NTUA organized with great success the “Researcher’s Night” science fair, which took place in Athens, Greece on 26 September 2025. The IVORY project was showcased in this Event, presenting its overall research goals and activities to young students from primary and secondary schools, as well as fellow NTUA and Athens university researchers and faculty. In parallel, the NTUA IVORY DCs had the opportunity to engage with visitors and present their individual doctoral research progress, with several contributions    :

• Julia Porto – Proactive risk mapping and infrastructure safety management
• Aristotelis Tsoutsanis – Data fusion of traffic, behaviour & infrastructure for holistic driver assistance
• Simone Paradiso – AI for road safety monitoring and crash prediction from micro- to macro levels
• Aristotelis Styanidis – Road safety prediction on the basis of ethically sound physiological measurements

The European Association for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (EuroSafe) in cooperation with the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) and LaHeRS organized with great success the EU Safety 2025 Conference which took place in Heraklion, Greece on 1-2 October 2025. This conference aimed to strengthen the field of injury prevention and safety promotion in Europe by facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge and enabling networking opportunities for researchers, safety organisations and academics.  NTUA actively contributed with the following papers and presentations:

•   Leveraging Smartphone Telematics for Urban Traffic Safety: A Data-Driven Analysis of Unsafe Driving Events and Crash Risk
•   Machine Learning-Based Categorization of Central Roads in Athens Using Crash Risk Analysis
•  Current State of Road Safety in Greece: Existing Deficiencies and Urgently Needed Interventions

SAFER Vehicle in cooperation with Chalmers University of Technology, Université Gustave Eiffel and University of New South Wales Sydney are organizing the 10th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2026), which will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden on 20-22 October 2026. This Conference is the primary international event on this topic, attracting delegates from more than 20 countries. It is designed to bring participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 15 March 2026. 

The WHO Mortality Database was updated in February 2025, incorporating the latest mortality and population data reported by Member States. It is a comprehensive compilation of mortality data reported annually through civil registration and vital statistics systems. The database is the leading global source for comparative epidemiological studies of mortality by cause and provides access to cause-of-death data from 1950 to the present. It is accompanied by a visualization portal that enhances accessibility, impact and relevance by allowing users to explore and export data in multiple formats. The mortality data are organized according to revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), with detailed data available from ICD-7, ICD-8, ICD-9, and ICD-10. For the purposes of road safety research, the database provides information on the number of deaths due to road traffic crashes, the road fatality rate per 100,000 population, and the percentage of road traffic crash deaths out of total deaths, enabling robust monitoring and analysis of this major public health issue.  

NTUA organized with great success a Workshop on presenting the results of the NTUA Basic Research Programme , which took place in Athens on 30 September 2025. This Event aimed to strengthen and promote new research and make better use of existing research potential in areas of basic research at NTUA.  The NTUA Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering  contributed actively with the following presentation:

• Exploring the relationship between unsafe traffic events and crash occurrence

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) in cooperation with AISCAT organized with great success the 4th ASECAP Sustainability Forum which will be held in Rome, Italy on 15 December 2025. This year’s discussions addressed key issues, including: sustainability reporting and climate risk management, building resilient and carbon-free road infrastructure and innovation and circular economy in the toll road sector.  

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 2013 and 2023 by 28% to 429 fatalities in 2023, while the short-term change from 2019 to 2023 is a decline of 12%. The relative share remained constant throughout this time at just over 2% of all EU fatalities.  

NTUA Professor George Yannis has given an invited lecture at the Faculty of Transport Engineering of Vilnius Tech on “Artificial Intelligence in Road Safety and Mobility” on September 12th 2025. The Lecture focused on recent advancements and practical applications of artificial intelligence in enhancing road safety and mobility and also explored how AI-driven solutions can be tailored to meet diverse and evolving transportation needs.  

The 2025 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI) Europe Conference was held with great success in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 10-12 September 2025. The IRCOBI Conference focused on the avoidance and reduction of injuries related to road-traffic collisions, with particular emphasis on advanced safety technologies. The safety aspects of automated driving and the influence of vehicle and equipment design on injury outcomes were also discussed.  NTUA actively contributed with the following papers:

• •   Predicting pedestrian illegal crossing using vehicle dynamics with LightGBM
  •   Analyzing Hard Braking events of Automated Shuttles from Naturalistic Urban Pilot Sites

The NTUA Road Safety Observatory (www.nrso.ntua.gr) achieved its 20 years of continuous efforts towards scientific evidence in decision making for safer roads everywhere and for all. The nrso scientific team with high dedication, efficiency and expertise continues to grow and excel, with a rich and high quality scientific output of more than 1,000 road safety scientific Papers published (280+ in peer reviewed journals), hundreds of scientific Reports, 750+ presentations in scientific conferences, almost 200 Diploma Theses and 20 PhD dissertations. Over the past two decades, the NRSO portal has steadily expanded its contents, reach, visibility and impact, containing today more than 2.500 road safety items (25+ items per month), attracting over 100,000 pageviews annually, through its wide network of hundreds of Authorities, Research, Industry and Society partners worldwide and the 157 newsletters so far, reaching monthly more than 7.500 road safety experts worldwide. With great thanks to the NRSO dedicated scientists and all our great partners, the exciting journey towards scientific excellence continues … 

The International Road Federation (IRF) released the 62nd edition of the IRF World Road Statistics 2025 (WRS2025), with data open to all for free through the IRF WRS Data Warehouse platform, thanks to the generous support of the TotalEnergies Foundation and Michelin Corporate Foundation. The IRF WRS 2025 continues to be the major comprehensive, universal source of statistical data on road networks, traffic and inland transport, including traffic crashes. This year the WRS 2025 includes the latest data covering years 2018 to 2023, with the active contribution of NTUA for the Greek data. It includes over 200 road and transport-sector related indicators across 11 sections, covering more than 200 countries and territories. 

A paper titled Advancing traffic microsimulation: a systematic review of parameter selection for connected and autonomous vehicles authored by Maria G. Oikonomou, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis has been published in Journal of Simulation. This paper presents a systematic review of 54 studies to consolidate key parameters for modelling Autonomous Vehicles and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles in traffic microscopic simulations. The integration of CAV is anticipated to transform transportation by enhancing traffic flow, safety and system efficiency. By comparing them to those used for human-driven vehicles, valuable insights are provided, including statistical summaries and boxplots, to inform the enhancement of simulation models. The findings provide a resource for researchers, supporting direct integration and refinement of AV/CAV parameters to improve the accuracy and reliability of future traffic simulations. 

NTUA conducted recently a research study aiming to capture Greek drivers acceptance and perceptions of the new Greek Road Traffic Code. This online questionnaire-based study exploited a sample of 400 participants inside and 400 participants outside Attica Region investigating general driving information, opinions and perceptions about the new Road Traffic Code. 42% of the participants consider the new fines for traffic violations to be fair and necessary, while 56%-63% of the participants inside/outside Attica consider the 30 km/h city-wide speed limit beneficial. 

ERTICO is organizing the 17th ITS European Congress which will be held, in Istanbul on 27-29 April 2026 under the theme “Bridging Innovation: Integrated, safe and seamless mobility”. Over the years, the European Congresses have offered a platform for thought leaders, developers, entrepreneurs and decision makers from the transport, logistics and IT industries to share ideas and progress smart and sustainable mobility. Programme can be found here.  

The Horizon Europe research project IMPROVA has recently released its 2nd Newsletter, focusing on enhancing road safety by addressing the complexities of long-term consequences (LTC) caused by road traffic crashes. In its first year, IMPROVA has made significant strides in understanding and assessing the LTC of road traffic crashes. These actions align with our core research questions and lay the foundation for innovative tools, methodologies and policy recommendations. 

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 65 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 2023 30% of senior fatalities were pedestrians, while 16% were cyclists.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) Facts and Figures Report which refers to lorries under 3.5 tonnes. Throughout the observation period (2013-2023), the share of fatalities in crashes involving LGVs among all road fatalities ranged between 10% to 12% and about 3% of all road fatalities were LGV occupants. Looking at the EU, the number of fatalities in crashes involving LGVs decreased by 9%, comparing 2019 and 2023. The development of the number of fatalities in LGV crashes throughout the years varies across European countries, with Northern and Central European countries having a lower share of fatalities in LGV crashes in the total number of road fatalities than countries in Southern and Southeastern Europe.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Gender Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities on European roads distributed by gender. According to this Report, in 2023, the share of males among fatally injured road users was 77% male versus 23% of female fatalities within the EU countries.  The ratio of male to female fatalities has been stable between 2013 and 2023. Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Belgium have a share of male fatalities of 80% or higher. The absolute number of male fatalities has decreased by 15% in the period 2013-2023 and the number of female fatalities by 20% in the same time period.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory the Car Occupants Facts and Figures Report which refers to car drivers as well as car passengers (front or rear seat). According to this report, the total number of car occupant fatalities in the EU27 2023 were  9,007 and has decreased by 11% since 2019. Furthermore, 81% of fatally injured car drivers are men, with the highest rates in single vehicle crashes being recorded for the age group 20 to 24 years old. Remarkable is that two thirds of car occupant fatalities in the EU occurred on rural 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 2023, 13% 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.  The most fatalities in 2023 were recorded in Germany (456), France (387) and Poland (304) and the fewest in Luxembourg (3) and Slovenia (15) having continuous numbers throughout the time period. Moreover, it is remarkable that female share in fatalities in crashes involving buses/coaches (31%) is remarkably higher than the respective share in crashes involving HGVs and all crashes (23%).  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “The impact of physical fitness on road safety and driver behaviour on rural roads” was recently presented by Marina Karachalia. An experimental procedure involving 46 participants aged 19–27 was conducted. The participants were evaluated in terms of their cardiorespiratory fitness through the Maximal Oxygen Uptake index (VO₂max) and their self-reported fitness habits and they were classified into two groups: high fitness and low fitness. The data was analyzed using linear and logistic regression models. Results suggest that high-fitness drivers have longer reaction times, greater variability in headway distance, higher average speeds, and, conversely, a lower probability of road accident involvement. Overall, higher physical fitness appears to be associated with more stable and controlled driving behavior, which, despite the increased reaction time, may contribute to reduced accident risk through improved decision-making.  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of Illegal Pedestrian Crossings in the Center of Athens” was recently presented by Marianthi Alverti. For this purpose a Stated Preference (SP) survey was structured in order to examine decision-making scenarios based on varying conditions of travel time, perceived crash risk, and personal comfort, with a dataset of of 212 responses. The analysis exploited binary logistic regression to examine the likelihood of illegal crossing, and generalized linear model to investigate the trade-offs pedestrians make between safety, time, and convenience given three different scenarios of camera use, traffic light with timer, and the baseline scenario to choose from. The models highlight the influence of time pressure, traffic conditions, and social components on individual decisions. The findings aim to showcase the importance of pedestrian decisions to prevent the likelihood of a road crash and, in this way, support more behavior-aware policy design, ultimately contributing to safer urban mobility systems.  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Investigation of Non-Compliant Pedestrian Crossings at Signalized Intersections Using Computer Vision Techniques” was recently presented by Natalia Mirogianni. To achieve this objective, an advanced video-based detection algorithm using data collected from a high-traffic intersection in Omonoia Square, in Athens was utilized. The dataset included detailed pedestrian and vehicle coordinates and speed characteristics, signal timing, and time-to-collision metric. The analysis consisted logistic regression, random forest classification, and point-biserial correlation to identify significant predictors of non-compliant behaviour and also to compare the effectiveness of the manual field and computer vision algorithm results. The findings contribute to the understanding of pedestrian violations and offer valuable insights for future implementation of automated monitoring systems and policy interventions for safer crosswalks.  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “The impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on road safety with use of simulation”  was recently presented by Aikaterini Kalliakoudi. For this purpose an analysis based on simulation data derived from nine scenarios implemented in the city center of Athens was conducted. Additionally, traffic and geometric characteristics of the locations where the conflicts occurred were documented. The statistical analysis was carried out through the development of three models: two multiple linear regression models and one multinomial logistic regression model. The results indicated that the influencing factors for the above variables are related both to traffic composition (e.g., vehicle types) and infrastructure characteristics (e.g., speed limit, capacity). Furthermore, the increase in AV/CAV penetration in the network was found to have a positive impact on road safety, significantly reducing the number of vehicle conflicts.  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Factors Influencing Speed Limit Violations on Athens Road Network” was recently presented by Daphne Kyprouli. For this reason data collected by OSeven Telematics and OpenStreetMaps, which includes information such as road geometry indicators, safety measurements and driving behavior metrics were utilized. The analysis consisted statistical models and machine learning algorithms  aiming to predict speeding violations and understand the factors influencing them, with overall ten models created. The results demonstrated that speeding has a statistically significant correlation with various variables and improving driving behavior will consequently lead to a reduction of road crashes. The main factors affecting the likelihood of speeding in the examined road sections are the number of trips, the road section length and the percentage of mobile phone use, while slopes presented the least impact.  

A NTUA Diploma Thesis titled “Critical factors of self reported behaviour and safety of electric scooter users in Europe” was recently presented by Ibabi Hasim. For this reason statistical models were utilized in order to analyze the factors that lead electric scooter users to engage in dangerous driving behaviors, based on data from the third edition of the international ESRA survey (E-Survey on Road Users’ Attitudes). Findings highlight the importance of factors such as the acceptance of risky behaviors, the existence of legislation, the level of urbanization, and age. Furthermore, mandatory helmet use and stricter rules prove to be particularly effective in reducing violations. Finally, some proposals are provided that could improve the road safety of electric scooter users, such as strengthening the legal framework, stricter enforcement, and infrastructure improvement.  

The Horizon Europe research project CulturalRoad has recently released the CulturalRoad 2^nd Newsletter, which provides information on the latest outcomes of the EU-funded CulturalRoad Project aiming to develop innovative methodologies to ensure the equitable deployment of Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility (CCAM) services. This version of the Newsletter announced the release of the Project’s first animated video, a perfect way to learn more about the Project, by presenting its vision for more equitable, inclusive and connected mobility. It also emphasizes on the five key pillars of mobility equity and the Five-Pointed Rating Star System, designed to evaluate the level of equity of CCAM systems within their specific environments. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Rural Areas Facts and Figures Report which refers to public roads outside urban boundary signs, excluding motorways. In 2023, 53% of all road fatalities in the EU27 occurred on rural roads. In the last decade between 2013 and 2023, the number of fatalities on rural roads decreased by 16%, compared to a 15% decrease on other roads (urban roads and motorways). Remarkable is that car occupants make up more than half (56%) of all fatalities on rural roads. The share of fatalities on rural roads is proportionally higher during the daytime at the weekend and lower at nighttime on working weeks.  

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of Cyprus organized a Meeting on the implementation of 20/30 km/h speed limit zones in urban areas which took place online, on 25 July 2025. This Event brought together representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and Municipalities of Cyprus to discuss relevant policy recommendations, supporting Cyprus initiative to adopt 20/30 km/h speed limits nationwide. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Benefits of the 30km/h speed limit in cities

Dimitris Nikolaou, Eva Michelaraki, Armira Kontaxi, Julia Roussou, Maria G. Oikonomou, Marios Sekadakis and Stella Roussou, Research Associates of the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of NTUA were awarded with the NTUA Thomaidion Award for outstanding road safety publications in scientific journals. The Awards for publications in Scientific Journals concerned:

• Nikolaou D., Ziakopoulos A. & Yannis G. (2023) A Review of Surrogate Safety Measures Uses in Historical Crash Investigations, Sustainability, 15(9). 
• Michelaraki E., Katrakazas C., Kaiser S., Brijs T. & Yannis G. (2023) Real-time monitoring of driver distraction: state-of-the-art and future insights, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Volume 193. 
• Kontaxi A., Tzoutzoulis D., Ziakopoulos A. & Yannis G. (2023) Exploring speeding behavior using naturalistic car driving data from smartphones, Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering,10(6). 
• Nikolaou D., Ziakopoulos A., Dragomanovits A., Roussou J. & Yannis G. (2023) Comparing Machine Learning Techniques for Predictions of Motorway Segment Crash Risk Level, Safety, Volume 9(2), Issue 32. 
• Oikonomou G. M., Ziakopoulos A., Chaudhry A., Thomas P. & Yannis G. (2023) From conflicts to crashes: Simulating macroscopic connected and automated driving vehicle safety, Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 187. 
• Sekadakis M., Katrakazas C., Michelaraki E., Ziakopoulos A. & Yannis G. (2023) COVID-19 and driving behavior: Which were the most crucial influencing factors, Data Science for Transportation, 16(5).  
• Roussou S., Garefalakis T., Michelaraki E., Katrakazas C., Adnan M., Khattak M., Brijs T. & Yannis G. (2023) Examination of the Effect of Task Complexity and Coping Capacity on Driving Risk: A Cross-Country and Transportation Mode Comparative Study, Sensors 2023, 23(24).