A paper titled “Review of City-Wide 30km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe” authored by George Yannis and Eva Michelaraki has been published in Sustainability. This study allows the quantification of the benefits in safety, environment, energy, traffic, livability, and health before and after the phased implementation of city-wide 30 km/h speed limits. Results from 40 different cities across Europe (including Paris, London, Brussels, and Helsinki) demonstrated that 30 km/h speed limits have led to significant reductions: 37% of road crash fatalities, 18% in emissions, 2.5dB in noise pollution and 7% in fuel consumption (on average), with very small variations of average traffic speed. 

EFTHITA Rhodes completes 20 years of actions on road safety, for “a world without traffic injuries”. EFTHITA promotes traffic education and focuses on informing and raising public awareness for safer road traffic and harmonisation of legislation. Furthermore, the work and actions of this organization are in line with the strategies and actions of the European Commission  and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in order to achieve the goal of reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2030.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published the Road Safety Country Profiles within the framework of the fifth Edition of the Global Status Report on Road safety 2023 (GSRRS) published in December 2023, with the active contribution of NTUA. These 170 Country Profiles are available through the WHO web and the WHO Road Safety Data app and contain a unique wealth of data and information on all road safety pillars, including safe road infrastructure, safe vehicles, post-crash response and road user behaviour. 

The 2024 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI) Europe Conference was held with great success in Stockholm, Sweden, on 11-13 September 2024. Through scientific conferences, training courses and other activities, the IRCOBI Council provides an academically rigorous forum for dissemination of the latest research into injury causation and protective systems. 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has recently published a Synthesis Report titled “Speed Limits” which focuses on the interventions regarding effective speed management. More precisely, new principles about setting speed limits are emerging, based on an assessment of the combined risk relating to the infrastructure, travel speeds, volume and mix of traffic by type (including vulnerable road users). Furthermore, signs are the primary way of communicating the speed limit of a road to drivers, with principles of effective speed limits signing been uniformity, consistency, simplicity, relevance and legibility. 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has recently published a Synthesis Report titled “Speed” which focuses on the relationship between speed and risk. Precisely, as average traffic speed reduces, so does the likelihood of a crash resulting in injury that is recorded by the police. Furthermore, effective speed management policies are likely to include an integrated package of measures, including credible speed limits, enforcement, education and engineering. RoSPA is a leading voice in health and safety that has campaigns to reduce avoidable crashes on the road. 

Using the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) methodology, road safety infrastructure changes and safer speeds within more than 1,000 infrastructure projects have prevented almost 700,000 deaths and serious injuries in 74 countries since 2016, according to a new paper with Johns Hopkins University published in PLOS One. This study is the first to measure the impact of road projects financed by governments, development banks and private-sector road operators around the world using the iRAP methodology and tools. 

BBC World News published an article about a revolutionary idea that changed the way Europe regarded road collisions. Claes Tingvall, as the head of Road Safety for the Swedish Road Adminstration in 1995, tried to balance road safety with other factors, including cost, driver preferences and the impact on the economy of changing traffic flows. Tingvall found that crash victims were not, as many in the road transport sector, assumed – drunk and irresponsible drivers but for the most part, they were people who made small mistakes. He introduced the Vision Zero fatalities as ultimum target and the Safe System approach as the way to share the responsibility also to the Authorities and all those involved in the design and the operation of the road and traffic system to be preventive and forgiving to human errors, eliminating the crash and injury risk. 

The Università degli Studi di Brescia and the Friendly City Study Center (CeSCAΜ) are co-organising the LWC International Conference, which will take place in Brescia, on 11-12 September 2025. The LWC International Conference traditionally deals with the topics of urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. Τhis year’s LWC Conference focuses on defining smart mobility and shared urban spaces. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 31 December 2024. 

The Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI) published a paper titled “Secondary roads – Road Safety challenges“, which demonstrates the important contribution of secondary rural roads to the burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities. Furthermore, it identifies the most important road safety challenges and emphasizes the corresponding need for addressing these by introducing appropriate remedial road infrastructure measures and new technologies, supported by consistent research and innovation.   

ETSC and Fundación MAPFRE are organising the 2024 edition of the European Traffic Education Seminar, which will be held as an online event, on 17 September 2024. The aims of the seminar are to equip young road users to become safe road users, given the appropriate education. This seminar features presentations on the latest traffic education projects from across Europe. Researchers can register here.  

The Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) is organising the 20th Scientific and Technical Conference, which will be held in Katowice, Poland, on 10-11 September 2024. This conference titled “Transport Systems. Theory & Practice” (TSTP 2024) aims to show and discuss the issues in regard to the transport systems and allows presenting the most up-to-date solutions in the field, evaluating the current state and developing perspectives for the transport systems within the urban areas, regions, countries and the world. Among the main topics of this conference, road traffic safety assessment issues, such as strategies, programs and solutions, are included. Researchers can register here.

Together for Safer Roads Global Coalition published a Report titled Seat Belt Safety Standard Operating Procedures, which aims at helping fleet managers increase seat belt usage rates, a fundamental and critical aspect of an overall road safety system. This Report is part of a larger, far-reaching Global Fleet Safety Instruments Standardization Initiative and contains six chapters, including training for Seat Belt Compliance, Seat Belt Software and Hardware Selection, Purchasing and Evaluating Vehicle Seat Belt Safety Systems, Seat Belt Utilization Enforcement, Communication for Seat Belt Safety Awareness and Documentation of Seat Belt Safety Compliance. 

NTUA conducted a research titled “The Impact of Ridesharing Services in Athens” to investigate ridesharing socio-economic impact in Athens. The research concludes that the introduction of ridesharing in Athens has a significant positive impact to social welfare of the city improving environment quality, traffic conditions, road safety and economic growth, mainly due to the travel demand swift from private cars to ridesharing services. The emergence of ridesharing service in Greek islands is also discussed.    

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Young People Facts and Figures Report which examines the number of fatalities among persons aged 15 to 24 years old. The absolute number of fatalities among young people aged 15-17 decreased by 39% between 2012 and 2022, while the respective number of fatalities among young people aged 18-24 decreased by 38% during the same period. Furthermore, remarkable is that the mortality rate for the age group 15-17 was the second lowest among all age groups in 2022.  

The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in cooperation with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) are co-organising the Africa Road Safety Seminar, which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8-9 October 2024. This key regional seminar will include leading topics in current road safety conversation and is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of effective, evidence-based interventions which can be applied towards the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Seniors Safety Facts and Figures Report which refers to people aged 65 years and older. According to this report, seniors have the second highest mortality rate among all age groups, with an average of about 64 senior fatalities per million senior inhabitants in road traffic within the EU27. Moreover, when considering the mode of transportation, seniors experienced a considerably high number of fatalities in the most vulnerable modes. Specifically, in 2022 29% of senior fatalities were pedestrians, while 17% were cyclists.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Motorways Facts and Figures Report which refers to  motorways, which are public roads with dual carriageways, and at least two lanes each way. In 2022, 9% of all road fatalities in the EU27 occurred on motorways. Remarkable is that 68% of motorway fatalities were between 25 and 64 years old, compared to 54% on other roads (rural and urban roads).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Buses & Heavy Goods Vehicles Facts and Figures Report which refers to fatalities of buses/coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on European roads. In 2022, 14% of all road fatalities in the EU27 occurred in crashes involving HGVs and 2% of road fatalities in the EU27 occurred in crashes involving buses/coaches. Moreover, remarkable is that female share in fatalities in crashes involving buses/coaches (32%) is remarkably higher than the respective share in crashes involving HGVs and all crashes (23%).  

The Fondation VINCI Autoroutes has recently published the results of the 12^th Euro-Barometer for Responsible Driving by Ipsos, in which representative attitudes of Europeans at the wheel are recorded, enabling also the monitoring of the evolution of risky driving and good practices to better target prevention messages in European countries. According to this study, Greece has the highest rate of drivers (83%) that use their mobile phone during driving in Europe (EU average 75%). Furthermore, almost half  of Greek drivers (46%) admitted continuing driving even when they feel tired, whereas the respective EU average is 42%.   

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Support for Policy Measures Report which focuses on the public support of many road safety policy measures, including zero tolerance for alcohol (0.0‰) for all drivers, installation of an alcohol ‘interlock’ system and the legal obligation to install ISA in new vehicles. Furthermore, the public support of the zero tolerance for using any type of mobile phone while driving for all drivers, the requirement for all cyclists to wear a helmet, as well as the requirement for cyclists to wear reflective material when cycling in the dark, are presented.   

The Road Safety Support International (RSSI) has been honoured with the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. This recognition highlights the organisation’s exceptional dedication and exemplary efforts to promote road safety on a global scale. Over the years Road Safety Support International (RSSI) has been tirelessly working to reduce road collisions and fatalities through extensive education, advocacy, and the implementation of effective safety measures. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Protective Equipment Safety Performance Indicator (SPI) Report which focuses on the prevalence and the road safety effects of road users’ use or non-use of bicycle helmets, motorcycle helmets, seat belts and Child Restraint Systems (CRS). Moreover, where feasible, these reports look at whether SPIs are related to existing policies and regulations, providing possible effective interventions to increase safe behaviour, or discourage unsafe behaviour.  

The International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the  Safer Micromobility – Ask the Author session which was held online, on 17 April 2024. During this question and answer session, Philippe Crist (ITF) together with George Yannis and Virginia Petraki (NTUA) presented the findings of the latest ITF Report titled Safer Micromobility. According to this Report Micromobility is becoming safer (per miles driven), but an increase in severe injuries from e-scooter crashes is cause for concern and a comprehensive set of recommendations in line with the Safe System Approach are proposed.

•   Safer micromobility

The European Commission organised with great success the EU Road Safety Conference which was held in Dublin, Ireland, on 16 April 2024. The Conference provided an opportunity to engage with EU Member States Authorities, Experts and all Stakeholders across the road safety community. In addition, it facilitated exchanging views and experiences on the efforts to reach Vision Zero.   NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•   European Road Safety Observatory

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Main Factors causing Fatal Crashes Thematic Report, in which the role of key risk factors is quantified and discussed, based on the most recent international literature. These factors concern speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, distraction and other psychoactive substances, and non-use of protective equipment. Addressing in priority the above causes of fatalities in Europe, through safe-by-design thinking, i.e. prevention, control and mitigation of the consequences of these errors, can contribute significantly towards the ambitious EU targets of halving fatalities by 2030 and eliminating them by 2050.  

The Road Traffic Safety Agency (RTSA) of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organizations, organised with great success the 19th International Conference Road Safety in Local Communities (RSCL 2024) in Zlatibor, Serbia, on 17-20 April 2024. The Conference was organized within second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030) and the second national strategy for road safety (2023-2030) highlighting the significant changes in road safety regulations.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Benefits from city-wide 30km/h speed limit

The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and of the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 37th Meeting which was held in Helsinki and online, on 10-11 April 2024. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. 80 members and observers from more than 40 countries enriched the discussion aimed to help improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to safer micromobility and the evaluation of road safety measures. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Safer Micromobility
•  The EU Methodology for Network Wide Road Safety Assessment

The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has published a Knowledge Report titled Improving Road Traffic Injury Statistics in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. This Report identifies the reasons behind statistical discrepancies between Low- and Middle-Income Countries and outlines strategies to strengthen modeling efforts. Furthermore, in this Report key findings and recommendations for more accurate reporting of traffic injuries were included.  

The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has published a Knowledge Report titled Estimating the Disability Burden of Road Traffic Injuries. This Report provides valuable insights into the prevalence, causes, and long-term impacts of crash-related disabilities. By broadening the discussion beyond fatalities to the often-overlooked issue of disability, the report paves the way for a more holistic perspective on road safety impacts, which can inform more effective road safety policies.