The International Transport Forum‘s 2018 Summit on “Transport Safety and Security” was held with great success on 23 – 25 May 2018 in Leipzig, Germany. The 2018 edition of this vibrant global conference addressed strategic and topical transport safety issues, including: Cycling, Pedestrians, Urban Space and Health, Planning and Design, Road Infrastructure Safety Management, Measures Assessment, Zero Road Deaths and Serious Injuries, Safe Travel for Women. 
In parallel, the ITF, together with ECTRI, ERTRAC, FERSI, TRB and WCTRS, organised the “Transport Safety and Security” Research Day. A new Ministerial Declaration on Transport Safety and Security was agreed by the ITF Member States. 
NTUA Professor George Yannis made a key presentation:
A paper titled “How many crashes are caused by driver interaction with passengers? A meta-analysis approach” authored by Athanasios Theofilatos, Apostolos Ziakopoulos, Eleonora Papadimitriou, and George Yannis is now published in Journal of Safety Research. Conversation and other interactions with passengers while driving induce a level of distraction to the person driving. This paper conducts a qualitative literature review on the effect of passenger interaction on road safety and then extends it by using meta-analysis techniques. The findings of the random-effects meta-analyses that were carried out showed that driver interaction with passengers causes a non-negligible proportion of road crashes, namely 3,5% of crashes regardless of the age of the passengers and 3.8% when child and teen passengers are excluded. 
The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) has issued a comprehensive set of statistics on Casualty Road Accidents in Greece for 2016, comprising time-series for the decade 2007-2016. In 2016, 11.318 road accidents with fatalities or serious injuries occurred in Greece, recording a decrease of 1.1% in comparison with 2015 and ending an impressive road fatalities drop during the economic crisis of almost 50%. During the last five years, road fatalities in Greece have decreased by 29% (since 2011), however injury road accidents decreased only by 17%. The rate fatalities per number of vehicles has decreased by 30% since 2011.
The Hellenic Neuropsychological Society (HNPS) organized the 1st Panhellenic Conference on Neuropsychology, which took place with great success in Athens on 27-29 April 2018. The Conference included keynote talks, round tables, oral announcements and training through participation in seminars and workshops. Special focus was given to the interaction between traffic behaviour, road safety and neuropsychology. NTUA actively contributed with six (6) presentations:
Driver Behavior and Road Accidents- Evaluation of intentional and incidental memory of Parkinson’s Disease patients
- MCI Patients’ self-awareness of driving performance
- The pedestrian behavior of Alzheimer and MCI Patients and its relation to neuropsychological parameters
- Can brief neuropsyhological tests predict the driving behavior of patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD)?
- Driver Behavior of A-HNE Disease and mild Alzheimer Disease (NA) patients, vectors of Apolipoprotein E4 allele
A Regional Workshop on Road Safety Data was organized by the EuroMed Transport Support Project in Greece, with great success on 8-10 May 2018 in Athens. This three-day regional workshop, the 3rd day of which is dedicated to road safety-related site visits, offered a unique opportunity to share national, European and international experiences and best practices with road safety data and allow a regional exchange on setting up a road map for the follow up actions.
- The SaferAfrica Project
- Road Accident Statistics: The Greek Experience
- Strengths and weaknesses of road crash data collection in the EuroMed region – Diagnosis
- Understanding and bridging the differences between national reported and WHO estimated road traffic fatalities
- Setting up road safety reliable, harmonized and comparable data collection system and sharing at regional level
The International Road Traffic and Accident Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published recently a new Report: “Cooperative Mobility Systems and Automated Driving”. Automated vehicles could make roads safer as well as reduce congestion. Whether society will be able to capture these benefits while minimizing negative impacts depends on effective regulation of self-driving vehicles. The technology is still largely experimental and mass use is likely to take decades. This report reviews the range of existing service concepts for automated driving systems and technologies, the operational environments they require and assesses the need for regulatory action.
The European Union Road Federation (ERF) is organising the European Road Conference “Corridors for Shared Prosperity”, which will take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on 22-24 October 2018. This conference offers an essential platform to deepen the understanding of these challenges, widen the engagement framework with regional road stakeholders, and achieve consensus on key policy, investment and planning measures.
A new book titled ‘Homo automobilis ou l’humanité routière‘ authored by Dr. Jean-Pascal Assailly, Researcher at the French Institute of Sciences & Technology for Transport (IFSTTAR), is now available. “Homo automobilis”, who are you? That is the question this book answers. Jean-Pascal Assailly analyzes the behavior of the users of the road environment – whether one is a motorist or a pedestrian – which is so different depending on age, sex and culture.
The Dialogue Platform of the EU-funded Horizons 2020 project SaferAfrica met in Athens on 24-27 April 2018 to discuss current and future road safety challenges in Africa. Key road safety experts from the SaferAfrica Consortium, from International Organizations, (UNECA, WHO, ITF-IRTAD, FIA, IRF, IRU, WorldBank/SSATP, AfDB, HI) and from African Countries (Morocco, Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Burkina Faso) contributed vividly into the two discussion topics: a) Road safety data collection in Africa (data collection, standardization, under-reporting, exposure and safety performance indicators), b) Implementation of the African Road Safety Action Plan (progress, recommendations, future perspectives). NTUA’s presentation concerned:
“The Road to Zero Report” was developed by the Road to Zero Coalition, together with the RAND Corporation, setting a goal to eliminate traffic fatalities in the U.S. by 2050. The report is the first of its kind in the U.S. and identifies proven, life-saving actions for the short, mid, and long-terms that should be taken by federal, state, and local government officials; automakers; technology manufacturers; business leaders; insurance agencies; law enforcement; and safety advocates.
The City of Edmonton’s Traffic Safety section is organizing T2019, the 22nd International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS) Conference, which will be held in Edmonton, Canada, on 18-21 August 2019. Hosted on a rotating basis amongst a range of relevant organizations including Edmonton’s own Traffic Safety section, this conference brings together delegates drawn from the areas of public health and safety, traffic, and transport psychology, public health, law, medicine, economics, law enforcement, public policy, education, pharmacology, toxicology, forensic science, human factors, and alcohol intervention and rehabilitation. 
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. The meeting will feature training sessions, workshops, networking opportunities, the General Assembly, and, this year, for the first time, a high-level symposium on road safety. The Global Meeting brings together NGOs, global road safety stakeholders, funders, and decision makers.
The International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published recently a new Report: “Integrating Urban Public Transport Systems and Cycling”. Seamless integration between bus, BRT, light rail, metro and rail systems and walking and cycling is the main challenge in delivering competitive levels of service, in terms of convenience, flexibility, cost as well as safety. ITF Report recommendations suggest that cycling can greatly extend the range of public transport options available to urban travellers. Cycling significantly increases the catchment area of rail stations with bike-share systems greatly facilitating the use of cycling to complete trips on public transport as well as promoting cycling more generally.
The International Road Federation (IRF) launched the global Transport Knowledge Resource Centre (gTKP). This comprehensive resource centre features the latest, state-of-the-art information on road infrastructure and transport (case studies, research papers, publications, reports, presentations). The knowledge centre functions like an on-line library. Registration is simple and free of charge and registered users are actively encouraged to enhance both the dynamism and interactivity of the service by contributing their own knowledge and experience in the form of new reports, articles, case studies, research papers and publications.
A new book The book increases the level of knowledge on road safety contexts, issues and challenges; shares what can currently be done to address the variety of issues; and points to what needs to be done to make further gains in road safety.
UNECE launched in New York City, the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund, aiming to accelerate progress in improving global road safety by bridging the gaps in the mobilization of resources for effective action at all levels. Established at the request of the Secretary-General following the suggestion made by United Nations Member States, the Fund will mobilize resources from governments, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, the private sector, philanthropic organizations and individuals. UNECE estimates that every $1,500 contributed to the Road Safety Trust Fund could: save one life, prevent ten serious injuries, and leverage $51,000 in road safety investment.
A new fines scheme for traffic infringements has been recently introduced in the Greek Road Code (Law 4530/2018). More precisely, three categories of fines are set, based on the safety importance of the respective infringements: low (0-300€), medium (301€ – 600€) and high (>600€) risk. Furthermore, fines income criteria are introduced, according which offenders with an annual income between 50.001€ – 100.000€ are subject to double fines, while offenders with an annual income above 100.000€ are subject to triple fines. Finally, offenders that commit three times in the last 5 years a high-risk infringement lose their license in life.
The European Commission’s Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) published the EU good practice guide: Safer roads for all. It includes Road Safety Statistics in EU, and good practices in EU countries with different safety performance levels. The EU success story is the result of many contributing factors: making road safety a political priority; broad cooperation across borders for a true European road safety area; adoption of the ‘safe system’ approach and the ‘vision zero’ perspective; target setting, data collection and continuous monitoring of results; and dedicated actions ranging from education and awareness campaigns to legislative action and safety focused technical vehicle regulations.
The 31st ICTCT conference will be held in Porto, Portugal on 25-26th October 2018, under the main topic “On the track of future urban mobility: safety, human factors and technology”. The conference will be organised in close co-operation with the Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal. The objective of the conference is to support the understanding of future trends in urban mobility and their implications for the safety of all road users.
La Prévention Routière Internationale (PRI) in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry of Education, the Tunisian Road Prevention Association (ATPR) and the Arab Road Safety Organization (AROSO) organized an International Conference on: “Traffic Education: Modern Educational Approach / Experiences & Good Practices” which was held with great success in Tunis, Tunisia on 26 – 27th, April, 2018. This conference aimed to define a strategic choice to for the improvement of road safety in Tunisia, with emphassis on traffic education, requiring the synergic contribution of all road safety stakeholders. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
