Newsletter from European Road Safety Charter

Dear European Road Safety Charter member In this newsletter, we announce the call for good practices, we reflect on the past European Road Safety Charter (ERSC) events and project EDWARD – European Day without a Road Death. In addition, we will share some Members’ news and announce upcoming Charter activities and events. Call for submissions on good practices with a special focus on Education in Road Safety, the ERSC’s School Challenge 2019. We are pleased to inform you that the ‘Good practice’ section of the ERSC’s website is now open for submissions. A good practice can be any set of actions (strategies, measures, methods, approaches etc.) that have been successfully addressing a road safety problem. If you have undertaken a project falling under this description, share it with us by clicking here. By submitting your good practice, you will be eligible to win an Excellence in Road Safety Award. This year we have a special “school challenge” with two subcategories (infants and children, and pre-teens and adolescents). This special school challenge not only addresses the good practices organised by the schools themselves, but it also includes the good practices organised by other external entities (enterprises, associations, local/public authorities, the police…) for the schools and the students. It is important to note that the call for submissions is not only open for recently developed good practices, but submissions can also include less recent but still ongoing good practices. The main evaluation criteria are: • Innovative approach and creativity “To what extend your initiative leads to new approaches and practices?” • Impact “Can you estimate the impact of the initiative at the local, regional, or national level?” • Transferability “Will the initiative allow the transfer, dissemination, or application of results, experience, knowledge and good practice on a different scale?” • Visibility “How successfully has the initiative been promoted and disseminated?” • Continuity “Is there a plan to continue some activities in the coming years?” • Measurability “Can the impact or the potential success be measured?” The information of previous Award winners and other applications can be found here. The guidelines to help you with your application are on this page. On the same page, you can find the guidelines for youth commitment to assist you with your application for the special school challenge. The 2019 Excellence in Road Safety Award ceremony will probably be held in June 2019 in the presence of Violeta Bulc, the EU Commissioner for Mobility and Transport. During this ceremony, we will also celebrate the 15th anniversary of the European Road Safety Charter, which was established in 2004 by the European Commission’s Directorate General for transport. More details on the deadline for applications and further information on our special school challenge will be announced in January. You can also contact us at Charter@vias.be Charter activities and events Working Together to Make Our Roads Safer – Enhanced Road Safety Governance and Good Practices conference (Sofia, Bulgaria) on 2 October 2018 This ERSCharter conference in Bulgaria was a successful meeting. The event was co-organised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the European Road Safety Charter team; it was marked with great media coverage and attendance. There were more than 90 representatives, including stakeholders involved in road safety in Bulgaria (state institutions, private sector actors, and NGOs), representatives of the European Commission, and leading experts from EU Member States. The event included keynote speeches from representatives of four ministries. They concluded: ‘The complex, systematic approach and the coordination between state institutions as well as with the public sector represent significant factors for achieving the goal for safer roads. Each saved life is the most important indicator of the relevance of the common efforts’. Mr. Matthew Baldwin, European Coordinator for Road Safety, is appointed to EC’s High Level Coordinator for Road Safety as of 2 October2018. He tried to encourage the participating stakeholders with his speech. His memorable words were: ‘Road safety is a moral challenge for all of us!’ Ms. Vassiliki Daneli-Mylona from the European Road Safety Charter team presented their new strategy and gave advices to current and potential members on how to undertake successful Road Safety Commitment. Furthermore, awarded good practices from the last “Excellence in Road Safety Awards” were presented. All participants were encouraged to submit their own good practices in order to disseminate this information throughout Europe. For the full report, presentations and pictures, click here The next European Road Safety Charter event ‘Safe Roads’ took place on the 4th October, at Museo Mille Miglia in Brescia, Italy. This event was co-organised by ERSC member Rete scolastica "Le Quattro Esse" from Brescia, and its partners. It was a well-attended event with around 60 participants. The speakers at the event focused on road safety in Italy, road safety education, and the use of media in promoting road safety. The event was moderated by Mr. Paolo Redaelli, a journalist and the secretary of the Traffic and Mobility Commission of ACI Milan. The event included welcoming speeches from representatives of AIFOS, Automobile Club Brescia, Brescia Mobility, and school network ‘Le Quattro Esse’. European and Italian policies on education and road safety were presented by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and Associazione Sostenitori ed Amici della Polizia Stradale (ASAPS). Caterina Turati, a pedagogue, discussed the role of social media and media on road safety education. Several good practices were presented: a platform helping young people learn Italian through the teaching of traffic rules, an innovative educational format for secondary school, and university students. In addition, technical and emotional aspects in road safety education were showcased with a short movie – "M 603" Boys On The Road; a case study was presented on the topic of pedestrian mobility with emphasis on pedestrian crosswalks in school zones. The presentation made by the ERSC team focused on explaining to the participants the objectives of the European Road Safety Charter; the team described the new phase 2016-2019. Participants were encouraged to join ESRC and to make a commitment to improving road safety and developing initiatives that they can submit to the annual ERSC Excellence in Road Safety competition. Some good practice examples from across Europe were presented and discussed with the participants. For the full report, presentations and pictures, click here On the 22nd of November the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nikos Anastasiades, welcomed the European Road Safety Charter Team in the Presidential Palace in Nicosia. Together with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, the ESRC team organised a wide range of workshops to identify the main road safety issues in Europe and Cyprus. The objectives and added value of the European Road Safety Charter were presented, and concrete members’ experiences were showcased. The event was also an excellent occasion to discuss ways of improving road safety, regardless of the type of organizations the participants belonged to. For the full report, presentations and pictures, click here Member’s news Association Prévention Routière (Winner of the Award for Excellence in Road Safety 2018 in the category ‘Associations’ with the good practice ‘Ville Prudente’) recently rewarded 134 municipalities in France with the label ‘Ville Prudente’ (safe city). Local politicians have only good reasons to act: to provide a safe environment for their fellow citizens to share public space between all users and to preserve the living environment of each person ... Their commitment can take different forms: facilities to ease and slow down traffic, to make safe walking and cycling trips, or to better share public space, to provide public forums for citizens, awareness and information sessions promoted in schools or clubs seniors ... Congratulations to these pioneers for their commitment to road safety and the prevention of road crashes! More info: www.villeprudente.fr Did you know that the European Road Safety Charter has almost reached the milestone of Upcoming Charter events and activities Wednesday 16 January 2019 | 14h00 – 15h30 (CET) Webinar on Road Safety Education Education for children and young adults Education in driver training Education in enterprises Wednesday 30 January 2019 | 8h45 – 14h (CET) Leuven, Belgium Workshop on European Road Safety Charter Monday 11 February 2019 | 14h – 17h (WET) Lisbon, Portugal Workshop on European Road Safety Charter More details to participate will be in the next newsletter, the Charter’s website and on social media.

NRSO Road Safety Update - December 2018

NTUA Best Wishes for a Lucky and Fruitful 2019 At the end of another year full of scientific excellence and innovation and great achievements, like the new breakthrough Road Safety Decision Support Systems: SafetyCube, SafeFITS, AfricaRSO, we persist with creativity and passion for a brighter, more automated and safer traffic future everywhere and for all. We thank you all for the excellent cooperation and we are sending you our very best wishes for joyful Christmas holidays and a lucky and fruitful new year 2019, plenty of personal and professional achievements.  Latest Developments WHO – Global Status Report on Road Safety highlights insufficient progress, 2018 The Global Status Report on Road safety 2018 has been published by World Health Organisation (WHO) with the active contribution of NTUA, in December 2018, highlighting insufficient progress as the number of annual road traffic deaths has reached 1.35 million. Road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of people aged 5-29 years. The report suggests that the price paid for mobility is too high, especially because proven measures exist. These include strategies to address speed and drinking and driving, among other behaviours; safer infrastructure like dedicated lanes for cyclists and motorcyclists; improved vehicle standards such as those that mandate electronic stability control; and enhanced post-crash care. Drastic action is needed to put these measures in place to meet any future global target that might be set and save lives.   Infographic – Road traffic injuries; the facts  Data visualization – Death on the roads  Press release  ODI – Securing Safe Roads: the Politics of Change, 2018 The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) launched a publication titled “Securing safe roads: the politics of change” which is an output of the project: The politics of road safety. Over the past 10 years, road safety has been escalated to an issue of international concern. Together with the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, ODI undertook research in three middle-income cities: Nairobi, Kenya; Mumbai, India; and Bogotá, Colombia. In this report, ODI synthesizes the findings from these case studies concluding with a series of strategies to improve road safety.   ETSC – EU Strategy for Automated Mobility, 2018 The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published a briefing synthesis titled “EU Strategy for Automated Mobility”. ETSC warmly welcomes and fully agree with the Commission’s acknowledgement that when it comes to automated mobility, “only the highest safety and security standards will suffice”. This must remain the guiding principle in the years to come. Automated driving has the potential to significantly improve road safety. However, recent collisions involving vehicles with automated technology on board demonstrate that automated driving may also pose new risks to road safety, and that the technology is not yet mature.   Statistics Corner IRTAD Annual Road Safety Report 2018 The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the full version of the Road Safety Annual Report 2018, which provides a detailed insight of road safety performance for 28 countries. The Annual Report outlines the most recent road safety developments across IRTAD countries and provides comparative data for the main road safety indicators also detailed by road user, age group and type of road. Furthermore, the IRTAD Annual Report contains syntheses of the the road safety strategies and targets in place as well on recent trends in speeding, drink-driving and other aspects of road user behaviour.   ESRA – European Drivers Road Safety Attitudes infographics, 2018 In the framework of the European Survey of Road users’ safety Attitudes (ESRA), NTUA released 3 new infographics, regarding “Drivers’ self-declared behaviour” , “Drivers’ attitudes towards unsafe behaviour”  and “Drivers personal and social acceptability” . ESRA is a joint international initiative of 26 research centers and road safety institutes; the project has surveyed road users in 38 countries on 5 continents. The purpose of this network is to collect comparable data on the opinions, attitudes, and behaviour of road users concerning road safety and mobility, and to provide scientific evidence for policy making at the national and international levels. The Updated Main Report (2017 edition) of ESRA has been published containing the results from the survey in 38 countries, including 13 Latin America countries. Our Publications ITS Hellas – 4th Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference, Athens, 2018 The 4th Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems and related developments in Greece, which was organised by ITS Hellas, took place with great success in Athens, on 18-19 December 2018. The aim of the conference was to discuss the broad deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) as a tool to achieve economic growth and prosperity and ensure the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of transport for the benefit of the respective industry, the end-users and the environment.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:   Telematics for Safe, Green and Smart Driving: The BeSmart Project Road safety behavior of drivers with neurological diseases affecting cognitive functions: an interdisciplinary Structural Equation Model analysis approach, 2018 A paper titled “Road safety behavior of drivers with neurological diseases affecting cognitive functions: an interdisciplinary Structural Equation Model analysis approach” authored by Dimosthenis Pavlou and George Yannis is now published in Advances in Transportation Studies. This research suggests the evaluation of driving behavior by using multiple driving indexes in a combined integrated manner, through a large-scale driving simulator experiment, comprising medical/neurological and neuropsychological assessments of 225 active drivers, and a set of driving tasks for different traffic volumes, different driving environments, including in-vehicle distraction conditions. The statistical analysis methodology developed and implemented was based on Principal Component Analysis and Structural Equation Models (SEMs). SEM results indicated that the impact of neurological diseases affecting cognitive functions is significantly detrimental on the latent variables “driving performance” and on the observed variables “reaction time” and “accident probability”. The AD group had the worse driving behavior profile among the examined groups with neurological diseases affecting cognitive functions.  Mobility and road safety in European cities, 2018 A Diploma Thesis titled “Mobility and road safety in European cities” was recently presented by Dimitrios Giagkou, focusing on the impact of mobility characteristics on road safety in European cities. For this analysis, various international databases were exploited with data on road accident fatalities, demographics and mobility characteristics of 25 European cities in 2012. Generalized Linear Models were developed for both the total number of fatalities and for specific subcategories too. The results led to the conclusion that more public transport capacity offered, more cycle trips and fewer motorcycles lead to a reduction in the number of fatalities in urban road accidents. Moreover, it was found that denser road network, higher population density and higher GDP per capita are correlated with fewer fatalities in urban road accidents.   Point of View Which are the key policy orientations for safer city traffic? The main difference between roads and the other transport modes, is that most road vehicle drivers are not professionals, not having received heavy training and not following the very high and strict behaviour standards of the professional drivers and pilots of all the other transport modes. Furthermore, the road environment, especially in urban areas, is much more complex than the railways, waterborne and air routes.  Consequently, both the problems and the respective remedial measures for road safety present focused attention and particularities, which usually cannot be addressed by best practice in the other modes. Read the whole article... Upcoming Events Sixth Global Meeting of Non-Governmental Road Safety Organizations – Chania, Greece, 2019 The Sixth Global Meeting of Nongovernmental Organizations Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims will take place in Chania, Crete, Greece, from 8–13 April 2019. This Global Meeting will be the biggest gathering of Road Safety NGOs and Stakeholders in 2019 and the most important event leading up to the end of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. It will bring together NGOs, global road safety Stakeholders, Funders and decision makers and will feature training sessions, workshops, networking opportunities, the General Assembly, and, for the first time, a High-Level Symposium on road safety.  PIARC – World Road Congress Abu Dhabi, 2019 The World Road Association (PIARC) organises the XXVIth World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 6 to 10 October 2019, jointly with the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport. It will include around 50 sessions, a large exhibition, technical visits and social activities and will attract over 5,000 ministers, companies, administrations, experts from all over the world. Road safety is a major component of the PIARC Conference.   RSS2019 – Road Safety and Simulation International Conference, Iowa, 2019 The National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) of the University of Iowa is organizing the Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2019 (RSS2019) which will be held on 14-17 October 2019 in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. The conference theme focuses on Transformations in Transportation, and conference topics include, but are not limited to: Automated Vehicles Technology, Connected Vehicles Technology, Vulnerable Road Users, Roadway Infrastructure Design, and Distributed Simulation Technology.  Abstracts are due by 1 February 2019 HITE / HIT – 9th International Congress on Transport Research (ICTR), Athens, 2019 The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (H.I.T.) are co-organizing the 9th International Congress on Transport Research (ICTR), which will be held on 24-25 October 2019, in Athens, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2017 Congress is: “Transportation 4.0: The Smart Evolution”. ICTR 2019 will host innovative research and development work in the field of transportation systems, operations and infrastructures, in Greece and abroad. The Congress objective is to showcase recent top-notch research activities in transportation, merge research findings and policy making tasks, facilitate the exchange of knowledge in the local and international level and draw conclusions and shape recommendations on the future of transportation. Abstract Submission due to 15th January 2019. Journal of Safety Research – Special issue: Safety, human factors and technology, 2018 The Journal of Safety Research announced a call for papers: Special issue – Safety, human factors and technology.  The objective of this Special Issue is to support the discussion on the future trends of mobility and the implications for the protection of all road users. An important aspect is that technological developments must go hand in hand with users’ acceptance and behavior. Therefore, we are particularly interested in contributions addressing the following topics: The role of human factors and technology on road safety; Interactions between vulnerable road users and automated systems; How can road users influence the technology advancement in transportation.   Paper submission deadline: 18 February 2019