The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published the 16th edition of PIN Annual Report , with the active contribution of NTUA, presented at the 2022 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index Award event which took place online with great success on 15 June 2022. The EU27 collectively reduced the number of road deaths by 31% over the period 2011-2021, from 28,865 in 2011 to 19,823 in 2021. There were 57,095 fewer deaths on EU roads over the last decade than there would have been if deaths had continued at the same level as in 2011. 

The Civil Engineering School of the National Technical University of Athens was ranked this year 18th in Europe and 50th worldwide among all Civil Engineering Schools. This ranking is produced by the QS Organisation (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022) based on the following criteria: Research, Teaching, Employability, Facilities, Internationalization, Innovation, Engagement and Access. NTUA road safety activities have contributed to this ranking. 

The European Commission has added to its library of European Road Safety Observatory road safety data and analytical resources with the publication of Thematic Reports on the use of seatbelts and child restraint systems, serious injuries through road crashes and on driver impairment due to alcohol, drugs and medicines. The aim of these Reports is to aid understanding of the causes and impacts of road crashes, with the ultimate aim of achieving “vision zero” of zero road deaths or serious injuries in Europe’s roads by 2050. 

The European Commission has launched EU pilot projects to assess safety of infrastructure. These pilot projects are carried out to test methodologies for the network-wide road assessments developed with the active contribution of NTUA, required under the Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive (RISM). The Network-wide road assessments allow national authorities to identify those sections of road where the opportunities to improve safety are the greatest and where targeted investment should deliver the biggest improvements. 

The European Commission marked the International Level Crossing Awareness Day. Almost 300 people per year die in crashes at level crossings, representing around 30% of all railway deaths. The Commission has published a thematic report on this issue, setting out the situation regarding collisions at level crossings and measures the that could be taken to prevent them. In the Western Balkans region, the Transport Community has launched an awareness campaign to try to reduce the number and severity of collisions at railway crossings. 

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised with great success the EU Road Safety Exchange – Final Event which was held in Brussels, on 18 May 2022. Dutch-inspired improvements to cycling infrastructure in Lithuania, harmonised day and night-time urban speed limits in Poland and major new national road safety strategies in Greece and Portugal are some of the changes inspired by the EU-funded Road Safety Exchange project. The recordings of the Final Event are now available

The World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS) is organising the 16th World Conference on Transport Research which will be held in Montreal, Canada, on 17-24 July 2023.  For the last 40 years, WCTR has been organised every three years by the WCTR Society. WCTR allowes sharing cutting-edge research and advanced state-of-practice and provides a unique opportunity for experts to exchange ideas in all areas of transport research. 

The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) has published a Report titled Detecting Urban Clues for Road Safety : Leveraging Big Data and Machine Learning Report. The Report presents opportunities to use new technologies to improve current methods for data collection and analysis for various road safety assessments. This guidance note provides a practical guide for using new data sources and analytical methods for road safety analysis in different types of projects that may impact road infrastructure or risk-related factors.  

The World Health Oganisation (WHO) recently published a Manual titled Drink-Driving: A Road Safety Manual for Decision-Makers and Practitioners. The Manual provides guidance for decision-makers and practitioners to reduce the prevalence of drink driving and associated road trauma. It draws on experience from countries that have succeeded in achieving and sustaining reductions in alcohol-related road trauma, and includes recommendations for developing and implementing drink driving legislation, and advice on how to monitor and evaluate progress.  

The 11th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2023) will take place in Zurich, on 6-8 September 2023.  The Symposium will offer an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. Event details such as registration and programme are going to be announced in due course. 

The 8th Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2022 (RSS2022) took place with great success on 08-10 June 2022 at Zappeion Megaron in Athens organized by NTUA and HITE under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the City of Athens. 320 road safety scientists from 28 countries joined this first post-pandemic global road safety in-person major event, to discuss on current and future challenges of Road Safety in the Digital Era. Conference proceedings and presentations are now available:

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport developed the National Road Safety Strategic Plan for the period 2021-2030, with the scientific support of the Department of Transport Planning and Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The National Road Safety Strategic Plan 2021-2030 exploits state-of-the-art international experience and good practice, adjusted to the Greek reality and contains a set of 44 actions and 200 measures with concrete budget and timeplan addressing the key road safety problems in Greece: speeding and motorcycle traffic; aiming to meet the quantitative targets set for the reduction of the number of fatalities and serious injuries in road crashes by 50% by 2030. Within the current final open consultation process you are welcome to submit your remarks and comments. 

The 10th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2022), co-organized by KU Leuven and the University of Luxembourg took place in Leuven, on 1-3 June 2022. The Symposium offered an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport including safety, in plenary, in focus groups and in a summer school for PhD students on 31 May 2022. 

The International Transport Forum (ITF) is organising the 7th Meeting of the Safer City Streets Network, which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 18-19 October 2022. The Meeting’s agenda will reflect key issues such as Monitoring Progress in Urban Road Safety – Release of new data and report and Inclusion, Equity, Gender, Sustainability and Participatory initiatives. Abstract submissions deadline: 21 June 2022   

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is organising the Road Safety Performance Index Annual Conference (PIN conference) which was held online, on 15 June 2022. This year’s PIN Conference we’ll be assessing how improving road safety can help countries reach the 2030 target to cut road deaths and serious injuries by 50% and it will also present the 2022 PIN Award to a country that has made outstanding progress on improving road safety. 

The World Road Association (PIARC)  is organising the XXVIIth World Road Congress, which will be held in Prague, on 2-6 October 2023. PIARC launches a call for papers on 49 topics to contribute to the programme of this Congress, wich will be held under the theme “Together on the road again”, presenting  a unique opportunity to discuss in depth all subjects related to road infrastructures and road transport. Abstract submissions deadline: 26 August 2022   

HUMANIST is organising the “HUMANIST Summer School 2022“, which will be held in Vienna, Austria on 14-16 September 2022. The main topic of this Summer School session will be “Human Factors, Automated Driving and Active Mobility” with 2 focusses: Psychological fitness to manage automated driving & Changing mobility behaviour towards more active travel: measuring ‘experience’ and cultural factors.  Registrations are open 

The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Levitate (Societal Level Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles) is organising the Project’s Final Conference, which will be held in Brussels, on 25 May 2022. The LEVITATE partners are looking forward to sharing the results achieved and the tools developed to assess the potential societal impacts of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on the mobility system and wider livability goals, including safety, the environment, the economy and society. A focused presentation of the Levitate CCAM Policy Support Tool is also foreseen.  Registrations are open 

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) has recently released the SHOW 4th Newsletter. The Newsletter shares very interesting times for the project, with the first pilot sites progressing with their large-scale trials in public, allowing citizens to experience their automated solutions in public transport. 

Τhe European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) together with environmental and road safety organisations, has written to the European Commissioners responsible for Climate Action, Energy, Environment and Transport, calling for recommendations on lower speed limits as a way of tackling dependence on Russian oil, as well as emissions and road deaths. The six organisations say that with the catastrophic invasion of Ukraine, European reliance on Russian oil has become a strategic threat and the current crisis requires bold action.