NRSO Road Safety - Ε.Μ.Π Οδική Ασφάλεια

ETSC – 15th Annual Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Report, June 2021 The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published the 15th edition of PIN Annual Report , with the active contribution of NTUA, presented at the 2021 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index Award event which took place online with great success on 16 June 2021. While the collective EU road death reduction target for 2020 was not met, all countries made improvements, and saved lives by trying to reach it. Only Greece reached the target with a 54% reduction in road deaths. Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Austria and Hungary achieved a decrease above the EU average of 37%, while the other countries progressed to a lesser extent. The progress was slowest in the Netherlands with a 5% decrease and the UK with 14%.

Latest Developments

ETSC – Greece won the 2021 Road Safety Award, June 2021 Greece was awarded with the 2021 Annual Road Safety Award of the European Transport Safety Council for achieving the 2010-2020 target of reducing road fatalities by 50% (performing 54% decrease from 1.258 road fatalities in 2010 to 579 in 2020), making also NTUA proud of its contribution. This significant improvement over the last decade is the result of constantly increasing effort by the Public Authorities and all road safety stakeholders on infrastructure improvements (new motorways, new urban mobility schemes, etc.), legislation (new traffic fines scheme, driving licence, etc.), campaigns and education schemes. As a result, Greek drivers changed significantly their safety behaviour, initially triggered by the economic crisis but maintained also well after, demonstrated in a constantly improving road safety culture of a more mature society. However, even if Greece progressed from 26th to 20th position during the decade, collective efforts should continue as it still lags well behind the EU average.

ETSC/VSV/MAPFRE – LEARN! Manual: Eight steps to improved road safety education, June 2021. Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) together with the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (VSV) and Fundación MAPFRE have recently published the LEARN! Manual envisaged as a starting point for those who design, test, implement and evaluate educational activities on traffic safety and mobility, and are embarking upon the creation of new, or updating existing, activities. The new resource should also be useful to Ministries, Authorities, Schools and Organisations when deciding on which activities and projects to buy or fund.

FIA/ITF – FIA Disabled Motoring Website, June 2021 The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), in collaboration with the International Transport Forum (ITF), has launched the FIA Disabled Motoring Website. The FIA Disabled Motoring website provides access to information on facilities and options for people with disabilities travelling by car in different countries around the world. It is based on data collected from FIA Member Clubs and ITF Member States around the globe. The website is also a resource for everyone travelling outside their own country who are unsure about the rules and conditions for disabled drivers.

TSR – New Traffic Safety Research Journal, May 2021 The New Traffic Safety Research Interdisciplinary Journal aims to become a reference point for the international research community within the domain of road safety. The Journal’s overaching objective is to contribute to the global shift to the Safe System paradigm within the road transportation domain. The journal promotes publication of innovative research within engineering, psychology, sociology, medicine and other related fields in attempt to explain and address the phenomenon of road casualties. Proactive methods and analyses as well as multidisciplinary views on the road traffic safety problems are encouraged.

Our Publications

TUM – 7th IEEE International Conference on ITS Models and Technologies, online, June 2021 The chair of Transportation System Engineering of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) organised the 7th IEEE International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems (MT-ITS 2021), which was held online on the 16-17 June 2021. More than 80 state-of-the-art papers were presented boosting vivid discussion on future ITS challenges and opportunities. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:  Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Vision Zero Road Fatalities (key note presentation)   Investigating the acceptance of an environmental transport charging policy. The case of Athens   Risk scenario designs for driving simulator experiments   Driving Behavior Safety Levels: Classification and Evaluation

PACTS Conference: Safe and healthy travel, online, June 2021 The UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) organised with great success the PACTS Conference: Safe and healthy travel, which was held online, on 29 June 2021.  The Conference was supported by the Department for Transport and Highways England and focused on Vision Zero, active travel,  micro-mobility, speed and infrastructure.   NTUA Professor George Yannis contributed the following key note presentation:   Road Safety in Greece on the way to Vision Zero

Bar-Ilan University – 29 Annual Conference on Road Safety, July 2021 The Faculty of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University organised with great success the 29 Annual Conference of the Research Institute of Human Factors Road Safety which was held online, on 8 July 2021. Experts from all over the world discussed the latest experiences and developments in road safety, with emphasis on the pandemic effect on road crashes.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentations:   Road Safety in Greece A success story?  (key-note presentation)  Key factors of COVID-19 impact on mobility and safety

EAN – 7th Virtual Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, June 2021 The 7th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) took place virtually with great success, on 19-22 June, 2021.  The theme of the congress was “Towards Precision Neurology”. Latest best practices in neurology was discussed, including cognitive impairment role in fitness to drive.  NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:  Alzheimer’s Dementia and predictors of Driving Cessation: Results from a 4-year Longitudinal Study

RADAR – 6th Road Infrastructure Safety Management Meeting, online, June 2021 The RADAR project within the framework of Interreg Danube Transnational Programme, organised on 15 June 2021 the 6th Road Safety Expert Group online Meeting with focus on road infrastructure safety management. Key experts contributed into a vivid discussion on the challenges and opportunities brought by the new EU Directive on road infrastructure safety management.    NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:   Network-wide Road Safety Assessment

BeOpen / Oscar – Open Science Collaboration Workshop, online, June 2021. The Horizon 2020 projects BeOpen (European forum and Observatory for open science in transport) and OSCAR (Open ScienCe Aeronautic & Air Transport Research) co-organised with great success the “BE OPEN meets OSCAR: Open Science Collaboration” joint workshop, which was held online, on 16 June 2021. The event focused on providing general guidelines for Open Science promotion, regulatory schemes for Open Science operationalization and presenting interactive tools for enhancing Open Science collaboration amongst transport stakeholders.   NTUA contributed actively with the following presentation:  European Code of Conduct of Open Science in Transport

Spatial analysis of harsh driving behavior events in urban networks using high-resolution smartphone and geometric data, July 2021 A paper titled “Spatial analysis of harsh driving behavior events in urban networks using high-resolution smartphone and geometric data” authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos was recently published in Accident Analysis & Prevention. Naturalistic driving big data collected through the OSeven smartphone application were map-matched to the segments that each driver traversed, and thus geometrical, road network and driver behavior spatial data frames were obtained per road segment. Segment length and pass count are positively correlated with harsh braking frequencies, while gradient and neighbourhood complexity are negatively correlated with harsh braking frequencies. Curvature, segment length, pass count and the presence of traffic lights are positively correlated with harsh acceleration frequencies.

Investigation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobility in Greece using time series analysis, March 2021. An NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobility in Greece using time series analysis” was recently presented by Eleni Blatsouka.  Data on mobility and restrictive measures were collected from online databases and ARIMA time series models were developed for Greece and Athens with dependent variables: driving or walking and with exogenous factor one of the restrictive measures. It was demonstrated that the closing of educational institutions and lockdown are the most important exogenous factors for describing mobility, while the curfew and the mandatory use of mask in all public areas are not significant factors. In addition, seasonal models appear to produce better forecasts than the non-seasonal ones.

Upcoming Events

FERSI – Online Symposium, October 2021 The Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI) is organising a Symposium titled: “Implementing evidence-based road safety measures, removing barriers and enhancing public support“, which will be held online, on 14 October 2021. The Symposium will consist of three presentations on vulnerable road users, speed and road safety management. Practitioners and decision makers who have been successful in implementing effective but sometimes controversial road safety measures will share their experience.  The symposium is a prelude to a physical conference on the same topic that will held in the autumn of 2022.

NTUA – Road Safety and Simulation International Conference, Athens, June 2022 The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) organises the 8th Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2022 (RSS2022) which will be held on NEW DATES 08-10 June 2022 in Athens, Greece. The Conference’s theme this year will be: “Road Safety and Digitalisation” aiming to capture all recent trends in road safety emerging technologies, surrogate measures, augmented and virtual reality, big data, modeling and simulation, which are expected to boost global road safety in the coming years. Road safety experts and scientists from all over the world will join forces for a widely open and vivid discussion on both traditional and innovative solutions with high potential for traffic safety improvement. Selected papers will be published in key international scientific journals and special awards will be granted to best papers.

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