ΕΘΝΙΚΌ ΜΕΤΣΌΒΙΟ ΠΟΛΥΤΕΧΝΕΊΟ: Οδική Ασφάλεια Απρίλιος 2018 - NRSO Road Safety Update - April 2018

European Commission – Encouraging road safety results second year in a row, 2018 The European Commission has published the preliminary 2017 road safety statistics, which indicate for the second year in a row, a decrease in the number of fatalities of around 2%. While national authorities deliver most of the day-to-day actions, such as enforcement and awareness-raising, the Commission is working on a series of concrete measures to spur further substantial progress. This would be another step towards a “Europe that protects” as envisioned by President Juncker.  More... Latest Developments European Commission – Safer Roads for All, 2018 The European Commission’s Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) published the EU good practice guide: Safer roads for all. It includes Road Safety Statistics in EU, and good practices in EU countries with different safety performance levels. The EU success story is the result of many contributing factors: making road safety a political priority; broad cooperation across borders for a true European road safety area; adoption of the ‘safe system’ approach and the ‘vision zero’ perspective; target setting, data collection and continuous monitoring of results; and dedicated actions ranging from education and awareness campaigns to legislative action and safety focused technical vehicle regulations.  ITF – Integrating Urban Public Transport Systems and Cycling, 2018 The International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published recently a new Report: “Integrating Urban Public Transport Systems and Cycling”. Seamless integration between bus, BRT, light rail, metro and rail systems and walking and cycling is the main challenge in delivering competitive levels of service, in terms of convenience, flexibility, cost as well as safety. ITF Report recommendations suggest that cycling can greatly extend the range of public transport options available to urban travellers. Cycling significantly increases the catchment area of rail stations with bike-share systems greatly facilitating the use of cycling to complete trips on public transport as well as promoting cycling more generally.   Road to Zero Coalition – The Road to Zero Report, 2018 “The Road to Zero Report” was developed by the Road to Zero Coalition, together with the RAND Corporation, setting a goal to eliminate traffic fatalities in the U.S. by 2050. The report is the first of its kind in the U.S. and identifies proven, life-saving actions for the short, mid, and long-terms that should be taken by federal, state, and local government officials; automakers; technology manufacturers; business leaders; insurance agencies; law enforcement; and safety advocates.   Greece – New fines scheme for traffic infringements, 2018 Ο Νέος Κ.Ο.Κ,  επιβολής προστίμων για παραβάσεις κυκλοφορίας εισήχθη πρόσφατα στον Ελληνικό Δρόμο (Ν. 4530/2018). Πιο συγκεκριμένα, καθορίζονται τρεις κατηγορίες προστίμων, με βάση τη σημασία ασφάλειας των αντίστοιχων παραβάσεων: χαμηλό (0-300 €), μέτριο (301 € - 600 €) και υψηλό (> 600 €) κίνδυνος. Επιπλέον εισάγονται κριτήρια εισοδήματος για πρόστιμα, σύμφωνα με τα οποία οι παραβάτες με ετήσιο εισόδημα μεταξύ 50.001 € - 100.000 € υπόκεινται σε διπλά πρόστιμα, ενώ οι παραβάτες με ετήσιο εισόδημα πάνω από 100.000 € υπόκεινται σε τριπλά πρόστιμα. Τέλος, οι παραβάτες που διαπράττουν τρεις φορές τα τελευταία 5 χρόνια παράβαση υψηλού κινδύνου χάνουν την άδεια τους για όλη τη  ζωή τους. A new fines scheme for traffic infringements has been recently introduced in the Greek Road Code (Law 4530/2018). More precisely, three categories of fines are set, based on the safety importance of the respective infringements: low (0-300€), medium (301€ – 600€) and high (>600€) risk. Furthermore, fines income criteria are introduced, according which offenders with an annual income between 50.001€ – 100.000€ are subject to double fines, while offenders with an annual income above 100.000€ are subject to triple fines. Finally, offenders that commit three times in the last 5 years a high-risk infringement lose their license in life.   Statistics Corner ELSTAT – Casualty Road Accidents in Greece, 2016 Η Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ.) έχει εκδώσει ένα ολοκληρωμένο σύνολο στατιστικών για τα τροχαία ατυχήματα στην Ελλάδα για το 2016, που περιλαμβάνει χρονολογικές σειρές για τη δεκαετία 2007-2016. Το 2016, στην Ελλάδα σημειώθηκαν 11.318 τροχαία ατυχήματα με θανάτους ή σοβαρούς τραυματισμούς, σημειώνοντας μείωση κατά 1,1% σε σύγκριση με το 2015 και τερματισμό της εντυπωσιακής πτώσης των τροχαίων ατυχημάτων κατά την οικονομική κρίση κατά 50% περίπου. Κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων πέντε ετών, οι θάνατοι στην οδική κυκλοφορία στην Ελλάδα μειώθηκαν κατά 29% (από το 2011), ωστόσο τα τροχαία ατυχήματα μειώθηκαν μόνο κατά 17%. Ο αριθμός των θανάτων ανά αριθμό οχημάτων μειώθηκε κατά 30% από το 2011. The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) has issued a comprehensive set of statistics on Casualty Road Accidents in Greece for 2016, comprising time-series for the decade 2007-2016. In 2016, 11.318 road accidents with fatalities or serious injuries occurred in Greece, recording a decrease of 1.1% in comparison with 2015 and ending an impressive road fatalities drop during the economic crisis of almost 50%. During the last five years, road fatalities in Greece have decreased by 29% (since 2011), however injury road accidents decreased only by 17%. The rate fatalities per number of vehicles has decreased by 30% since 2011.   Our Publications Transport Research Arena, Vienna, 2018 The Transport Research Arena 2018 (TRA 2018) took place with great success in Vienna, Austria from 16 to 19 April 2018. More than 3.500 participants actively contributed to this major European Conference on Transport Research, which under the motto ‘A digital era for transport‘ explored new promising and innovative opportunities that the era of digitalization and of the internet of everything offers for transport.     NTUA actively contributed with 16 innovative presentations: More... SaferAfrica Road Safety Dialogue Platform, Athens, 2018 The Dialogue Platform of the EU-funded Horizons 2020 project SaferAfrica met in Athens on 24-27 April 2018 to discuss current and future road safety challenges in Africa. Key road safety experts from the SaferAfrica Consortium, from International Organizations, (UNECA, WHO, ITF-IRTAD, FIA, IRF, IRU, WorldBank/SSATP, AfDB, HI) and from African Countries (Morocco, Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Burkina Faso) contributed vividly into the two discussion topics: a) Road safety data collection in Africa (data collection, standardization, under-reporting, exposure and safety performance indicators), b) Implementation of the African Road Safety Action Plan (progress, recommendations, future perspectives).   NTUA’s presentation concerned:  SaferAfrica: Evidences & Recommendations Medical School of Hannover – 8th Expert Symposium on Accident Research (ESAR), Hannover 2018 The 8th International Expert Symposium on Accident Research (ESAR) took place with great success in Hannover on 19-20 April 2018. ESAR is organised by the Medical School of Hannover, the University of Technology of Dresden and the Federal Highway Research Institute of Germany and it is a scientific colloquium which can be seen as a platform for exchanges of information on accident research issues. Representatives from authorities as well as from medical and technical institutions came together to discuss new research issues and exchange experiences on accident prevention and methodologies of accident reconstruction.   NTUA actively contributed with the following paper: Combining data mining techniques to investigate crash severity in urban motorways PRI – Traffic Education Conference, Tunis, 2018  La Prévention Routière Internationale (PRI) in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry of Education, the Tunisian Road Prevention Association (ATPR) and the Arab Road Safety Organization (AROSO) organized an International Conference on: “Traffic Education: Modern Educational Approach / Experiences & Good Practices” which was held with great success in Tunis, Tunisia on 26 – 27th, April, 2018. This conference aimed to define a strategic choice to for the improvement of road safety in Tunisia, with emphassis on traffic education, requiring the synergic contribution of all road safety stakeholders.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:   Potential problems and solutions for children’s safety 13th Road Safety in Local Communities, Kopaonik, Serbia, 2018 The Road Traffic Safety Agency of Serbia (RTSA) together with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organisations organized with great success the 13th International conference Road Safety in Local Communities in Kopaonik, Serbia, on 18-21 April 2018. The conference subject areas were: strengthening institutional capacity to further national road safety effort, improve the safety of road network, improve vehicle safety, improve road safety behaviors and improve care after traffic accident.     NTUA actively contributed with the following paper and presentation:   SafeFITS – A global model as a tool for road safety policy making HNPS – 1st Panhellenic Conference on Neuropsychology, Athens, 2018 The Hellenic Neuropsychological Society (HNPS) organized the 1st Panhellenic Conference on Neuropsychology, which took place with great success in Athens on 27-29 April 2018. The Conference included keynote talks, round tables, oral announcements and training through participation in seminars and workshops. Special focus was given to the interaction between traffic behaviour, road safety and neuropsychology.   NTUA actively contributed with six (6) presentations:More... How many crashes are caused by driver interaction with passengers? A meta-analysis approach, 2018 A paper titled “How many crashes are caused by driver interaction with passengers? A meta-analysis approach” authored by Athanasios Theofilatos, Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Eleonora Papadimitriou, and George Yannis is now published in Journal of Safety Research. Conversation and other interactions with passengers while driving induce a level of distraction to the person driving. This paper conducts a qualitative literature review on the effect of passenger interaction on road safety and then extends it by using meta-analysis techniques.  The findings of the random-effects meta-analyses that were carried out showed that driver interaction with passengers causes a non-negligible proportion of road crashes, namely 3,5% of crashes regardless of the age of the passengers and 3.8% when child and teen passengers are excluded.  Point of View Can we safely mix road and flying vehicles traffic? Recent technological advances are bringing closer the introduction of flying vehicles (Vertically Taking off and Landing Vehicles -VTOLs) into the transport systems of the near future. Technology pioneers announce massive introduction of flying vehicles within the coming five years. Managing this new air traffic is a certainly great challenge and respective research and technological development is currently carried out. However, there is an important repercussion on road traffic and safety not only at the air-ground interface but also at the incorporation into the road traffic of these new types of vehicles. More... Upcoming Events WCTRS – World Conference on Transport Research, Mumbai, 2019 The 15th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) is organized by the WCTRS and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) and it will take place on 26-31 May, 2019 at Mumbai, India. For the last 40 years, WCTR has been organised every three years by the WCTR Society. The conference aims to bring together academics, practitioners, managers, and policymakers from all parts of the world, to share cutting-edge research and advanced state-of-practice. The conference also includes special sessions, technical tours, an exhibition and social events. This knowledge event provides a unique opportunity for experts to exchange ideas in all areas of transport research including Traffic Safety Analysis and Policy (C4 Special Interest Group).   Abstract submission deadline is set for 6 July 2018.