Athanasios Theofilatos has successfully defended his PhD thesis titled: An advanced multi-faceted statistical analysis of accident probability and severity exploiting high resolution traffic and weather data. This PhD thesis was carried out at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens under the supervision of Prof. George Yannis. The objective of this PhD thesis is the investigation of accident probability and severity exploiting high resolution traffic and weather data from urban roads and motorways, collected on a real-time basis, with specific focus on Powered-Two-Wheelers. For that purpose, an advanced mesoscopic multi-faceted statistical analysis was conducted in order to expand previous road safety work and contribute to the further understanding of the complexity of accident probability and severity. Linear and non-linear models were developed on the basis of 6-year accident data from urban roads as well as an urban motorway in Greater Athens area (Attica Tollway). Empirical findings indicate that high resolution traffic and weather data are capable of opening new dimensions in accident analysis in urban roads and urban motorways. The multi-faceted statistical analysis conducted in the thesis has revealed a consistent and strong impact of traffic parameters on accident probability and severity. It is interesting that weather parameters were not found to influence accident probability and severity when linear relationships are considered, however, the application of cusp catastrophe models demonstrated that it is likely that even small traffic and weather changes may have a critical impact on road safety in urban roads as sudden transitions from safe to unsafe conditions (and vice versa) may occur, especially for PTW traffic. 

A Diploma Thesis titled ‘Correlation of traffic characteristics with road accident severity and probability‘ was presented by Apostolos Ziakopoulos in March 2013. Data concerning the road accidents occurred on Kifisias Avenue in Athens, Greece, during the period 2006 – 2010 were collected from the ELSTAT database with disaggregate data. Subsequently, traffic data (volume, speed, occupation) were obtained from the Traffic Management Centre of Athens. For the analysis, logistic regression mathematical models were developed. The application of these models indicates that road accident severity is correlated with the logarithm of traffic density, the type of vehicle and the type of accident. When data are separated in two groups of peak and off-peak hour accidents, the parameter of traffic density is the only one appearing to be statistically significant. Furthermore, traffic volume is the only parameter found with a statistically significant impact on accident probability. 

The Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers organised in the 9th of February a seminar for the traffic issues of the Attica Municipalities. NTUA presented “Measures and policies for the reduction of accidents at the urban road network – successful  interventions”. 

In August 2010, UNECE published the report “Consolidated Resolution on Road Traffic”. Since 1947, road safety has been one of UNECE’s major concerns and for its Working Party on Road Trafic Safety, in particular. The Resolution contributes to road safety by encouraging safer operation and use of the road traffic system across borders. In this context, this document is considered to be a contribution by UNECE to improve road safety worldwide which also complements the activities of its global partners.   

The 12th World Conference on Transport Research was held in Lisbon, Portugal. At the road safety sessions quite a few interesting papers were presented, some of them concerning research carried out by NTUA.

NTUA road safety presentations concerned:

  Modelling Intelligent Speed Adaptation

  Road infrastructure and Safety of Power Two Wheelers

  Pedestrian gap acceptance for mid-block street crossing

  Cell phone use and traffic characteristics

  Comparative analysis of junction safety in Europe

In November 2008, UNECE published the first edition of the Transport Review, dedicated on road safety. Transport, especially road traffic safety, is the area in which global cooperation is inevitable as hundreds of millions of people who travel on the roads every day take a risk. The risk include excessive speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, failure to use seat-belts and helmets, poorly designed or insuffi ciently maintained road infrastructure, and the use of vehicles that are old, poorly maintained or lacking safety feature. People’s safety must be preserved and improved. This can be achieved through the concerted eff orts of several players, public and non-governmental alike. Even though certain achievements are obvious, further improvements should be made.