The Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI) published a paper titled “Secondary roads – Road Safety challenges“, which demonstrates the important contribution of secondary rural roads to the burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities. Furthermore, it identifies the most important road safety challenges and emphasizes the corresponding need for addressing these by introducing appropriate remedial road infrastructure measures and new technologies, supported by consistent research and innovation.   

ETSC and Fundación MAPFRE organized with great success the 2024 edition of the European Traffic Education Seminar, which was held as an online event, on 17 September 2024. The aims of the seminar were to equip young road users to become safe road users, given the appropriate education. This seminar features presentations on the latest traffic education projects from across Europe. 

The Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) organized with great success the 20th Scientific and Technical Conference, which was held in Katowice, Poland, on 10-11 September 2024. This conference titled “Transport Systems. Theory & Practice” (TSTP 2024) aimed to show and discuss the issues in regard to the transport systems and allows presenting the most up-to-date solutions in the field, evaluating the current state and developing perspectives for the transport systems within the urban areas, regions, countries and the world. Among the main topics of this conference, road traffic safety assessment issues, such as strategies, programs and solutions, were included. 

Together for Safer Roads Global Coalition published a Report titled Seat Belt Safety Standard Operating Procedures, which aims at helping fleet managers increase seat belt usage rates, a fundamental and critical aspect of an overall road safety system. This Report is part of a larger, far-reaching Global Fleet Safety Instruments Standardization Initiative and contains six chapters, including training for Seat Belt Compliance, Seat Belt Software and Hardware Selection, Purchasing and Evaluating Vehicle Seat Belt Safety Systems, Seat Belt Utilization Enforcement, Communication for Seat Belt Safety Awareness and Documentation of Seat Belt Safety Compliance. 

NTUA conducted a research titled “The Impact of Ridesharing Services in Athens” to investigate ridesharing socio-economic impact in Athens. The research concludes that the introduction of ridesharing in Athens has a significant positive impact to social welfare of the city improving environment quality, traffic conditions, road safety and economic growth, mainly due to the travel demand swift from private cars to ridesharing services. The emergence of ridesharing service in Greek islands is also discussed.    

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Young People Facts and Figures Report which examines the number of fatalities among persons aged 15 to 24 years old. The absolute number of fatalities among young people aged 15-17 decreased by 39% between 2012 and 2022, while the respective number of fatalities among young people aged 18-24 decreased by 38% during the same period. Furthermore, remarkable is that the mortality rate for the age group 15-17 was the second lowest among all age groups in 2022.  

The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in cooperation with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) organized with great success the Africa Road Safety Seminar, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8-9 October 2024. This key regional seminar included leading topics in current road safety conversation and is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of effective, evidence-based interventions which can be applied towards the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Seniors Safety Facts and Figures Report which refers to people aged 65 years and older. According to this report, seniors have the second highest mortality rate among all age groups, with an average of about 64 senior fatalities per million senior inhabitants in road traffic within the EU27. Moreover, when considering the mode of transportation, seniors experienced a considerably high number of fatalities in the most vulnerable modes. Specifically, in 2022 29% of senior fatalities were pedestrians, while 17% were cyclists.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Motorways Facts and Figures Report which refers to  motorways, which are public roads with dual carriageways, and at least two lanes each way. In 2022, 9% of all road fatalities in the EU27 occurred on motorways. Remarkable is that 68% of motorway fatalities were between 25 and 64 years old, compared to 54% on other roads (rural and urban roads).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Buses & Heavy Goods Vehicles Facts and Figures Report which refers to fatalities in crashes involving buses/coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on European roads. In 2022, 14% of all road fatalities in the EU27 occurred in crashes involving HGVs and 2% of road fatalities in the EU27 occurred in crashes involving buses/coaches. Moreover, it is remarkable that female share in fatalities in crashes involving buses/coaches (32%) is remarkably higher than the respective share in crashes involving HGVs and all crashes (23%).  

The Fondation VINCI Autoroutes has recently published the results of the 12^th Euro-Barometer for Responsible Driving by Ipsos, in which representative attitudes of Europeans at the wheel are recorded, enabling also the monitoring of the evolution of risky driving and good practices to better target prevention messages in European countries. According to this study, Greece has the highest rate of drivers (83%) that use their mobile phone during driving in Europe (EU average 75%). Furthermore, almost half  of Greek drivers (46%) admitted continuing driving even when they feel tired, whereas the respective EU average is 42%.   

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Support for Policy Measures Report which focuses on the public support of many road safety policy measures, including zero tolerance for alcohol (0.0‰) for all drivers, installation of an alcohol ‘interlock’ system and the legal obligation to install ISA in new vehicles. Furthermore, the public support of the zero tolerance for using any type of mobile phone while driving for all drivers, the requirement for all cyclists to wear a helmet, as well as the requirement for cyclists to wear reflective material when cycling in the dark, are presented.   

The Road Safety Support International (RSSI) has been honoured with the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. This recognition highlights the organisation’s exceptional dedication and exemplary efforts to promote road safety on a global scale. Over the years Road Safety Support International (RSSI) has been tirelessly working to reduce road collisions and fatalities through extensive education, advocacy, and the implementation of effective safety measures. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Protective Equipment Safety Performance Indicator (SPI) Report which focuses on the prevalence and the road safety effects of road users’ use or non-use of bicycle helmets, motorcycle helmets, seat belts and Child Restraint Systems (CRS). Moreover, where feasible, these reports look at whether SPIs are related to existing policies and regulations, providing possible effective interventions to increase safe behaviour, or discourage unsafe behaviour.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Single Vehicle Crashes Facts and Figures Report which looks at single vehicle fatalities, which means fatalities in crashes including only one moving vehicle. According to this Report, in the EU in 2022, 6,369 people were killed in a single vehicle crash and the number has decreased by 11% in the last decade and amounts to 35% of all road fatalities. Moreover the share of single vehicle fatalities within all road fatalities is highest in Southern and Western Europe. Furthermore, there are proportionally more single vehicle fatalities during weekends both during daytime (26%) and nights (16%) compared to other road user fatalities (21% during daytime and 9% at night).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Serious Injuries Facts and Figures Report which looks  at serious injuries resulting from road crashes in EU and EFTA countries. According to this Report, the police-based data indicates an average decrease of 19% in serious injuries over the decade 2012-2022, as well as average around 8 serious injuries for every road fatality on EU roads (France and Italy excluded among others). Moreover, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) make up a large share of serious injuries (57% EU average), with most of the serious injuries in the EU occurring on urban roads, accounting for 57%, half of which are pedestrians.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Regional Distribution Facts and Figures Report which looks at the regional distribution of road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, the number of fatalities per million inhabitants  is highest in Eastern Europe. Some of the regions with the highest mortality rates can be found in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. In most countries, there are regions with a comparatively low mortality rate as well as a comparatively high one. Furthermore, the trend in the rate over time tends to vary between regions. In Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia there has been a decrease in all regions. Furthermore, Regarding road types, the share of fatalities on rural roads within the total number of fatalities is high in Central, North and West Europe, while the rate for urban roads is high in East and South Europe.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Powered Two-Wheelers Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities at motorcycle and moped riders’ fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, respectively, 3% and 16% of all road fatalities in the EU in 2022 were moped riders and motorcyclists. Taken together therefore, almost one in five road fatalities were powered two wheeler riders. Moreover, in fatal moped and motorcycle crashes, often no other road user was involved as 29% and 37% of moped riders and motorcyclists respectively died in a single vehicle crash (i.e. a crash with no crash opponent).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Pedestrians Facts and Figures Report which looks at pedestrian fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, almost one in five of all road fatalities across the EU were pedestrians. The absolute number of pedestrian fatalities fell from 5,410 to 3,740 fatalities between 2012 and 2022 (-31%), which is a greater decrease compared to the decrease for the total number of road fatalities (-22%). Furthermore, around 1 in 2 pedestrian fatalities (47%) in 2022 were seniors aged 65 or older.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the New Forms of Mobility Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities of users of motorized micro-mobility devices and pedelecs on European roads. According to this Report, in 2022, 76 motorized micro-mobility device fatalities and 385 pedelec fatalities were recorded in the 15 European countries reporting data on these transport modes. Furthermore, the share of fatalities on motorized micro-mobility devices on urban roads, where all transport modes are represented, amounts to 72% in 2022, while fatalities on pedelecs are lower with a share of 50% on urban roads.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Cyclists Facts and Figures Report which refers to cyclist fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, in contrast to the number of fatalities in crashes with other modes of transport, the number of cyclists killed on EU roads has remained at more or less the same level for the past decade: since 2012 a decrease of -3%, since 2019 a decrease of -1%. In 2022, half of all cyclist fatalities (50%) were cyclists aged 65 years or older on average and more than half of cyclist fatalities occurred in crashes on urban roads (57%), 42% on rural roads and 1% on motorways.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Children Facts and Figures Report which looks at road fatalities among children on EU roads. According to this Report, the absolute number of fatalities among children aged 0-14 decreased between 2012 and 2022 by 33% to 455 fatalities in 2022, while the short-term change from 2019 to 2022 is a decline of 7%. The relative share remained constant throughout this time at just over 2% of all EU fatalities.