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.

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. 

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. 

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.  

A paper titled “RSS2022 Conference: Advanced Road Safety Analyses” authored by George Yannis and Eleonora Papadimitriou has been published in Safety Science. This collection reflects a concerted effort to advance scientific knowledge in road safety, aiming to mitigate crash fatalities and injuries in the digital era through innovative quantitative research methods. 

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Model for the assessment of cycling routes in Athens with high resolution data” was recently presented by Aristeidis-Vasileios Kanakis. For this purpose, the critical factors that influence the cycling trips carried out in the areas of Chalandri and Vrilissia, utilizing crowdsourced data from the “Strava Metro” platform, were identified. The results demonstrate a positive effect of the average speed of cycling on the number of cycling trips. The most critical influencing factors on cycling trips concern road infrastructure and traffic conditions on each road section, such as the average speed of cycling trips, the category of road section and its length.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “The influence of the penetration of autonomous vehicles on road safety” was recently presented by Antonia Antonakaki.  For this purpose, an analysis of simulation data was carried out around the Villaverde network in Madrid.  The application of the models revealed that the factors influencing the above variables have to do with both traffic composition data (vehicle type) and road infrastructure data (road type, road capacity). It is highlighted that increasing the Market Penetration Rate (MPR) of autonomous vehicles in the network was found to have, quantifiable positive effects on road safety.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of employee preferences in Athens towards the “Bike to Work” scheme” was recently presented by Konstantinos Aggelakis.  In order to achieve this,  factors influencing the decisions of workers to use a soft mode of transportation such as bicycles and scooters (electric or conventional) for their commutes in Athens are examined, as well as how the existence of a bicycle lane network affects this decision. Polynomial models demonstrate that increased time and cost savings in commuting do not significantly affect the choice of bicycle or scooter as a commuting mode, contrary to health improvement, while commute duration and commuter age are also significant factors in the choice of micro-mobility modes.  

The World Road Association (PIARC) recently published a Report titled “PIARC Global Road Safety Exchange“ with emphassis on Low and Middle Income countries, with the active contribution of NTUA. This Report reflects the wealth of information contained in PIARC multi-annual road safety work about safe infrastructure, the design and operation of road tunnels, speed management, the collection and analysis of road safety data, management, human behaviour, vulnerable road users and vehicles. PIARC recommendations will help to develop expertise in road safety and to adopt the «Safe System Approach» to reducing fatal and serious crashes on the road network worldwide. 

The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently published a new Report titled “Safer Micromobility“ co-authored by George Yannis, Virginia Petraki and Philippe Crist. This Report examines safety aspects associated with the increasing use of e-scooters and other forms of micromobility in cities. Micromobility is becoming safer (per miles driven), but an increase in severe injuries from e-scooter crashes is cause for concern. The Report considers a comprehensive set of recommendations in line with the Safe System Approach, to make urban traffic with micromobility safe, including in street layout, vehicle design and vehicle operation, user education and enforcement of rules. It also asks whether a shift towards micromobility can have potential overall traffic safety benefits.   

The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “Models for Sight Distance in Road Design“. This work provides an overview of the importance of comparing international road design standards to check their updated status and the degree of their readiness to face the forthcoming innovations in road mobility and safety. This report also assesses possibilities of transferring models to other road design standards mainly in Low- or Middle-Income Countries. 

A book titled “Shaping Automated Driving to Achieve Societal Mobility Needs: A Human-Systems Integration Approach” was recently published under the framework of the Horizon 2020 project HADRIAN  (Holistic Approach for Driver Role Integration and Automation Allocation for European Mobility Needs). This book describes novel human-systems integration approaches to improve acceptance, safety, and comfort of automated vehicles. Each chapter offers timely and practice-oriented information concerning the different aspects in the development of automated driving systems which adapt to the users’ needs.  NTUA actively contributed with the following chapters:

• Results of Two Demonstrations of Holistic Solutions for Automated Vehicles to Increase Usefulness and Safety
• An Integrated Display of Fluid Human Systems Interactions

The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a DataBook of Roads and Road Transport for 2020-2023. This report focuses on the collection of various data related to roads, road transport and safety which are internationally comparable with their accuracy and consistency ensured. Infographics of key road data and synthesis results highlight the current status of roads at global and regional level. 

A paper titled “Network-wide road crash risk screening: A new framework” authored by Michela Bonera, Benedetto Barabino, George Yannis and Giulio Maternini  has been published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. This study integrates road safety factors, prediction models and a risk-based method. Road segments are ranked according to the risk value and classified by a five-level scale, to show the parts of road network with the highest crash risk. This framework introduces a valid support for road safety Authorities to help identify the most critical road segments on the network, prioritise interventions and, possibly, improve the safety performance. 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The conclusion of this project was presented by the PIARC President Nazir Alli. Throughout the year, this global project addressed issues relating to vehicles, speed, data, vulnerable road users, infrastructure, tunnels, management and human factors in order to improve road safety.  

The 2023 infographic of NTUA Road Safety Observatory (www.nrso.ntua.gr) highlights one more very intensive and highly fruitful year. The nrso scientific team with high dedication, efficiency and expertise continues to grow and excel, being active in 31 innovative research projects, succeeded to publish 49 scientific papers (23 in peer reviewed journals), and travelled around the world in hundreds of meetings to develop and promote road safety science. The 30 Marathons campaign for promoting 30km/h city-wide speed limit was also widely welcomed, contributing to the culture of calm and safe streets everywhere and for all. 

A paper titled “Machine Learning Insights on Driving Behaviour Dynamics among Germany, Belgium, and UK Drivers” authored by Stella Roussou, Thodoris Garefalakis, Eva Michelaraki, Tom Brijs and George Yannis, has been published in Sustainability. Two machine learning approaches, Long Short-term Memory Networks and Neural Networks were implemented. The findings revealed a significant positive impact of i-DREAMS’ real-time interventions and post-trip assessments on enhancing driving behaviour. Furthermore, it is worth noting that neural networks demonstrated superior performance compared to other algorithms considered within this research context. 

The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the Road Safety Annual Report 2023, focusing on the development of road safety in 2022, with the active contribution of NTUA. It is based on data from 35 IRTAD member countries, with some preliminary data also for the year 2023. The main findings revealed that the number of fatalities continued to fall compared with 2019 and previous years. The necessity on the adoption of low emission zones, traffic limited zones and the development of 30 km/h zones by many cities was also highlighted.  

The World Health Organization has released a Road Safety Manual for decision-makers and practitioners concerning Helmets Safety. This second edition of the Helmets Manual aims to provide guidance to countries on how to implement some of the recommendations identified within the World Report, and thus improve their overall road safety record. This Manual provides practical advice to road safety practitioners on how to achieve a much higher proportion of users of two-wheeled vehicles wearing helmets.  

A paper titled “Perceptions towards autonomous vehicle acceptance: Information mining from Self-Organizing Maps and Random Forests” authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Christina Telidou, Apostolos Anagnostopoulos, Fotini Kehagia and George Yannis, has been published in IATSS Research. Random Forests (RF) feature importance calculation indicated a number of affecting variables with distance covering capabilities of AVs being a major factor affecting acceptance decisions, followed (by a wide margin) by responder opinions on whether the principles and conscience of drivers can be replaced by an AI navigator without reducing safety levels. 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to behaviour, as presented by NTUA Professor George Yannis. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

A paper titled “Exploring speeding behavior using naturalistic car driving data from smartphones ” authored by Armira Kontaxi, Dimosthenis-Marios Tzoutzoulis, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering. The results from the interpretation of the estimated parameters of the models indicate that trip distance and mobile phone use while driving have been determined as statistically significant and positively correlated with the percentage of speeding time during a driver’s trip. In the same context, male drivers and drivers in the age group of 18–34 also increase the percentages of speeding instances while driving. 

A paper titled “Examination of the Effect of Task Complexity and Coping Capacity on Driving Risk: A Cross-Country and Transportation Mode Comparative Study” authored by Stella Roussou, Thodoris Garefalakis, Eva Michelaraki, Christos Katrakazas, Muhammad Adnan, Muhammad Wissal Khattak, Tom Brijs and George Yannis, has been published in Sensors. The findings revealed a positive relationship between task complexity and coping capacity, indicating that as the difficulty of the driving task increased, the driver’s coping capacity also increased (i.e., higher ability to manage and adapt to the challenges posed by more complex tasks). 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to road safety management, as presented by the head of Road Safety at the Transport Accident Commission of Australia Samantha Cockfield. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

The International Transport Forum (ITF) has recently published a new Report titled “Using Safety Performance Indicators to Improve Road Safety – The case of Korea“ with the active contribution of NTUA. This Report explores how Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) can play a critical role in implementing the Safe System approach to road safety. The example of Korea was examined. Developing safety performance indicators involves identifying and prioritising policy areas, selecting relevant indicators, continuously monitoring and evaluating progress, and aligning selected indicators with national road safety strategies.  

A paper titled “Parkinson’s Disease and Driving Fitness: A Systematic Review of the Existing Guidelines” authored by Petros Stamatelos, Alexandra Economou,  George Yannis, Leonidas Stefanis and Sokratis G. Papageorgiou has been published in Movement Disorders. Results revealed that neurological aspects of driving fitness evaluation of PD patients are recognized in most of the guidelines. Furthermore, motor, neuropsychological, visual, and sleep assessment and medication review are key components for road safety. 

A paper titled “Cycling under the influence of alcohol and other drugs: An exploratory analysis” authored by Zoi Christoforou, Maria Giannoulaki, Christos Gioldasis and George Yannis, has been published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Results revealed that Cycling Under the Influence (CUI) of alcohol and other drugs is indeed a common practice among Parisian cyclists, although they declare to be aware of related risks, but rarely adapt their drinking/cycling behavior to avoid them, even when they have previous accident involvement record. 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to tunnels, as presented by the chair of the PIARC Technical Committee 4.4 “Road Tunnels”  Ingo Kaundinya. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Impact of compliance for the reduction of sulphur oxide emissions in the shipping industry” was recently presented by Maria Konti. In order to achieve this, two case studies based on data taken from two existing bulk carriers were presented. The study indicates that options i) and iii) are accompanied by significant capital expenditures (CapEx), while the Scrubber option is shown to be the most cost-effective considering 5 and 10-year depreciation scenarios. Other important parameters such as the vessels’ age, the management companies’ cash flow and risk appetite, and the hire rates are shown to influence the results.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Analysis of traffic behaviour and road safety of delivery riders” was recently presented by Konstantinos Choumis.  To achieve this, a questionnaire was developed, and 200 food delivery drivers from all over Attica were asked to respond based on the stated preference method for various hypothetical scenarios involving changes in delivery time, crash risk reduction and profit loss per delivery. The results of the multinomial logistic regression model revealed that the variables influencing the food delivery drivers’ choices in hypothetical scenarios include: delivery time, crash risk reduction, profit loss, age of the driver, the number of fines received, and their opinion on stricter penalties as a measure to improve road safety.   

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Survey on acceptance of speed limit reduction on Greek motorways” was recently presented by Christina Agourou. A stated preference survey was carried out examining three different scenarios of speed limits’ reduction on motorways. Multinomial and binary logistic regression models were developed and results demonstrated that drivers acceptance of  speed limit reduction in motorways increases as the number of fatalities and serious injuries increases. It was also revealed that females are more willing to comply with lower speed limits than males.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Impact factors of children’s road safety in Europe” was recently presented by Alexia Georgiou. For this purpose, data from the European CARE database on the number of victims aged 0-14 in road crashes and the characteristics of these crashes were used. Linear regression models and negative binomial regression models were developed. These models led to the conclusion that the percentage of drivers who develop speeds higher than the permitted ones in residential areas and the percentage of drivers who transport children over 150cm tall without a seat belt significantly affect the number of victims aged 0-14. Regarding crash characteristics, good weather conditions are associated with an increase in the number of victims.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of the impact of eco driving on fuel consumption using smartphone data” was recently presented by Aimilia Triantafyllou. To achieve this objective, data collected from 15 drivers who participated in a naturalistic driving experiment for a period of six months are analyzed. The results demonstrated that by improving the participants’ driving style, a remarkable reduction in fuel consumption was observed; and smoother and more ecological driver behavior was achieved.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of eco driving benefits at the rural network using driving simulator” was recently presented by Panagiota Kourenti. To achieve this objective, driving data from 39 participants were collected and the experimental procedure was carried out using a driving simulator. To complete the collection of the necessary data, the driving characteristics of the participants were collected through a questionnaire survey. The key conclusions of this thesis are that eco-driving reduces significantly emissions, fuel consumption and crash risk.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Comparative Evaluation of Road Safety Performance of the European Union Countries” was recently presented by Panagiotis Konstantopoulos. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety were exploited as collected in 2021-2022 within the Baseline project, together with data from Eurostat and EC CARE road crash databases. It was observed that an increase in the percentage of vehicles travelling within the speed limits on urban roads and of the percentage of seat belt use, as well as an increase in the proportion of new vehicles in the total fleet, are associated with a clear reduction in crash severity.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Comparative analysis of road safety performance in the Regions of Greece” was recently presented by Lydia Papagianni. For this purpose, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety in Greece were collected and calculated for the year 2022 as part of the European Union’s Baseline project. It was found that as the KPI for the use of protective equipment, distraction from handheld devices, compliance with speed limits, the per capita GDP, and the number of hospital beds increase, the number of road fatalities per population decreases. Conversely, as the employment rate increases, the road fatalities also increase.  

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to infrastructure, as presented by the chair of PIARC Technical Committee 3.1 John Milton. Throughout the year, PIARC focuses on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

CRC Press has recently published a Handbook written by Christina Ludin-Brown and Ashleigh Filtness titled “Fatigue Management in Transportation”, which is designed as a comprehensive reference point, bringing together international expertise from leaders in fatigue science, and showcasing valuable insights from transportation industry practitioners. The 40 authored chapters of this handbook are divided into six sections, to better understand fatigue science, the consequences of fatigue in transportation, contributors to fatigue, managing fatigue and promoting alertness, real world case studies of fatigue management in practice, and future perspectives.   

The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) program on Star Rating for Schools and AiRAP partnerships will be scaled up to provide 3-star or better journeys to school and address road traffic crashes that are the leading cause of death among children and young people worldwide with the support of  Google. By using artificial intelligence to identify high-risk 1- and 2-star roads that children use on their journey to school, potential hazards and mobilise evidence-based upgrades that will save children’s lives will be identified. 

A paper titled “Real-Time Monitoring of Driver Distraction: State-of-the-art and future insights” authored by Eva Michelaraki, Chistos Katrakazas, Susanne Kaiser, Tom Brijs and George Yannis, has been published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. The aim of this research is to critically review and assess the state-of-the-art systems and platforms measuring driver distraction or inattention. The results indicated that real-time eye tracking systems, cardiac sensors on steering wheels, smartphone applications and cameras were the most frequent devices to monitor and detect driver distraction. On the other hand, less frequent and effective approaches included electrodes, hand magnetic rings and glasses. 

A paper titled “COVID-19 and driving behavior: Which were the most crucial influencing factors” authored by Marios Sekadakis, Christos Katrakazas, Eva Michelaraki, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Data Science for Transportation. Based on the collected data, XGBoost feature analysis algorithms were deployed to obtain the most significant factors. Results revealed that COVID-19 new cases and new fatalities were the most significant factors related to COVID-19 metrics impacting driving behavior. In addition, the correlation between driving behavior with other factors (i.e., distance traveled, mobile use, driving requests, and driving during risky hours) was revealed. Lastly, the differences and similarities of the harsh event rates between the two lockdown periods were identified. 

The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety launched, with the active contribution of NTUA, an accountability toolkit, which is a set of practical, web-based tools. It offers tangible steps to equip NGOs to hold their governments accountable for the safety of all road users by reducing road deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, in alignment with the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 (Global Plan). The toolkit is a practical resource for NGOs and other civil society advocates and is underpinned by five Priority Interventions that have been proven to be among the most effective in reducing road deaths and injuries.

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Fuel price impact on driver harsh behaviour improvement in Greece” was recently presented by Panagiota Konstantakopoulou. It analyses the impact of fuel price on driver behaviour and explores how price changes can influence driving style, abruptness and speed. The research includes statistical data of fuel prices and driver behaviour for the years between 2019 and 2022.   The increase in fuel prices has led to a reduction in sudden acceleration/deceleration. It was observed that during periods of increased fuel price, drivers improved their driving style and were more attentive to the task of driving, performing fewer abrupt events.  

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Impact of road safety culture elements on road crash risk in Greece” was recently presented by Nikolaos Veneris. In order to achieve this, data from the “Safe Culture” research regarding private car and motorcycle drivers in Athens and Rhodes were exploited. Subsequently, the answers from questions that serve the purposes of this thesis were picked and classified, in order to develop binary logistic regression models. Results indicate that drivers probably understand the importance of more intensive traffic enforcement as a means of traffic accident reduction, the development of a common road safety culture in the island of Rhodes in contrast to that of Athens and, last but not least, the importance of factors such as driving frequency, age and experience, on traffic accident probability.   

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Correlation of crash risk with driver capacity in coping with driving tasks complexity using machine learning” was recently presented by Spyros Tsigkos. A large set of  driving data under real-life conditions in Great Britain was exploited and eight Structural Equation Models (SEM) were developed. It emerged that increasing the complexity of the trip increases the risk of a crash, while the deteriorated condition of the driver and the vehicle leads to increasing the crash risk. Male drivers have more high-severity abrupt incidents while driving compared to female drivers, which confirms the international literature.   

An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Economic assessment of free public transport in Athens” was recently presented by Chrysavgi (Chrysa) Vagdatli. For this purpose, a social-economic analysis, in the context of a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), was conducted to assess the socio-economic impact of the FPT, up to the year 2030. In the framework of the CBA, four Scenarios for reduction of public transport tickets were examined. Consequently, a multinomial logistic model was developed to investigate for each of the three Scenarios the level preferring Athenians the FPT over private car, using data from a stated preference questionnaire survey. This social-economic analysis demonstrated that the introduction of FPT in Athens can contribute to social welfare mainly due to the modal shift from private cars to public transport.   

The World Road Association – PIARC recently published two Reports titled “Road Safety in LMICs: Identification and Analysis of specific Issues” in two parts Literature review and Illustrative Examples. The first part starts from the notion that road safety is a multifaceted problem which requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The safe system approach is generally considered as the central concept for this purpose and this starting point is also taken in this study. The second part is a follow up of an earlier literature review, in which were indicated which specific issues do need further attention in LMICs in the coming period up to 2030.  

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), as presented by the PIARC Technical Committee 3.1 member Lawrence Chauke. Throughout the year, PIARC will focus on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

A paper titled “The impact of cognition-affecting neurological diseases on reaction time and driving speed deviation” authored by Athina Diamanti, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Open Transportation Journal. Analysis of cognitive impairments based on GDS questions showed that frequent ‘feelings of boredom’ correlated with a 7% increase in reaction time and a 8% increase in the standard deviation of driving speed. Conversely, ‘feelings of worthlessness’ reduced the standard deviation of driving speed by 4.5%. Drivers with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases showed higher reaction times, while drivers with depression and the control group showed lower reaction times. Drivers with Parkinson’s disease showed statistically fewer deviations of average speed. This research demonstrated that cognitively impaired individuals have larger reaction times and more erratic driving speeds.  

The European Commision welcomes the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on a proposal made by the Commission in 2021 on the revision of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Directive.  A smarter and interoperable transport system allows the more effective management of traffic and mobility across transport modes, enabling users to better combine the most sustainable modes of transport.  

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to Data, as presented by the PIARC Technical Committee 2.4 “Road Network Operation/ ITS” Secretary Kaouther Machta. Throughout the year, PIARC will focus on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

A paper titled “A Review of Surrogate Safety Measures Uses in Historical Crash Investigations” authored by Dimitrios Nikolaou, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Sustainability. On that purpose, 34 studies were examined, providing insights on the different types of SSMs collected under real road environment conditions, the way they are collected, their connection with specific road crash types, and the type of the developed statistical models are examined and discussed. Particular focus is also placed on the temporal dimension of the collection period of both SSMs and road crashes. Based on the classification performance metrics of the developed models, it was found that the Random Forests classifier outperformed the other developed classifiers in terms of predicting crash risk levels of the considered motorway segments. 

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project, aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to Speed, as presented by the PIARC Technical Committee 3.1 “Road Safety” member John Barrell. Throughout the year, PIARC will focus on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.     

The World Road Association – PIARC implemented an ambitious PIARC Knowledge Exchange project aiming at sharing knowledge about road safety, with the active contribution of NTUA and AIT, especially within the Low and Middle Income Countries with limited resources but also in more developed economies with different needs and priorities. The theme of this month refers to Vehicles, as presented by the PIARC Task Force 2.1 President Ana Luz Jiménez Ortega. Throughout the year, PIARC will focus on the Safe System approach, addressing safe roads and roadsides, safe road users, safe vehicles and safe speeds.   

A paper titled “Driving behaviour in depression based on subjective evaluation and data from a driving simulator” authored by Vagioula Tsoutsi, Maria Papadakaki, George Yannis, Dimosthenis Pavlou, Maria Basta, Joannes Chliaoutakis and Dimitris Dikeos, has been published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The group of patients with depression did not differ from controls regarding driving behaviour as assessed through questionnaires; on the driving simulator, patients kept a longer safety distance. Results indicated that subjective fatigue was positively associated with aggression, dislike of driving, hazard monitoring and violations as assessed by questionnaires. It was revealed that, although certain symptoms of depression (insomnia, fatigue and somnolence) may affect driving performance, patients compensate by driving more carefully, eliminating thus, their impact. 

The World Road Association – PIARC recently published a Report titled “The Use of Big Data for Road Condition Monitoring“. This work provides an overview of numerous big data sources and the data-processing methods that can be used to analyse data for road condition monitoring. It focuses on solutions that allow data to be collected quickly, in real time and repeatedly. Also included is a summary of several completed or ongoing projects that have utilised many of the big data sources described in this document.  

The World Health Oganisation (WHO) in collaboration with the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety recently developed a guide that clearly defines the role that nongovernmental organizations can have in advocating on behalf of people who need emergency care, including those injured in road traffic crashes.  This guide is especially targeted towards nongovernmental organizations that operate with limited resources. While those affected by injuries and other health emergencies have a range of physical, psychological and legal needs, this publication is focused on advocacy for the time-sensitive health care that can save millions of lives every year.