, OBD devices, Beacons, connected vehicles) to assess the risk associated with driving behaviour and record the vehicle’s mileage. Leveraging advanced Machine Learning, OSeven achieves with great accuracy the detection of several risk factors, including harsh braking and acceleration events, speed limit violations and mobile use while driving.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has launched a safe mobility promotion activity focusing on helmets, seatbelts and child restraint systems. According to the new Reports from the European Road Safety Observatory, protective equipment has been shown to be very effective in protecting road users from death or serious injuries. If used correctly, motorcycle helmets can reduce fatal crashes by around 40% and the chance of severe head injury by almost 70%. Seatbelts are shown to reduce the risk of fatal incidents by 60% for occupants in the front of a vehicle and 44% for those in the rear. Regarding child restraint systems, research indicates that children who are correctly restrained are around 60% less likely to be killed or injured compared to unrestrained children. 
A paper titled “Leveraging Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict and Analyze Single-Vehicle and Multi-Vehicle Crash Occurrences on Motorways” authored by Saumik Sakib Bin Masud, Kirti Mahajan, Alexandra Kondyli, Katerina Deliali and George Yannis has been published in Transportation Research Record. The dataset for this research included various types of roadway design parameters and traffic conditions. Combinations of three feature-selection techniques, namely ANOVA, correlation matrix, and ExtraTreesClassifier algorithm, were utilized to separately select the appropriate variables for single-vehicle (SV) and multi-vehicle (MV) crash analysis. The results confirmed that the crash factors associated with single and multi-vehicle crashes are different and that some parameters have inverse impact. Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) can assist transportation professionals in better understanding the causes of SV and MV crashes and advance the process toward Vision Zero.
ERTICO is organising the 16th ITS European Congress which will be held in Seville, on 19-21 May 2025. This event will focus on clean, resilient, and connected mobility, which is a major component for road safety. Furthermore, during this conference, Seville’s green transport achievements will be promoted and its role in broader European objectives, such as the European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, will be highlighted. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 10 January 2025. 
The European Court of Auditors has published a special Report titled ‘Reaching EU Road Safety Objectives – Time to move up a gear’, which provides an in-depth examination of the current state of play and trends in road safety in the EU. The text highlights the importance of investing on high-quality, resilient, and sustainable road infrastructure, and the related road safety planning obligations, as well as of interconnectivity and interoperability of data related to traffic to improve road safety management. 
Eurostat has recently released a progress Report titled ‘Sustainable development in the European Union – monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context – 2024 edition’. This publication provides readers with a statistical overview of the EU’s progress towards its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the assessment of the past five years of available data, the EU made progress towards most of the SDGs, while it fell slightly behind in a few goals. Specifically for road safety, the EU road safety policy framework 2021–2030 and Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy aim to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the road by 50% by 2030.
The Transport Community organised with great success a hybrid event about the Capacity Building on Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale 3+ in Belgrade, on 21 June 2024. During this conference, the conclusions of the SafetyCube project regarding the collection of serious injury data were presented. Furthermore, the MAIS3+ database and several best practices from EU Member States were discussed. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) in cooperation with the University of Leeds are organising the Road Safety on Five Continents (RS5C) Conference, which will be held in Leeds, United Kingdom, on 3-5 September 2025. The Conference aims to be a leading source of research results and interaction in the transport area with focus on safety and health associated with road transport.
The 12th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2024) took place with great success in Espoo, on 18-20 June 2024. The Symposium offered an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. Several road safety topics were discussed, regarding micromobility, traffic management and transport policy .
The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) organised with great success for the second year a European day awareness campaing to draw public attention on safety of staff working on motorways. This campaign titled “All lives matter” aims to take a European dimension supported throughout the network operated by ASECAP members. Drivers were able to take part in a wide range of workshops and simulations to illustrate in practical terms the risks they face daily to ensure the safety of everyone on the roads.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised with great success the ETSC PIN Conference 2024, which was held in Brussels, on 19 June 2024. During this Conference, ETSC presented the findings of the 18th PIN Annual Road Safety Performance (PIN) Report looking at progress in reducing road deaths and serious injuries across Europe. Two key road safety issues were analysed in more detail: the safety of powered two wheelers and safety on rural roads. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:
The World Bank established a new dedicated Road Safety Unit that elevates the road safety agenda to an even higher priority level, housing also the multidonor Fund of the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF). On that occasion, GRSF has launched a new Business Plan for the years 2024-2027, as well as a new website showcasing the new strategy, approach, and programs. To further promote road safety, the World Bank recently established the annual Hart Schafer Road Safety Award in order to recognize excellence in advancing road safety financing and innovation in low and middle-income countries.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published the 18th edition of PIN Annual Report, with the active contribution of NTUA, presented at the 2024 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index event which took place with great success on 19 June 2024 in Brussels. According to this PIN Report, 20,418 deaths were killed on EU roads in 2023 representing a decrease of only 1% compared to 2022, falling far short of the 6.1% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU target of a 50 % reduction by 2030. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has also awarded its 2024 Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Award to Finland, recognising its long-term performance in improving road safety.
Road fatalities in Greece in 2023 presented a slight decrease (5%) compared to 2022 figures, according to the provisional ELSTAT data. During the period 2013-2023, Greece presented an impressive road safety improvement in the European Union, with a decrease of 29% in road fatalities since 2013 and a decrease of serious injuries of 46%. The rate fatalities per million vehicles has decreased by 37% since 2013.
The Civil Engineering School of the National Technical University of Athens was ranked this year 19th in Europe and 51-100 worldwide among all Civil Engineering Schools. This ranking is produced by the QS Organisation (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024) based on the following criteria: Research, Teaching, Employability, Facilities, Internationalization, Innovation, Engagement and Access. NTUA road safety activities have contributed to this ranking.
The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) together with the Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of NTUA, co-organised with great success the 9th ITS Hellas Conference, which took place in Athens, on 5-6 June 2024. This Conference was held under the theme “Smart Transport & Logistics 2024: Explore. Innovate. Transform”, focusing on the developments in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems in Greece. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
