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George Yannis

 

NTUA Road Safety Observatory in numbers, 2024 The 2024 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 55 scientific papers (21 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 successfully completed, contributing actively to the culture of calm and safe streets everywhere and for all.  Latest Developments IRTAD – Road Safety Annual Report, 2024 The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the Road Safety Annual Report 2024, on the development of road safety in 2023. It is based on data from 40 IRTAD member countries, with some preliminary data also for the year 2024. The main findings revealed that  in 2023, there were 2.338 less fatalities than in 2022, also road deaths decreased by 2% in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023. However, the considerable journey ahead should be acknowledged, in order to achieve the global target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.   European Union – Directive for cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules, January 2025 The European Union has recently adopted the new Directive to strengthen cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules. The newly adopted rules tackle several road safety issues by enhancing collaboration among Member States, streamlining offender identification and facilitating fine enforcement. Cooperation between national Authorities will not only focus on the most common and serious offenses like speeding, drunk and drugged driving, but also on several other hazardous behaviours.  European Commission – Traffic Law Enforcement Thematic Report, July 2024 The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Traffic Law Enforcement (TLE) Thematic Report which can be defined as the entire penal procedure designed to persuade road users to obey traffic laws and regulations through threat of detection of violation and the imposition of a penalty. This Thematic Report describes the working mechanisms of TLE in Europe, as well as how effective are for road safety the enforcement of speeding, red light running, drug-impaired driving, drink-driving, mobile phone use and seat belt use. Moreover, enforcement support measures such as legislation, sanction types, data-driven enforcement operations and public communication are suggested.   Statistics Corner ERF – European Road Statistics 2024 The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has released the Road Statistics Yearbook 2024”. As for many years, this publication provides the road community with important updated information on road transport sector and road infrastructure in Europe and beyond as an essential key element of the global mobility with one section focusing on road safety.  ESRA3 – Support for Policy Measures and Enforcement Thematic Report, December 2024 The Support for Policy Measures and Enforcement Thematic Report of the E-Survey of Road Users’ Safety Attitudes (ESRA) has been published, as prepared by SWOV, with the support of NTUA. This Report analyzes public support for key road safety measures (e.g., drink-driving policies, speed limits, helmet mandates) and the perceived and actual enforcement of road safety laws. Results revealed strong regional variations, with higher support for helmet use and alcohol interlocks in America, Asia and Oceania. It was indicated that gender and age disparities influence attitudes towards these policies​ significantly.   Our Publications 104th TRB Annual Meeting, Washington, January 2025 The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organised with great success the 104th Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington DC, on 5-9 January 2025. More than 13.000 transportation experts were gathered around more than 600 workshops, thousand of innovative presentations and vivid discussions in view of unlocking the future mobility and transport in the era of Artificial Intelligence.   Click here for the 15 NTUA presentations... ECTRI – Thematic Group Meeting on Safety, Athens, November 2024 The European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) organized with great success the TG Safety & Security Meeting, which took place in Athens, Greece on 27 November 2024  hosted by the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The scope of the Safety Thematic Group concerns safety culture, safe mobility for all, automation and digitalization safety implications, transport safety data collection and use and safety in junctions. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:   Impacts of Automated Shuttles on Traffic Safety: Findings from the SHOW project ChiGreece – Designing for a Better World Symposium 2024, December 2024 The Connect Engage Inspire (ChiGreece) Chapter together the Greek Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) on Computer-Human Interaction (GrCHI) organized with great success the CHI Symposium 2024 which was held online, on December 7 2024. This Conference focused on the theme "Designing for a Better World" and brought together researchers, professionals, and students from academia and industry to explore how Computer-Human Interaction and usability principles can foster inclusive, user-friendly designs.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation: Artificial Intelligence for Road Safety George Yannis Podcast – 30km/h Speed Limits: Utopia οr Necessity? December 2024 At a recent "Travelling Differently Podcast", NTUA Professor George Yannis emphasized the necessity of city-wide 30km/h speed limits, highlighting significant safety benefits. He referred to several analyses data demonstrating that European cities implementing this measure have achieved an average 37% reduction in road fatalities. The importance of protecting vulnerable road users was highlighted, noting that the 30km/h speeds limits not only enhance road safety but also promotes walking, cycling and public transport. The need for a shift from policy intentions to concrete actions was emphasized, with focus on the role of Authorities in driving societal change. Professor George Yannis also pointed to the over-dependence on private cars in Greece, describing urban roads as "passenger car warehouses". Particular emphasis should be given on the need to reimagine urban mobility, with the city-wide 30km/h speed limit identified as a unique pivotal measure for fostering safer and more sustainable cities. The full article and the related audio-podcast are now available.   The HADRIAN novel human–machine interface prototype for automated driving: safety and impact assessment, November 2024 A paper titled "The HADRIAN novel human–machine interface prototype for automated driving: safety and impact assessment” authored by Marios Sekadakis, Marianthi Kallidoni, Christos Katrakazas, Sandra Trösterer, Cyril Marx, Peter Moertl and George Yannis has been published in European Transport Research Review. The study, assesses the impact of innovative Human–Machine Interface (HMI) prototypes on safety, driving performance, and driver perceptions, focusing on automated driving at SAE Levels 2 or 3. A tailored safety and impact assessment methodology, incorporating Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), highlighted key features that contributed to improved safety and perceived effectiveness. These results suggest that HADRIAN HMI reached a remarkable 95% safety score, marking a substantial improvement over the baseline condition.  Critical factors of motorcyclists self-declared behaviour and safety globally, October 2024 A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Critical factors of motorcyclists self-declared behaviour and safety globally” was recently presented by Dimitrios Oikonomou. For this purpose, five Binomial Logistic Regression models were used, exploiting data from the third edition of the ESRA survey (E-Survey on Road Users’ Attitudes). The five dependent variables used concerned riding without a helmet, riding under the influence of alcohol / substances, using mobile phone while riding, and exceeding the speed limit for moped and motorcycle riders. The statistical models confirmed that the independent variables in each model play a key role in self-reported behavior and motorcyclist safety globally. Gender stands out as an important factor, with men more prone to engaging in irregular behaviors. Another significant factor is environmental respect, as drivers who litter on the road are more likely to exhibit such behaviors.   Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety wins Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2024 Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety has been awarded the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2024 as recognition for its Accountability Toolkit, developed with the active contribution of NTUA. This Accountability Toolkit is an innovative product that equips NGOs to help their governments fulfill their accountability for reducing road deaths and injuries and the 2030 targets. 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.  PHOEBE – 4th Newsletter, December 2024 The Horizon 2020 research project PHOEBE has recently released the PHOEBE 4th 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. Particular attention was given to the exploration of the pilot corridors by bike.  Upcoming Events ICCS – International Symposium Navigating the Future of Traffic Management, Athens, June 2025 The Institute of Communications & Computer Systems (ICCS) together with International Road Federation (IRF) and several other Organizations, are organising the International Symposium Navigating the Future of Traffic Management in Athens, Greece on 29 June – 3 July 2025. This conference will focus on four thematic tracks: digitalization in traffic management, sustainable mobility strategies, integrated infrastructure systems, and road safety innovations. These tracks aim to address the complex challenges of modern traffic management and offer actionable insights for a safer and more efficient transportation future. Researchers can submit their proposals until 15 March 2025.   ICTR2025 – 12th International Congress on Transportation Research, Thessaloniki, October 2025 The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) are organizing the 12th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2025), which will take place on 16-18 October 2025 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2025 Congress is "Transportation in the era of Artificial Intelligence". Researchers can submit their abstracts until 15 February 2025.