ΝΕΑ από το Ε.Μ.Π: Καθηγητής Γεώγιος Γιαννής

 

NTUA – New SafeRoadsMap Tool, November 2023 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.  Latest Developments WHO – Powered Two-Wheeler Safety, October 2022 The World Health Organization has released the 2nd edition of the Road Safety Manual for Powered Two- and Three-Wheeler (PTW) Safety. This 2nd edition offers guidance to help decision makers and practitioners put in place a comprehensive set of laws, regulations and actions needed to save lives. Rooted in new case studies and evidence, including from low- and middle-income countries, it includes guidelines on developing safer roads, ensuring safer mobility for all road users, vehicle safety standards, and actions to improve emergency responses to crashes.  PIARC – Boosting Road Safety in LMICs: Focus on Tunnels, November 2023 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.    Bolt – Engagement for Micromobility Safety, October 2023 Bolt micromobility operator is actively engaged to high level safety of its services and has recently published a Report introducing e-scooter safety and gaining a deeper insight into the world of safe Bolt e-scooter and e-bike rides.  Bolt is assisted by a Micromobility Safety Committee composed by renown urban safety experts, with the active contribution of NTUA, which provide advice, feedback and recommendations regarding micromobility safety performance, strategy, and future initiatives.    European Commission – EU Urban Mobility Observatory, January 2024 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.  European Commission – Improved rights and better information for travellers, November 2023 The European Commission adopted a series of proposals designed to improve the experience of passengers and travellers by strengthening their rights. These proposals focuse on stronger passenger rights, protection of package travellers, better multimodal travel information services and the creation of a common European mobility data space. The new rules will also provide for safer and smoother journeys, especially those involving different travel services or transport modes, ensuring that passengers have access to direct support, and enhanced real-time information, for example on delays and cancellations.   Our Publications NTUA / Marie Curie – 4 New PhD Vacancies on AI for Road Safety, January 2024 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 15 new Industrial PhD candidates has been launched, 4 of them to be hosted by National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Centre of Road Safety Research Excellence with global recognition. The 4 PhD Candidates will be recruited for 3 years, shared between Academia and Industry and are expected to be strongly focused and motivated on advanced research and quantitative analysis for innovative road safety solutions. Detailed description for each PhD position, including the required mobility rules, can be found at:     Applications by 16 February 2024, via email (cv & motivation letter) to: Prof. George Yannis geyannis@central.ntua.gr Connecting Europe Facility Workshop, Nicosia, December 2023 The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus organised with great success a workshop on Cyprus' experience and recent developments in CEF projects on 11 December 2023, in Nicosia, Cyprus. In this workshop, the results on the Cypriot Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety from the Baseline project, as well as the developments of the Trendline project were presented.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:  Key Performance Indicators​ in Cyprus 13th Hellenic Congress of Hypnology, Athens, November 2023 The Hellenic Sleep Society organized with great success the 13th Panhellenic Congress on Sleep Medicine in Athens, on 3-5 November 2023. The aim of this conference was to investigate the effects of insomnia on an individual’s health, but also on driving performance. Through a driving simulator experiment, it was observed that patients with chronic insomnia drive at a higher speed than participants without insomnia, have a reduced ability to maintain a stable lateral position of their vehicle, and their reaction time to most events appears to be slower than participants without insomnia.  NTUA actively contributed with the following poster:  Driving insomnia: A study of the effect of insomnia on driving performance in driving simulator Perceptions towards autonomous vehicle acceptance: Information mining from Self-Organizing Maps and Random Forests, December 2023 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.  Parkinson’s Disease and Driving Fitness: A Systematic Review of the Existing Guidelines, November 2023 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.  Impact factors of children’s road safety in Europe, November 2023 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.   Upcoming Events European Commission – Mobility and Transport Conference, Brussels, February 2024 The European Commission in cooperation with the Florence School of Regulation are organizing an academic conference  which will be held in  the Charlemagne building in Brussels, Belgium, on 21 February 2024, with the active contribution of NTUA. This conference titled "Moving forward together: what's next for EU mobility & transport?" will provide input to the next Commission’s priorities in the transport and mobility field.  Transport Research Arena (TRA), Dublin, April 2024 The European Commission and the An Roinn Iompair (ARI) together with the European Transport Research Platforms ACARE, ALICE, CEDR, ECTP, ERRAC, ERTRAC, ETRA and Waterborne will organise the Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA2024) which will take place in Dublin, Ireland, on 15-18 April 2024. The pillars of the Conference will be the safe & inclusive transport, the sustainable mobility of people and goods, the efficient & resilient systems and the collaborative digitalisation regarding the European Transport Research and Innovation and the cooperation of Europe with other continents.  European Commission – EU Road Safety Conference, Dublin, April 2024 The European Commission is organising the EU Road Safety Conference which will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on 16 April 2024. The Conference provides an opportunity to engage with EU Member State Authorities, Experts and all Stakeholders across the road safety community. In addition, it will facilitate exchanging views and experiences on the efforts to reach Vision Zero.  RSS2024 – 9th Road Safety and Simulation International Conference, Kentucky, October 2024 The 9th Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2024 (RSS2024) hosted by the Kentucky Transportation Center will take place in Lexington, Kentucky, on 28-31 October 2024, under the theme “Improving Decisions Through Safety and Simulation Tools”. The aim of the Conference is to improve upon the existing knowledge in the area of road safety and contribute to reducing the number of crash fatalities and injuries occurring worldwide, through the dissemination of innovative research and applications. The deadline for abstract submission is February 1st, 2024.