Provision of research data to public authorities to inform road safety policies

Initiative details

Optimization of policy decisions and road user choices is based on advanced analyses of reliable crash, exposure and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) data. The mission of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) Road Safety Observatory (http://www.nrso.ntua.gr/) is to support the Greek and the International Road Safety Community by providing openly current key road safety knowledge and data, which are gathered, analysed and organised within the research activities of the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens, as well as within co-operations with various national and international Road Safety Organisations. Road safety is a typical field where important investments are not always bringing quick and/or the desired results. The major objective of the NTUA Road Safety Observatory is to openly, continuously and dynamically support the road safety decision makers and stakeholders (public and private) at all levels (local, regional, national, international) with updated knowledge and data in order to identify the appropriate road safety policies, programmes and measures for the significant reduction of the number of road accidents and of the related casualties in Greece, in Europe and worldwide. NRSO is continuously investing into systematic production and open dissemination of scientific road safety knowledge as well as into the support of road safety activities beyond Europe with emphasis on least performing regions (Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin America), proving its quote: "Road Safety everywhere and for all". NRSO activities in summary are available at: https://www.nrso.ntua.gr/geyannis/wp-content/uploads/geyannis-cp466-6.pdf https://www.nrso.ntua.gr/ntua-innovation-in-road-safety-research-workshop-online-may-2021/. The target audience is all road safety decision makers and stakeholders (public and private) at all levels (local, regional, national, international).


Initiative date

to

Who was/is your target audience?

Policy makers
Public authorities

Topic

Create awareness

Organisation details

The NTUA Road Safety Observatory (NRSO)
School / Research centre
Greece
Athens

Contact name

GEORGE YANNIS

Telephone number

+30.210.7721326

Website

Project activities

If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.

NRSO is contributing extensively in several projects and scientific committees of the European Commission and other International Organisations (UN-ECE, WHO, ITF, World Bank, EIB, CEDR, ERF, IRF, FEHRL, ECTRI, UITP, ETSC, WCTR, TRB). Furthermore, NRSO cooperates and supports tens of Ministries, Authorities, Industries, Technology Groups, Research Institutes, Universities, NGOs involved in road safety in Europe and globally. More details are available at: https://www.nrso.ntua.gr/ https://www.nrso.ntua.gr/geyannis/wp-content/uploads/geyannis-cp466-6.pdf

Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.

The NRSO is continuously investing into systematic production and dissemination of scientific knowledge as well as into the development of several key road safety decision support and information systems. The Knowledge and Data Systems are key important innovative NRSO contributions to the global road safety community since they support decision makers and stakeholders all over the world and have contributed significantly in designing and implementing successful road safety policies, programmes and measures which led to the very significant decrease of the number of accidents and related casualties in Europe during the last decades. The highly innovative road safety decision support and information systems developed by the NRSO members concern: • ERSO - The European Road Safety Observatory of the European Commission • SaferAfrica - The African Road Safety Observatory • SafetyCube - European Road Safety Decision Support System • SafeFITS - UNECE Global Road Safety Model • PRACT - The CEDR Road Safety APM and CMF Repository.

Evaluation

What has been the effect of the activities?

NRSO, as a center of research and innovation excellence on road safety, has a widespread recognition at the global road safety community, having received during the last 10 years more than 150.000 road safety visitors and more than 2.800.000 visits (today steadily more than 3.000 visits per month). During 2020, related social media posts received more than 160.000 views. The highly interesting monthly NRSO newsletter (www.nrso.ntua.gr/nrso-newsletters) is received systematically since 2007 by almost 4.500 experts and stakeholders in the field of road safety in Europe and worldwide. Most importantly, the wealth and high value of NRSO contents are evaluated and demonstrated by the fact that NRSO contents appear very high in every road safety related internet search by most search engines (e.g. google). Furthermore, NRSO scientific output is ranked 2nd in Europe and 6th worldwide according to a recent study.

Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.

The contribution of a road safety observatory to saving lives on the road can only be indirect. However, this contribution is considered highly significant as it supports decisions at all levels, including the highest political commitment, which in turn have a great direct impact on saving massively lives on the road. Scientific evidence, guides road safety decisions of the authorities and the industry and supports building capacity and motivating all people involved on road safety management at all levels. Under this perspective, NRSO contribution in reducing road fatalities during the last 17 years is very significant, especially in Europe, the principal area of NRSO activities. NRSO together with its network of authorities, institutes and experts were key contributors to driving change, building capacity and changing road safety culture in Europe and the blatant reduction of road fatalities since 2004 can certainly co-attributed to them.

How have you shared information about your project and its results?

Visit links.