Author: Ioannis Papadogiorgakis
Together for Safer Roads Global Coalition recently published a Report titled Optimizing Fleets with Telematics presenting key insights on how vehicle telematics can transform fleet safety and reduce crash risks through data-driven interventions. This Report analyzes over 60 million driving trips globally, identifying correlations between telematics-based driver monitoring and significant reductions in risky behaviors such as harsh braking and speeding. Furthermore it emphasizes the value of AI-powered analytics and proactive driver coaching in improving fleet safety performance. 
The European Union has recently adopted the new Directive to modernize EU driving licence rules. The newly adopted rules tackle several road safety issues, including the introduction of digital EU driving licences, driving disqualification, stricter rules for novice drivers and more systematic checks of the fitness to drive. The new Directive also introduces an EU-wide accompanied driving scheme for 17-year-old drivers, a measure that has been proven to significantly improve road safety. Particular emphasis is given on vulnerable road users’ safety, such as pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and other micromobility users. 
The Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) of the European Commission recently adopted its first Progress Report on the European declaration on cycling, showing strong momentum across the EU to boost cycling infrastructure and policies. The Report confirms cycling’s role as a clean, affordable and health-boosting way to travel. It also highlights the need to improve aspects such as safety, safe parking, cycle logistics, charging in buildings, carriage of bikes on trains, climate-proofing infrastructure and engagement with industry. Cities are stepping up cycling measures to meet the targets of the climate-neutral and smart cities mission.
The Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) of the European Commission released the Statistical Pocketbook 2025 “EU Transport in figures”. In this Statistical Pocketbook, key road safety Tables are contained, together with several other Tables on transport statistics, providing a complete picture of current trends in transport in Europe. Data on road fatalities for the EU Member States and associate countries allow for time series comparisons and country rankings.
In a recently published study conducted at Stanford University (USA), using a range of parameters for each scientist’s research contribution and influence, million Scientists data from Scopus database were analyzed. According to this study 1,074 Greek scientists are contained in the global top 2%, among which 162 Scientists from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). 28 Scientists from the School of Civil Engineering of NTUA are among the top 2% researchers in the world (4 within the top-ten of NTUA) and 8 among the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering (3 within the top-ten of the School of Civil Engineering) 2024: (Eleni Vlahogianni, George Yannis, Konstantinos Gkiotsalitis, Eleonora Papadimitriou, Christina Plati, Apostolos Ziakopoulos) All years: (Matthew Karlaftis†, John Golias).
A Special Issue titled “Emerging Solutions and Technologies for Smart Mobility and Vehicle Safety in Transportation” has been recently launched on Vehicles Journal, with Guest Editors from NTUA: Dr. Eva Michelaraki and Prof. George Yannis. This Special Issue aims to present cutting-edge research on novel solutions and technological advancements in smart mobility, transportation safety, and intelligent vehicle systems. Contributions that explore data-driven approaches to traffic management, machine learning applications for driver behaviour analysis, crash prediction and prevention strategies, automation in transportation systems, and the role of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in improving road safety are welcome. Deadline for manuscript submission is until 15 December 2025. Researchers can submit their contributions here.
Electronics: Special Issue on “Automated Driving Systems: Latest Advances and Prospects”, April 2026
Electronics Journal recently launched a Special Issue titled “Automated Driving Systems: Latest Advances and Prospects” aiming to bring together cutting-edge research on the latest developments, emerging trends, and future prospects in automated driving. The manuscript submission deadline is 15 April 2026.
This Special Issue encourages researchers from academia and industry to explore novel methodologies and contribute their latest findings, addressing the challenges and opportunities in the deployment of fully automated driving systems.
Guest editors of this special issue from NTUA are: Dr. Eva Michelaraki and Prof. Dr. George Yannis.
The Road Safety Institute “Panos Mylonas” (RSI) in cooperation with ETSC and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport organized with great success the “Safe & Sober Talk”, which took place in Athens, on 3 November 2025. International experts shared their national legislation on alcohol interlocks, an effective tool that reduces the number of alcohol-related deaths. This Event also addressed the issue of drunk driving in Greece and discuss the possible development of alcohol interlock programs at the national level. Representatives from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Health, the Hellenic Police, the RSI and O.SY.A.E. Road Transport S.A. commented on the issue.
The Sustainable Mobility and Road Safety Committee of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) organized with great success a Meeting on Sustainable Mobility and 30 km/h speed limit in cities, which was held online on 23 October 2025. This Event focused on relevant policy recommendations, supporting Cyprus cities to adopt 30 km/h speed limits. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
Stella Roussou, NTUA PhD Candidate & Researcher, received the Young Researcher Best Paper on Road Safety Award 2025 during the International Congress on Transport Research 2025. The Award is granted jointly by the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE). The award concerned the paper titled: “Predicting Pedestrian Violations in Urban Intersections Using ANOVA and Poisson Regression ”, co-authored by Roberto Ventura, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis.
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. In 2023, the absolute number of fatalities among young people aged 15-17 decreased by 17% between 2013 and 2023 to 474, while the respective number of fatalities among young people aged 18-24 decreased by 32% 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 2023.
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 2023, 6,621 people were killed in a single vehicle crash and the number has increased by 1% in the last decade and amounts to 36% 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 (27%) and nights (15%) compared to other road user fatalities (21% during daytime and 8% at night).
According to the latest statistics released by the European Commission, in 2024 19,940 people lost their lives in road crashes across the EU, representing a 2% decrease compared to 2023. The overall ranking of countries’ fatality rates has not changed significantly, with the safest roads in Sweden and Denmark while Romania and Bulgaria reported the highest fatality rates in 2024. Provisional data for the first six months of 2025 shows mixed trends across Member States. While some countries like Greece, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia are giving positive signals with declining fatalities, others face renewed challenges. These early indicators underscore that road safety requires constant vigilance and sustained effort.
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). This Report showed that in 2023, 27% of all car occupant fatalities were not wearing a seat belt, while the share of car occupant fatalities without a seat belt varied between 14% and 55% among EU countries. Furthermore, 82% of killed powered two-wheelers in 2023 were wearing a helmet on urban roads, compared to 92% on rural roads and 96% on motorways. Moreover, 63% of powered two-wheelers fatalities wearing no helmet were between 25 and 64 years old.
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, 2% and 17% of all road fatalities in the EU in 2023 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 31% and 36% of moped riders and motorcyclists in 2023 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, in 2023 almost one in five of all road fatalities across the EU were pedestrians. The absolute number of pedestrian fatalities fell from 5,285 to 3,690 between 2013 and 2023 (-30%), which is a greater decrease compared to the decrease for the total number of road fatalities (-16%). Furthermore, around 1 in 2 pedestrian fatalities (51%) in 2023 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 2023, 112 motorised micro-mobility device fatalities and 312 pedelec (regular pedelecs as opposed to speed pedelecs) fatalities were recorded in the 17 European countries reporting data on these transport modes. Furthermore, the share of fatalities on motorized micro-mobility devices on urban roads, in crashes where several transport modes are involved, amounts to 70% in 2023, while fatalities on pedelecs are lower with a share of 49% on urban roads. Moreover, 86% of reported fatalities on motorised micro-mobility devices were male, whereas for pedelec fatalities this share is slightly lower amounting to 77%, in 2023.
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 2013 an increase of 1% and since 2019 a decrease of -4%. In 2023, 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 (56%), 43% on rural roads and 1% on motorways. In 2023, 33% of cyclist fatalities occurred at junctions which is twice as high as for other road fatalities (17%).
The NTUA Road Safety Observatory won the Excellence in Road Safety Award of the European Commission – People’s Choice – on 16 October 2025 in Brussels, in recognition for the great impact of the NRSO Campaign promoting 30km/h city-wide speed limits as the key policy for safer, healthier and greener cities. NTUA Prof. George Yannis mentioned that “Robust scientific evidence demonstrates that slower traffic can save thousands of lives in Europe, especially those of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and at NTUA we are excited to contribute with all our efforts and with our 30 Marathons campaign and see more and more cities and countries in Europe adopting the 30km/h city-wide speed limits“. 
The EU Road Safety Exchange Project of the European Commission and the European Parliament drives adoption of proven road safety measures across Europe with the active contribution of NTUA. The EU-funded Project connected road safety experts from 19 European countries to tackle specific road safety challenges, showcase European best practice and implement practical solutions to save lives on their roads. From safer roads in Lithuania to lower speed limits in Greece, the European knowledge-sharing initiative is helping governments turn successful road safety ideas into action, making faster progress toward the EU’s goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) organized with great success the 12th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2025), which took place on 16-18 October 2025 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2025 Congress was “Transportation in the era of Artificial Intelligence“. NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:
NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:
-
A Review of Legal Considerations and Liability Allocation in Connected and Automated Vehicles - Evaluating the Impact of Driving Competitions on Driver Behavior and Safety
- Driver Profiling through Incentive-Based Cluster Analysis in a Naturalistic Driving Study
- A deep and machine learning approach to detect crash risk based on smartphone sensors and in-vehicle cameras
- Quantifying the relationship between task complexity and coping capacity on crash risk: A structural equation modelling approach
- Predicting Pedestrian Violations in Urban Intersections Using ANOVA and Poisson Regression (Young Researcher Best Road Safety Paper Award)
- Physical and psychological long-term consequences of serious traffic injuries: The IMPROVA Project
- Identifying Dangerous Street Segments and Analyzing Traffic Behavior in Athens Using Telematics, Crash Records, and TomTom Traffic Data
- Aggregating Telematics Data for Road Safety Analysis
- Road segmentation made simple: a practical comparison of segmentation models and post-processing techniques
- Optimizing Driving Behavior for Sustainable Mobility: A Systematic Literature Review
- Exploring Safe and Eco Driving Behavior through Large-scale Data using Unsupervised Learning
- A social Cost-Benefit Analysis for the provision of financial incentives and benefits for vehicle insurance policies using telematics
- Mapping Risk: Leveraging Telematics and Machine Learning to Analyze Crash Risks at Urban Intersections
- Risky Behaviours and Safety Perception of Moped Riders and Motorcyclists Globally
- Advancing Sustainable Urban Mobility: A Model-Based Analysis of a Proposed Mobility Card System in Athens and User Acceptance
- Athenian’s Preferences toward Public Space Redistribution
- Evaluating the Impact of Speed Limit Reductions on Greek Motorways: A Cost-Benefit and Acceptance Analysis
- Effects of Fatigue on Driver Behavior in Urban and Highway Environments Using a Driving Simulator
- Alcohol-Impaired Driving: Evaluating Its Impact on Urban Safety and Driver Behavior through Driving Simulator
- Eco-Driving Effectiveness in Reducing Emissions and Crashes in Rural Areas
- Exploring the impact of fuel price on driver harsh behaviour in Greece
- Evaluation of Hybrid Machine Learning Models for Risky Driving Behavior Classification: A Comparative Study Using RNN-AdaBoost, GANs, and XGBoost
- Critical Factors of Safe Micromobility in Greece
- Road Crashes Analysis in Greek Islands
The Council of Ministers of the International Transport Forum (ITF) recently adopted the Policy Recommendation on Comprehensive Road Safety, emphasizing on evidence-based policymaking, improved crash data systems, and risk-based prioritization of interventions where the greatest number of lives can be saved. This Recommendation further calls for safe speed management, stronger compliance and education measures and the accelerated deployment of vehicle safety technologies. ITF also encourages corporate engagement through a Global Road Safety Assessment Framework and highlights the importance of cross-government coordination to achieve lasting safety outcomes and progress toward Vision Zero.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organized with great success its bi-annual Main Council Meeting which was held in Brussels, Belgium on October 15, 2025, where all the latest road safety developments and policies in Europe were discussed. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The University of Twente organized with great success the International Conference on Smart Cycling 2026 followed by the NECTAR Workshop, which took place in Enschede, Netherlands on 25-26 March 2026. The Conference brought together cycling and ITS professionals, policymakers, companies, and researchers from across Europe. Through plenary and parallel sessions, it explored how smart technologies and cycling data can contribute to safer, more sustainable, and more attractive cycling cities.
The European Transport Research Review (ETRR), a leading journal associated with the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) has launched a new Thematic Collection, titled “Shaping Safer Behaviour: Evidence-Based Approaches in Transport Safety Research”. This Thematic Collection focuses on behavioural research in transport safety, highlighting evidence-based approaches to measure, model, and influence road user behaviour as a means to improve safety in evolving urban and technological contexts. It will bring together contributions that apply advanced tools such as Virtual Reality, Machine Learning, behavioural modelling, and simulation to real-world challenges, including the protection of vulnerable road users, the impacts of urban transformation projects, and the monitoring of safety progress through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Overall, this timely and impactful collection aims to spotlight innovative, data-driven strategies that promote safer mobility across Europe and beyond. Submissions are open until 31 March 2026.
The Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) together with the European Union Road Federation (ERF) organized with great success the “Work Zone Safety Symposium“, which was held in Brussels, Belgium on 2-3 February 2026. This Event gathered senior leaders, policymakers, industry and automotive representatives to advance the safety of Europe’s work zones. The Symposium fostered dialogue and delivered practical insights on how to protect workers and road users alike.
The Economist Impact organized with great success the 9th Sustainability Summit for SE Europe & the Mediterranean, which took place in Athens, Greece on 13-14 October 2025. This Event was held under the theme “Seeking a new balance amidst a derailed green transition” and focused on climate action, clean technologies, environmental protections and climate policies. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:
The United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Transport Canada in cooperation with participating ESV member countries are organizing the 28th International Technical Conference on The Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) which will take place in Toronto, Canada, on 12-15 May 2026. The conference will be held under the theme “Advancing Innovation: Technologies for Safer Vehicles”.
The Transport and Mobility Laboratory of EPFL is offering an advance course on Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Individual Behavior and Market Demand, which will take place in Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, on 25-29 January 2026. This one-week Program will be delivered by Prof. Moshe Ben-Akiva and Prof. Michel Bierlaire, undertaking an in-depth study of discrete choice models and their applications. This Course is designed for professionals (from industry and public authorities) and academic researchers (professors, researchers, PhD students), interested in understanding and predicting consumer choices, demand and market share, such as marketing analysts, managers, planners, economists, engineers, operations researchers. Registration is open until 23 January 2026.
The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and the International Transport Forum (ITF) organized with great success the 40th Meeting which took place in Paris, France, on 1-2 October 2025. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. Members and observers from many countries enriched the discussion aimed to improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to road safety data collection and analysis. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:
