A Diploma Thesis titled “Analysis of pedestrians distracted behaviour talking on mobile phone” was recently presented by Dimitra Typa. The aim of this Diploma Thesis was to investigate the impact of hand-held cell phone conversation on pedestrians’ traffic and safety behaviour, when crossing signalized intersections. An outdoor-environment experiment, through video recording, was conducted in real road conditions, in three signalized intersections at the centre of Athens for the purpose of comparing the behaviour of distracted and non-distracted pedestrians. The results of the models’ application demonstrated that distraction caused by hand-held cell phone conversation had a negative impact on pedestrians’ main traffic and safety characteristics, since, in general, mobile use not only decreases pedestrians’ speed but also increases their probability of being involved in an accident with an oncoming vehicle.
The International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised a Meeting at DEKRA headquarters, in Klettwitz, Germany, on 23-24 October 2019, in which the latest international road safety developments were discussed. NTUA contributed actively with the following presentations:
A paper titled “Driving Safety Efficiency Benchmarking Using Smartphone Data” authored by Dimitrios Tselentis, Eleni Vlahogianni, and George Yannis is now published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. This paper aims to provide a methodological framework for the comparative evaluation of driving safety efficiency based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The analysis considers each driver as a Decision-Making Unit (DMU) and aims to provide a relative safety efficiency measure to compare different drivers based on their driving performance. The proposed methodological framework is tested on data from fifty-six (56) drivers during a 7-months period. Findings help distinguish the most efficient drivers from those that are less efficient. Most common inefficient driving practices are identified (aggressive, risky driving, etc.) and driving behaviour is comparatively evaluated and analyzed. 
The 9th conference of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART) will take place in Lyon on 1-3 September 2020. The conference is organized by the Transport, Urban Planning and Economics Laboratory (LAET), and will cover relevant areas of transportation research with specific focus on methods, models and planning of transport systems. The aim of the conference is to connect researchers in transport modelling, transport economics, transport engineering and transport policy with advanced practice and state of the art. Bringing together leading experts and promising young researchers, the symposium offers an opportunity for scientific discussion and interaction in relatively small groups. The conference will be accompanied by social events and a summer school intended for PhD students the day before the symposium on August 31st, 2020. 
Short paper submission: 1st February 2020
The 1st newsletter of the Horizon 2020 project BE OPEN was recently released highlighting some of the project latest news, the first BE OPEN workshop entitled “Open Science in Transport: Challenges and Way forward“ and key project achievements. The BE OPEN newsletter aims to keep you informed about the project’s progress, news, events and results.
You can also sign up to the BE OPEN newsletter in the following link:
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has published a short video supporting that it’s time for the EU to move from dozens of different drink driving limits to one that everyone can remember easily: Zero, despite the fact that every individual responds to alcohol differently. 
The third edition of Road Safety Manual (RSM) developed by the World Road Association (PIARC) is designed to help countries at every stage of infrastructure development to fulfil road safety objectives. It is aligned with key pillars for the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020: Pillar 1: Road Safety Management, Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility, Pillar 4: Safer Road Users. This comprehensive resource builds on the broad range of knowledge and experience provided by PIARC in the previous editions. It includes new thinking on road safety and offers a clear argument on why adopting a Safe System approach is crucial for all countries.
The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are organizing Safer Roads 2020 International Conference which will take place in Virginia, USA, on 12-14 May 2020. The Safer Roads 2020 International Conference is a triennial event for roadway safety professionals and transportation officials from around the world. The conference brings together industry leaders, government officials, corporate roadway department personnel, and others in the roadway safety industry, with a focus on working better together.
A paper titled “A review of spatial approaches in road safety” authored by Apostolos Ziakopoulos, and George Yannis is now published in Accident Analysis and Prevention. The aim of the present research is to critically review the existing literature on different spatial approaches through which researchers handle the dimension of space in its various aspects in their studies and analyses. Specifically, the use of different areal unit levels in spatial road safety studies is investigated, different modelling approaches are discussed, and the corresponding study design characteristics are summarized in respective tables including traffic, road environment and area parameters and spatial aggregation approaches.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is observed on the third Sunday of November each year (this year on 17 November 2019) by an increasing number of countries on every continent around the world. From 1995, FEVR observed this day, as European Day of Remembrance, that was adopted by the United Nations in 2005, and is dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashes and their families and communities, as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who daily deal with the traumatic aftermath of road death and injury. The slogan of 2019 is: “LIFE IS NOT A CAR PART”. 
The International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) organised a Workshop on Micromobility Safety, as part of the ITF Corporate Partnership Board, which took place with great success in Lisbon, Portugal, on 18 October 2019. The workshop focussed on the safety questions arising with the rapid development of electrically powered personal mobility devices and framed policy recommendations (including safety regulation and road space allocation) to best manage the safety of all micromobility vehicles and services, from e-scooters to e-bikes, whether privately owned or hired. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation: The effect of experience on injury risk across various modes of transport
The NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering contributed actively at the 9th International Congress on Transport Research (ICTR) themed: “Transportation 4.0: The Smart Evolution” and organised with great success on 24-25 October 2019, in Athens, Greece, by the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (H.I.T.). Special focus was given to innovative research and technological developments and solutions for the improvement of traffic safety in Greece and worldwide. NTUA contributed actively with several traffic safety papers and presentations:
- Methodology for the the economic assessment of road safety interventions
- Tourism and Road Accidents in Greece
- Road Safety Culture Among Car Drivers and Motorcycle Riders in Greece: Examining Influencing Factors
- Impaired cycling and crash involvement in OECD countries
- Thematic Fact Sheets on Road Safety Risk Factors in Africa – A Knowledge and Management Tool
- A Review of the Impact of Driver Distraction on Driving Behavior and Road Safety
- Identification of Critical Driving Parameters Affecting Speeding Using Data from Smartphones
- Greek driver attitudes towards aggressive driving
- Self-assessment and Road Behavior
- What is your driving identity? Some empirical findings using large-scale smartphone sensors’ data
- Mapping Risky Driving Behavior in Urban Road Networks
- Techno-Economical Evaluation of Accidents’ Preventing Measures and Remedial Measures in Intersections on Existing Rural Two-Lane Highways
