Author: Ioannis Papadogiorgakis
T-Press organized with great success the 3rd International Exhibition Ergo.Tec Forum and CMC Conference which took place in Athens, Greece on 20-22 March 2026. This Event presented all the latest developments, research, and innovations in the construction sector. The leaders of the construction industry discussed the challenges and opportunities that are shaping the future of construction sites and infrastructure projects, while specialized speakers contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge. Ministers, representatives of industry associations and contractors’ organizations, members of the academic community, as well as companies in the construction and machinery market participated. 
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV recently published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Annual Statistical Report on Road Safety in the EU, which provides an overview of crash data for 2014 to 2024 from 27 EU Member States and the four EFTA countries. According to this Report, 53% of road traffic fatalities occurred on rural roads, versus 38% in urban areas and 8% on motorways. It was also revealed that car occupants (drivers and passengers) represented 44% of all fatalities, while pedestrians accounted for 18%, users of powered two-wheelers (motorbikes and mopeds) 18%, and cyclists 9%. 
Medical School of Hannover – 10th Expert Symposium on Accident Research (ESAR), Hannover, March 2026
The Hannover Medical School organized with great success the 10th International Expert Symposium on Accident Research (ESAR) which was held in Hannover, Germany on 25-26 March 2026. ESAR is a platform for exchange of information on crash research issues, bringing together experts from medicine, engineering, law enforcement, and industry. The Conference focused on road safety research, crash causation, pre-crash analysis, crash reconstruction, new data sources for crash research such as video observation and EDR, injuries, regulation and consumer information. NTUA actively contributed with the following paper and presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following paper and presentation:
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the updated Road Safety Country Profiles, which provide a comprehensive overview of the road safety status in the 27 EU Member States and three EFTA countries for the period 2014 to 2024. These Country Profiles exploit data and information from a range of sources, including the CARE and other international databases, as well as national sources, in order to highlight current road safety outcomes, performance indicators, policy & measures and structure & culture for each country.
The European Commission recently issues a Press Release on preliminary figures on road fatalities for 2025, reporting around 19,400 deaths. This represents a 3% decrease from 2024, meaning that 580 fewer people died on European roads. Given the increase in vehicles on EU roads and kilometers driven, this is a significant achievement. Furthermore, road safety progress varies widely by country. Between 2024 and 2025, there were remarkable decreases in Estonia (-38%) and Greece (-22%). However, the preliminary data also highlights the need for sustained efforts at all levels as most Member States are not yet on track to meet the EU’s goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030. 
The International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) organized with great success its Annual Research Project Reporting and Award Ceremony for 2026 which took place in Tokyo, Japan and online on 10 April 2026. This Event presented to the public the research projects conducted in FY2025 that have produced particularly outstanding results. At this year’s IATSS Award Ceremony, two Achievement Awards, one Literature Award, and two Paper Awards were presented.
NTUA organized with great success the PHOEBE Project Workshop which took place in Athens, Greece on 15 April 2026. During this Workshop, the framework and tools developed within the PHOEBE project were presented, alongside key results. Particular emphasis was placed on infrastructure safety assessment, behaviour analysis, traffic simulation and cost–benefit evaluation approaches. The Workshop took place back-to-back with the IRTAD 2026 Conference, making it an ideal opportunity for participants attending both events.
The Horizon Europe research project SOTERIA organized with great success a Final Event which took place in Bilbao, Spain on 28 April 2026. Under the theme “From Living Labs to real-world change”, the Event highlighted how SOTERIA’s innovative approach contributes to personalised road safety solutions, transforming insights from real-world testing environments into practical measures for safer mobility. Participants learned about the project’s key outcomes, experiences from the Living Labs, and the next steps toward implementing data-driven and user-centred road safety strategies across Europe.
The Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) of the European Commission has recently launched a new layer at the EU Road Safety Map with the results of the networkwide road-safety-assessment performed in 2025 by the EU Member States, following the requirements of the amendment of Directive (EU) 2019/1936 of 23 October 2019, which supplements Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management. This Tool utilizes the TENtec Geographic Information Platform showcasing on maps the performance of several Indicators of the TEN-T network, including the safety star-rating of the EU primary roads.
The SOTERIA Project Workshop took place in Athens, Greece on 15 April 2026. The SOTERIA workshop at the IRTAD Conference introduced participants to a data‑driven approach for enhancing urban safety, with a particular focus on the protection of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) in diverse European contexts. It presented how behavioural insights, micro‑mobility data and advanced analytics can support evidence‑based policy planning and the design of effective safety interventions Participants will have the opportunity to engage with innovative methodologies, explore infrastructure and other data needs, and contribute insights that will help shape SOTERIA’s final recommendations and alignment with Vision Zero objectives. The Event took place back-to-back with the IRTAD Conference, making it an ideal opportunity for participants attending both events.
The 14th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2026) will take place in Paris, on 29 September to 1 October 2026. The Symposium offers an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. This Event aims to promote excellence in transportation research in Europe, with a particular focus on PhD students and young researchers, while bringing together leading scientists in operational research and transportation from academia, industry, and public authorities. Researchers can submit their contributions until 15 April 2026 here.
NTUA organized with great success the IVORY Project Mid-Term Conference which took place in Athens, Greece on 15 April 2026. This Event offered an exciting opportunity to engage with the latest advances in AI applications for road safety, in direct alignment with the EU Vision Zero strategy. The Conference took place back-to-back with the IRTAD Conference, making it an ideal opportunity for participants attending both events. This milestone event highlighted the strong progress of the IVORY Network and reinforced its mission to develop responsible, data-driven AI solutions for safer roads.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Speed and Speeding Thematic Report which emphasizes that driving at excessive or inappropriate speed is a major threat to safety on the road. It is estimated that 10 to 15% of all crashes and 30% of all fatal crashes are the direct result of speeding or inappropriate speed. It is also emphasized that safety systems in cars, such as intelligent speed assistance or electronic stability control can prevent speeding or reduce the consequences of speeding, while education and communication, in combination with and supporting other measures, are particularly important. Moreover, city-wide 30km/h speed limits and their enforcement has been shown to be the most efficient measure for quick reduction of crash and injury risks.
The Editorial for the Special Issue Vehicle Safe Motion in Mixed-Vehicle-Technology Environment authored by Stergios Mavromatis, George Yannis and Yasser Hassan has been published in the World Electric Vehicle Journal. This Special Issue aims to advance knowledge on vehicle safe motion during this critical transition period by bringing together recent research on mixed traffic flow dynamics, safety assessment, and intelligent control strategies. Collectively, the papers in this Special Issue provide scientific insights and practical tools that support safer, more efficient, and more resilient vehicle motion in increasingly complex mixed-technology traffic environments. The findings suggest that connectivity-enabled strategies, predictive control, and cooperative decision-making can mitigate safety risks while promoting smoother traffic flow and reduced energy consumption, particularly in complex settings such as work zones, tunnels, and intersections. Moreover, AI-based perception and traffic monitoring emerge as key enablers for real-time traffic management and energy-aware electric mobility. 
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD) published the Road Safety Annual Report 2025, on the development of road safety in 2024 with the active contribution of NTUA. It is based on data from 40 IRTAD member countries, with some preliminary data also for the year 2025. The main findings and data available from 35 countries revealed that in 2024, a 2.8% decline in road fatalities was observed compared to 2023, while in the first half of 2025 road fatalities decreased by 5% .
D. Lord, X. Qin, S. R. Geedipally – Highway Safety Analytics and Modeling 2nd Edition, February 2026
The 2nd Edition of the book titled ‘Highway Safety Analytics and Modeling‘ authored by Dominique Lord, Xiao Qin, Srinivas R. Geedipally, has been recently published. This book covers the key elements needed for making effective transportation engineering and policy decisions based on highway crash data analysis. This thoroughly updated second edition updates the material contained in the book based on the latest advancements in highway safety research as well as feedback from readers. It includes entirely new sections on topics such as digital twins as a source of data, model validation, extreme value models, temporal instability, joint crash frequency and severity modeling, sample size, quasi-induced exposure method, autonomous vehicle safety estimate, and more.
Plenoria organized with great success the 50th International Road Conference (CESTE 2026) which took place in Zagreb, Croatia on 17-20 March 2026. This Event was thematically related to strategic planning, construction and maintenance of road network development, traffic safety, development and implementation of IT systems in the function of traffic management, innovations in the field of traffic signaling and equipment, new technologies in road construction and maintenance, plans of sustainable urban mobility and environmental protection, possibilities of using funds, and smart infrastructure management in cities – “Smart city”.
The International Road Federation (IRF) is organizing the IRF Annual Conference 2026 which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 16-18 November 2026, under the theme “The Road Ahead: Trust, Delivery and Innovation”. The Conference provides a unique platform to exchange ideas, showcase expertise, and advance practical solutions shaping the future of road infrastructure and mobility worldwide. The Event will highlight roads’ central role in fostering inclusive, safe, green and efficient roads by driving the uptake of innovative policies and solutions and accelerating real world improvements. Registration is available here.
The European Union has recently published its Mid-Point Progress Report on the 2021-2030 road safety strategy with the active contribution of NTUA. The results summarised in this Report illustrate how much can be achieved when actors at all levels – from individuals to EU-level governing structures – contribute to the Safe System approach, within their areas of responsibility. But the slow-down in progress towards Vision Zero – against a background of increased traffic growth and new societal and technological trends – calls into question whether the current road safety ‘toolbox’ is fit for the future. The Report reveals significant opportunities in order to ensure the EU remains on track to meet its 2030 objectives, namely: technological advances in vehicle safety, growing awareness of the economic benefits of investments in safety, an increasing political focus on sustainable mobility and the coordinated, sustained, and properly resourced efforts across the EU and within Member States at all levels of government and society.
The University of Tennessee is organizing the 14th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC2026) which will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee, on 3-5 November 2026. This year’s Conference theme is “Leveraging Recreational Cycling Enthusiasm for Safer Streets”. The annual ICSC brings together researchers, practitioners, advocates, and industry leaders worldwide to advance cycling safety through innovation, infrastructure, and policy.
POLIS, the European Cities Network, is organizing the 2026 Annual Polis Conference which will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on 2-3 December 2026. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority.
The University of Brescia in cooperation with the Order of Engineers of Brescia organized with great success an Event titled “Shaping the Future of Mobility: Planning Sustainable Solutions across European Regions”, which took place in Brescia, Italy on 24 February 2026. The Event showcases key insights and outcomes from the ArtMED project, focusing on strategic planning for future mobility solutions and the transition towards cleaner, safer, and more efficient transport systems. This Event aimed to bring together mobility experts, public authorities, researchers, and practitioners to explore how European regions can plan and implement more sustainable, data-informed mobility systems.
The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Main Figures Facts and Figures Report which examines road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, there has been a 12% decrease in road fatalities for the EU27 between 2019 and 2024, with far more males than females being killed in road crashes. Moreover, 48% of total road fatalities are vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) and over a half of road fatalities occur on rural roads (53%). On urban roads, the share of killed pedestrians is highest with 34%.
The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) has published a Position Paper titled “Road Transport Research in Horizon Europe Follow-up”. ERTRAC and the Associations supporting this Position Paper are convinced that dedicated funding for Road Transport Research is necessary to address the systemic road transport research needs critical to improve the efficiency, sustainability, safety and resilience of the whole European mobility system. Furthermore, it highlights the need for continued investment in vehicle technologies, infrastructure, traffic management, automation, and connectivity, as well as strong public–private cooperation, which are critical for delivering safer, cleaner, and more efficient road transport systems.
Marios Sekadakis has successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled: “Safety Assessment and Behaviour Modelling of Take-Over Dynamics in Automated Driving: From Human Response to Network-Level Simulation”, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. This PhD developed an integrated framework to explain how take-over response, driving performance and safety in automated driving at SAE Levels 2 and 3 are shaped by transition context, driver state, interface design and vehicle state dynamics. By combining systematic review and meta-analysis, simulator experimentation, data-driven modelling, behavioural profiling and network-level traffic simulation, the dissertation examined the full chain from individual re-engagement behaviour to vehicle motion and mixed-traffic safety effects. This work demonstrates that safety during take-over transitions cannot be explained by take-over duration alone. It demonstrates how Human-Machine Interface (HMI) design, automation level, behavioural variability and roadway context interact to shape both vehicle-level and network-level safety, identifying where and why safety margins collapse during transitions. The findings provide a consistent evidence base for safer take-over management and more robust evaluation of future automated driving systems. 
Maria Oikonomou has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Multilevel crash risk assessment under autonomous vehicle integration: From partial to full autonomy through urban traffic simulation”, under the supervision of NTUA Prof. George Yannis. The thesis develops a validated, simulation-based framework for estimating crash risk during the transition from partial to full Autonomous Vehicle (AV) deployment. A systematic review establishes an evidence-based repository of AV behavioural parameters to support traffic microsimulation. The methodology integrates conflict-based Surrogate Safety Measures and a novel Time-To-Collision-based conflict-to-crash-risk conversion procedure, validated through k-means clustering against observed crash patterns. Applied to a high-fidelity simulation model of central Athens, the framework evaluates fifteen AV deployment scenarios across varying penetration levels. The multilevel assessment includes road-level modelling with XGBoost and SHAP to quantify the influence of traffic, infrastructure and automation, and conflict-level spatial analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic and a binomial GAM to detect high-risk hotspots. Results reveal that crash risk initially increases in mixed-traffic conditions before decreasing as automated behaviour becomes dominant and stabilises network interactions.
The European Commission has recently published findings from Trendline project on key road safety performance indicators (KPIs), revealing significant gaps in compliance with basic safety measures across EU Member States. This data paints a troubling picture of speeding compliance, particularly in urban environments. In many countries, compliance falls below 50% on city roads—precisely where pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users are most at risk. Furthermore, while driver seat-belt use shows strong compliance, often exceeding 95% on motorways, rear-seat belt use tells a different story. Moreover, although the data shows high overall compliance with alcohol limits, at approximately 98, the seemingly small 2% non-compliance rate translates to roughly five million impaired drivers on EU roads. These indicators support road safety strategies and monitoring efforts at both national and European levels as the EU works toward its 2030 road safety targets.
The Cracow University of Technology together with EWGT are organizing the 28th Euro Working Group on Transportation Conference (EWGT 2026) which will take place in Krakow, Poland on 2-4 September 2026. EWGT is a premier international forum for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of transportation and logistics. This event will bring together researchers and practitioners to advance the application of operations research methods, mathematical and statistical models, and computational algorithms in transport analysis, planning, and operations. Early Bird registration is available until 10 July 2026.
The 2025 infographic of NTUA Road Safety Observatory (www.nrso.ntua.gr) highlights one more very intensive and highly fruitful year. The nrso scientific team with high dedication, efficiency and expertise continues to grow and excel, being active in 30 innovative research projects, succeeded to publish 103 scientific papers (32 in peer reviewed journals) – our best performance ever, and travelled around the world in hundreds of meetings to further develop and promote road safety science. We persist with passion for evidence based decisions towards a new culture of calm and safe roads everywhere and for all.
The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) is organizing the ASECAP Days 2026 which will take place in Bratislava, Slovakia on 27-29 May 2026. This Conference will focus on key challenges and developments shaping the future of toll road infrastructure and motorway operations. More than 80 high-level speakers will share knowledge experiences. Registration is open.
