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ITF - Safer Micromobility Report, March 2024 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.

Latest Developments

Reducing Road Deaths on Rural Roads, 46th PIN Flash Report, March 2024 Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published the 46th PIN Flash Report titled Reducing Road Deaths on Rural Roads. This Report examines the latest data on rural road deaths from across the EU and other countries that form part of ETSC’s Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme. It also looks at the main measures for reducing the risks to road deaths on rural roads including recommendations to national governments and EU about infrastructure, speeds and speed limits, vulnerable road users (VRUs) and vehicle safety.

WHO – Helmets, December 2023 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.

PIARC - Global Road Safety Exchange Report, April 2024 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.

Statistics Corner

European Commission – Annual Statistical Report on road safety, March 2024 The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Annual Statistical Report on road safety in the EU, which provides an overview of crash data for 2012 to 2022 from 27 EU Member States and the four EFTA countries. According to this Report, 52% of road traffic fatalities occurred on rural roads, versus 38% in urban areas and 9% on motorways. It was also revealed that car occupants (drivers and passengers) represented 45% of all fatalities, while pedestrians accounted for 18%, users of powered two-wheelers (motorbikes and mopeds) 19%, and cyclists 10%.

ESRA3 – Global Road Users’ Attitudes Survey results Dashboard, March 2024 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.

Our Publications

CIECA – 56th CIECA Congress, Dubai, March 2024 The International Commission for Driver Testing (CIECA) in cooperation with the Roads & Transport Authority of Dubai  organised with great success the 56th CIECA Congress, which was held in Dubai, on 5-8 March 2024. This congress, titled “Preparing drivers for smart mobility and road safety”, allowed for vivid discussion on key safety measures for driver testing and safer driving from across the world.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:  Using Telematics for Monitoring & Improving Driver Safety Behaviour

COVID-19 and driving behavior: Which were the most crucial influencing factors, August 2023 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.

An Evaluation of the Passing Process through Road – Vehicle Parameters Assessment, March 2023 A paper titled “An Evaluation of the Passing Process through Road – Vehicle Parameters Assessment” authored by Stergios Mavromatis, Vassilios Matragos, Konstantinos Apostoleris, Fotios Fotos and George Yannis, has been published in European Transport Research Review. The methodology is based on a realistic representation of the passing task with respect to roadway’s posted speed and the ability of the passing (examined) vehicle to perform such maneuvers. The analysis revealed that the difference between the speed of the passed vehicle and the posted speed value, as well as certain interactions of the assessed parameters impact excessively passing sight distances (PSDs), especially for values below 20 km/h.

Analysis of traffic behaviour and road safety of delivery riders, November 2023 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.

Upcoming Events

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.  Programme is now available here.

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 States 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.  Programme is now available here. Register here.

IRF – International Road Federation World Congress, Istanbul, October 2024 The International Road Federation (IRF) in cooperation with the Turkish Road Association are organizing the IRF World Congress 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15-18 October 2024. This conference with theme "Connecting to Empower Mobility: Roads as Enablers of a Sustainable Future for All" will serve as a platform for global leaders, industry experts, academia, and diverse public and private stakeholders to engage in insightful discussions and collaborative efforts, addressing pivotal issues and exploring innovations within the road and mobility sectors.

36th ICTCT Conference, The Hague, Netherlands, October 2024 The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) is organising the 36th Conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on 17-18 October 2024 under the theme “Inclusive and interdisciplinary road safety research”. The conference is organized in close co-operation with the Traffic and Transportation Safety Lab of Delft University of Technology. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 30 April 2024.

POLIS – Polis Annual Conference, Karlsruhe, November 2024 POLIS, the European Cities Network, is organising the 2024 Annual Polis Conference, which will take place in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, on 27-28 November 2024. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 26 April 2024.