The 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, 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. 

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 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 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. 

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 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 results of the ESRA3 (E-Survey of Road users’ Attitudes) global survey on road users’ safety attitudes, self-declared behaviour on traffic and other background data such as exposure and traffic legislation, have recently been visualized through the ESRA3 Dashboard. VIAS, with the active contribution of NTUA, has produced the 39 Country Fact Sheets that show national results compared to regional average values. Several other Thematic Reports are expected to be published in 2024.

The Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM)  of the European Commission has recently delivered its first set of Recommendations. These Recommendations focused on three pillars: how to ensure prioritisation of public transport in urban areas, how to increase public transport inclusiveness and how to deal with the worker shortage and evolving skill requirements of the public transport sector. Road safety is an important component of these Recommendations.     

The SafeRoadsMap is a new and open access powerful road safety benchmarking tool with interactive maps throughout Greece (soon globally) demonstrating road crash risk and related KPIs per road segment. The SafeRoadsMap tool has been developed by NTUA, OSeven and Global Link, within the SmartMaps research project under the EPAnEK Operational Program of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF).  It is a complete and comprehensive tool to promote safer and more environmentally friendly driving behavior, based on specially developed algorithms exploiting for the first time most key road risk factors: driver behaviour, road geometry and road crash data. 

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently published the SHOW Dashboard which has been conceptualized to provide a unified view of all SHOW pilot sites in terms of performance monitoring and visualisation of real-time vehicle information. This Dashboard brings all pilot sites in a cohesive and user-friendly interface. It enables access to various Autonomous Vehicle (AV) data to optimise operations and get an insight of the impacts of the fleet operation on the environment, traffic flow or safety. Beyond the SHOW project, the information panel of the Dashboard contains available data, which are available and accessible to the wider AV-interested audience. 

The European Commission  developed the EU Urban Mobility Observatory,  a new virtual space for experts working on sustainable urban mobility across the European Union. This space includes case studies, success stories, as well as sustainable urban mobility plans, which include road safety as a major component. Furthermore, through this site researchers can find out insights, trends, tools and sustainable solutions for city transport across Europe. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of  NTUA,  SWOV and KFV has launched a safe mobility promotion activity focusing on driver distraction. According to three new Reports from the European Road Safety Observatory, mobile phone use is one of the most common sources of driver distraction and the usage of a hand-held phone increases the crash risk by around 2.5 times. These Reports also highlight effective measures against distracted driving, which include: strict enforcement of not using handheld devices, building rumble strips into road infrastructure, awareness campaigns, driver education through licensing and in-vehicle technology that warns or intervenes when departing from a lane or approaching too close to a vehicle in front.     

Getting into 2024, we steadily progress in our scientific excellence quests with persistence, dedication and passion to promoting evidence based safe mobility everywhere and for all. For reaching the decade -50% target we need to further strengthen our individual and collective efforts to sincerely include traffic safety into the mobility agenda and start implementing the vision zero traffic fatalities.

We thank you all for the excellent cooperation and we are sending you our very best wishes for Merry Christmas and a Joyful New Year, full of personal and professional achievements. 

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 8th Newsletter. 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. 

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. Detailed description, including the required mobility rules, can be found below and at:

The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 2nd 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 transport pilot plans in Athens, carried out by NTUA. 

The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety launched a strategic plan for the period 2024-2030 that sets out the vision, mission, and how these will be achieved during the remaining years of the Decade of Action 2021-2030. It has been developed with inputs from Alliance members, the Board, partners and key scientists. Through this strategic plan, 350-plus member NGOs in more than 100 countries will be empowered, mobilized and supported.   

Several cities worldwide have started setting speed limits of 30 km/h in large parts of the city. Brussels, Paris and Vienna have introduced city-wide 30km/h speed limits, mixing safely traffic of pedestrians, cyclists and motorised vehicles, with significant results in reducing road crashes, emissions and noise and upgrading city liveability. Within the 30 Marathons in 30 months campaign-challenge of Prof. George Yannis, a comprehensive set of resources on cities experiences with 30km/h speed limit is made available: georgeruns30x30.com/resources

The NRSO campaign for the promotion of city-wide 30km/h speed limit in all cities by running 30 Marathons in 30 months by Prof. George Yannis has received wide publicity in the tv, the radio, newspapers, magazines and the social media, as well as in scientific journals, conferences and workshops, with the active support of the NTUA and several International Organisations (ETSC, ECTRI, UITP, POLIS, ERF, IRF, FERSI, FEHRL, ECF, WALK21). This campaign has a particularly significant social impact, as depicted by international findings, demonstrating an average 37% reduction in fatalities in road crashes in cities which have adopted the 30km/h speed limit, together with significant environmental, energy and health benefits. All these media interventions are available at: https://georgeruns30x30.com/media

Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has recently published the 45th PIN Flash Report titled “Reducing Older People’s Deaths on European Roads”. This report highlights road safety challenges faced by older road users examines the latest data regarding road deaths of older people across the EU and other countries that form part of ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. Key measures aimed at reducing risks for older road users, encompassing strategies that address behaviour, infrastructure and vehicle safety, are provided. Remarkable is that 55% of older people road deaths are vulnerable road users, while one third of them are pedestrians.  

IVORY – AI for Vision Zero in Road Safety is a new Industrial Doctoral Network funded by the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2022 Framework of the EC, coordinated by TU Delft with the active contribution of NTUA. The objectives of IVORY is to develop a new framework for optimal integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in road safety research, and train a new generation of leading researchers in the field through state-of-the-art doctoral research. In total, 15 PhD candidates will be fostered within the project, 4 of which will be within NTUA. Their topics concern proactive risk mapping, multiscale crash prediction, multiparametric data fusion for road safety and ethical physiological measurements for road safety risk prediction. Potential PhD Applicants are welcome.

The European Commission with the active contribution of  NTUA,  SWOV and KFV has launched a safe mobility promotion activity focusing on drink driving. According to two new Reports from the European Road Safety Observatory, around 25% of all road deaths in the EU are alcohol-related, representing 15 times higher crash risk than sober drivers. These Reports also highlight effective measures against impaired driving, which include: strict legislation backed by police enforcement, providing alternative transport means, awareness campaigns, rehabilitation courses, safety culture in companies, alcohol interlocks, and in-vehicle technology that warns or intervenes when impairment leads to critical events.     

Christina Alexopoulou, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Chairing the Road Safety Governmental Committee together with Konstantinos Kyranakis, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, are set to implement the digitalization and automatisation of the system for traffic violations management within the framework of the National Road Safety Strategic Plan 2021 – 2030.  NTUA Professor George Yannis  will contribute actively, taking the role of Coordinator of the Executive Committee for Road Safety, which will focus on the new Road Safety Law & Road Traffic Code, the National Road Safety Observatory and the National Road Safety Communication Policy. 

•  National Road Safety Strategic Plan 2021 – 2030

Dimitrios Nikolaou, NTUA PhD Candidate & Researcher, received the Young Researcher Best Paper on Road Safety Αward 2023 during the International Congress on Transport Research 2023. The Award is granted jointly by the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE). The award concerned the paper is titled: “Spatial analysis of telematics surrogate safety measures across road environments”, co-authored by Armira Kontaxi, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis. 

Global University Rankings demonstrate excellent scientific performance of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), our Civil Engineering School and our Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering, along with the NTUA Road Safety Observatory. This is the result of NTUA Scientists’ long standing culture of persistence to our fundamental research principles: a) Scientific Excellence with advanced and innovative technology concepts, b) Research with significant Impact to society and economy, c) State-of-the-art organisation for highly efficient Implementation, d) Systematic international Cooperations. Great thanks to the highly dedicated NTUA Road Safety Research Team and to all our European and worldwide partners. And the exciting journey towards scientific excellence continues … 

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has recently released the FIA Road Safety Index, a tool that provides Organisations with a methodology to assess their road safety performance and calculate their safety footprint, relying on a similar concept as the carbon footprint calculators. The safety footprint of an Organisation refers to the number of fatalities and seriously injured persons as a result of road crashes occurring within its entire value chain. Designed on the basis of a long-term commitment, the index offers a systematic approach to identify, measure and follow up road safety results from a value chain perspective.  

NTUA Professor George Yannis is ranked  1^st most productive European Scientist in Road Safety Research (8^th globally and at the top 0.02% of all Scientists in the field), according to recent rankings from Expertscape‘s PubMed-based algorithms for the last 10 years. According to the same rankings, NTUA Road Safety research productivity is ranked 4^th in Europe (and within the top 40 Universities globally). 

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 7th Newsletter. The Newsletter provides information on the latest outcomes of the project. The sites had the opportunity to present their achievements in a recent Review Meeting with the European Commission, where  the excellent work being done across the project, the results that are beginning to emerge, and of course, the challenges to overcome to allow the sites to fulfill their potential, were discussed. SHOW’s aim now is to enhance urban mobility and automation by understanding people’s needs. 

The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 1st 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 transport pilot plans in Athens, carried out by NTUA. 

The Public Policy Guide for Cycling has released the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, which includes a plan for the promotion of cycling in Greece in the horizon of 2030. The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for transport issues, Michalis Papadopoulos pointed out the importance of promoting the use of bicycles as an equal mean of transport for all citizens. The objective to increase the share of travel by bicycle requires the cooperation of all stakeholders, institutional and non-institutional.  

The Horizon 2020 project i-DREAMS (smart Driver Environment Assessment and Monitoring System) released its 7th Newsletter, presenting the main accomplishments of the project, through creative solutions and risk mitigation strategies, exploiting state-of-the art findings on driver safety tolerance zone. The Newsletter presents the main results and the key findings from field trials and simulator experiments in Belgium, Germany, UK, Greece and Portugal and recommendations are also provided. The management approach, the communication and dissemination strategy as well as the ethical challenges tackled are presented through 37 deliverables, technical reports, interviews.  

The NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering organised with great success a Scientific Workshop titled “Telematics and Driver Behaviour” which took place in Athens on April 4th, 2023. Key driver telematics research findings were demonstrated and discussed, highlighting spectacular safety benefits from monitoring, evaluation and improvement of driver behaviour through feedback tools, social gamification schemes and motivation for drivers.

Workshop Presentations:

• Telematics, Big Data and Road Safety – nrso
• Improving driving behaviour through OSeven’s telematics application – Oseven
• Key road safety and telematics data – i-Safemodels
• Development of a global road safety model – i-Safemodels
• Exploiting surrogate safety measures and road design characteristics towards crash investigations in motorway segments – i-Safemodels
• A crash hotspot identification and safety ranking methodology – i-Safemodels
• State of the art on spatial analysis and visualization tools for potential telematics applications – SmartMaps
• Spatial analysis of telematics surrogate safety measures across road environments – SmartMaps
• From understanding the effects of driving behaviour on fuel consumption to a personalized eco-recommendation system – EcoDrive
• A personalized framework for fuel efficient route planning – EcoDrive
• The transformation of the insurance industry and road safety by driver safety behaviour telematics – BeSmart
• Investigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on driver behaviour through telematics data – Covid-19
• Effectiveness Evaluation of the i-DREAMS Interventions – i-Dreams
• Modelling the inter-relationship between task complexity, coping capacity and crash risk – i-Dreams
• Telematics, microsimulation and road safety assessment requirements for the enhancement of analytic tools – Phoebe

NTUA Professor George Yannis, after more than 30 years of dedication to road safety science and several Marathon races, decided to combine both passions for a cause: to run 30 Marathons in 30 months in order to actively promote the adoption of 30km/h speed limit in as many cities as possible worldwide, as a fundamental policy for safer, healthier and greener cities for all. Speeding is the number one cause of road crashes worldwide and the active promotion of 30 km/h cities can save 50% of lives lost today.        

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, has presented proposals to modernise driving licence rules, including the introduction of a digital driving licence valid throughout the EU and new provisions to facilitate the enforcement of traffic rules across borders. More than 20,000 lives were lost on EU roads last year and the majority of victims were pedestrians, cyclists and users of scooters and motorbikes. The new rules will improve safety for all road users,  and will help the EU achieve its Vision Zero – having no deaths on EU roads by 2050.  

The Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of Civil Engineering School at the National Technical University of Athens was ranked 4th in Europe this year and 26th worldwide among all Transportation Departments, with the best performance among all NTUA Departments. This ranking is produced by EduRank‘s final score based on three parts: 45% Research performance, 45% Non-academic prominence and 10% Alumni score. NTUA road safety activities have significantly contributed to this ranking.

Departments’ Director George Yannis stated that: “the persistence in scientific excellence of our highly qualified transportation engineers contributes to a future with efficient, green and safe transport systems in Greece, in Europe and globally”. 

The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for an EU cycling strategy, in an important step for equal treatment and financial support for the healthy and clean mode of transport. The Parliament’s resolution highlights the importance of cycling as a fully-fledged mode of transport that should be treated with the same importance as any other mode of transport. The initiative follows action on the issue by 11 EU countries, including France and Spain, through the “European Cycling Declaration,” which also calls for an EU cycling strategy. 

The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) released recently a new guide titled “How Do Kids Experience Streets? The Reverse Periscope Companion Guide“. GDCI’s Streets for Kids Reverse Periscope is a do-it-yourself tool that encourages planners, city officials, and others to experience the obstacles and attractions of city streets from a child’s perspective. With this guide, anyone could learn how to create Reverse Periscope, what to look for when using it, and how to hold a community workshop to help more people experience Streets for Kids. 

Are you involved in urban transportation planning? Your voice is valuable for PHOEBE project, which aims to improve road safety prediction tools holistically! Please participate in the PHOEBE’s 20-minute survey that studies the key outputs and analyses supporting transport policy and safety objectives.

You are invited to send us your input by 28 February 2023! 

The European Commission has published the EU Methodology for Network-Wide Road Safety Assessment, as developed by NTUA, FRED and FPZ and adopted by the EU Member States. Τhis Methodology will assist EU National Road Authorities to carry out safety assessments of their road network easily and efficiently, as required by the EU Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive. The Methodology comprises both a reactive (crash based) and a proactive (feature based) safety assessment, covering issues such as lane width, road curvature, junctions design, roadside layout and potential conflicts between motorised vehicles and vulnerable road users. Subsequently, the two assessments are integrated into a common safety rating system classifying all roads in a country. This way, Road Authorities will be able to identify priorities for future road safety interventions and investments.  

The 2022 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 33 innovative research projects, succeeded to publish a record number of 90 scientific papers (26 in peer reviewed journals), and travelled around the world in hundreds of meetings to develop and promote road safety science. 

The Horizon 2020 project i-DREAMS (smart Driver Environment Assessment and Monitoring System) recently released its 6th Newsletter, presenting the main accomplishments of the project, through creative solutions and risk mitigation strategies, exploiting state-of-the art findings on driver safety tolerance zone. The Newsletter presents some insights in the first results and findings from field trials in Belgium and the UK are described. The first outcomes have been also presented to the User Advisory Board and Expert Advisory Board.   

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has recently launched the FIA Road Safety Index, a tool that provides organisations with a methodology to assess their road safety performance and calculate their safety footprint, relying on a similar concept as the carbon footprint calculators. The safety footprint of an organisation refers to the number of fatalities and seriously injured persons as a result of road crashes occurring within its entire value chain. Designed on the basis of a long-term commitment, the index offers a systematic approach to identify, measure and follow up road safety results from a value chain perspective.  

The approval of the National Road Safety Strategic Plan for the period 2021 – 2030 took place at the Fourth Meeting of the Road Safety Governmental Committee which was held on 29 November 2022. The Strategic Plan adopted, developed with the scientific support of NTUA, aims to reduce road fatalities by 50% by 2030 through 44 actions and 200 measures following the safe system approach and the vision zero fatalities by 2050. Committee Chairman, Deputy Minister for Transport, Mr. Michalis Papadopoulos, stated that “the improvement of road safety level in our country is one of the key priorities of the Government and the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for safe traffic for everyone and everywhere”. 

NTUA Professor George Yannis has received the prestigious EU TRAVisions 2022 Senior Researcher Award during the European Commission Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA 2022), held on 14-17 November 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. Professor George Yannis won the competition of EU Senior Researcher for Road Transport Research based on his exceptional and long-standing research contribution on Open Road Safety Decision Support Systems (ERSO, SafetyCube, SafeFITS, PRACT, Levitate).  

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 6th Newsletter. The Newsletter provides information on the latest outcomes of the project. Many of SHOW’s demonstrations have kicked off during the past weeks, and numerous congresses, conferences, and various events have already showcased its pilot sites to the public with positive feedback. Another pivotal component of the project is international cooperation and participation in cross-border twinning events.  SHOW’s aim now is to enhance urban mobility by understanding people’s needs. 

The European Commission hosted the annual Excellence in Road Safety Awards on 17 October 2022, recognising the contributions of the European Road Safety Charter’s community of members towards the common goal of improved road safety across Europe. Preventiedienst stad Leuven (Belgium) was the winner for its VRKeer virtual reality initiative targeting young people, Initiative für sichere Straßen GmbH (Germany) for its EDDA+ Hazard Score Map project using multiple data sources to implement change and create safer roads, Zavod Reševalni pas (Slovenia) for its rescue belt campaign to raise awareness and change driver behaviour and Acciona Energía (Spain) for their Drive Safe Programme for their employees across multiple locations. 

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has written to all 27 Member State Transport Ministers to ask if their countries will act on the European Commission’s suggestion to reduce speeds on motorways and in urban areas, in order to save energy. Eleven of them replied, with a mixed range of responses which can be summed up as “we’re working on it”, “we’ve already done it” and, in one case, “thanks, but no thanks”. Characteristically, Greece’s Deputy Minister of Transport told ETSC that the Greek National Strategic Plan will include the aims of reducing rural roads to 80 km/h from 90 km/h currently, with the establishment of a maximum speed in urban residential areas of 30 km/h.

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 5th Newsletter. The Newsletter provides information on the latest outcomes of the project. Beyond technical developments, additional pilot sites have kicked off their real-life operations and will start collecting feedback from the project’s local teams and from the citizens using it’s services.  

The Final Synthesis Report of the European Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published with the active contribution of NTUA, containing a wealth of information on road safety in 48 countries, based on the ESRA2 survey. The results of the survey were published through a series of Reports: 15 Thematic Reports on road safety topics, the Country Fact Sheets and the 2022 Main Report. 

The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has published a Report titled “Integrating Safety into Road Design”. This Guide has been produced in response to the ever-growing need for safe road and roadside design to save lives from road crashes. The Guide focuses on elements of safe road and roadside designs for road networks that can provide safe mobility to all road users, as well as complementary changes to improve speeds, vehicle safety, road user behaviors, and post-crash care.