Car drivers – professional

The main challenge addressed by this practice is the traditional barrier to entry for deep-tech innovation: the need for large, specialized, and expensive development teams. This often slows down a project's ability to adapt and innovate, especially for mission-driven initiatives with limited initial resources.

The primary challenge we address is not a single road safety issue, but the systemic limitation of a reactive mindset. Current technology platforms often create data monopolies, lack interoperability, and are driven by profit motives rather than public interest. This creates a barrier to building a truly integrated, trustworthy, and proactive safety ecosystem that public authorities can rely on and help shape.

The first major challenge was to make this pastoral action known within the Church's own structure in Ourense. The CEE's Road Pastoral Department was created in Spain more than 50 years ago, but in many dioceses, no initiatives are carried out and priests are unaware of it. The surprising thing was that families, communities, and neighbors, as soon as we began working on these initiatives, began to follow us, asking for more action, and feeling supported in the loneliness caused by the loss of a loved one, a friend, a neighbor, or a car accident. Every year, the number of people participating in the scheduled sessions increases.

Our initiative addresses critical road safety challenges that are often overlooked in traditional driver education. Most driving schools focus on basic vehicle operation, but not on real-life risk anticipation, distraction management, or defensive mindset.

Key problems tackled by our VR Defensive Driving System include:

Driver distraction, especially due to smartphones and infotainment systems

Poor anticipation of traffic risks, particularly in urban and mixed traffic

Lack of situational awareness and understanding of the “big picture” around the vehicle

Insufficient consideration for other road users, including vulnerable groups

Specific risks related to pedestrians and cyclists, especially in city environments

Our project empowers drivers of all ages and experience levels to build mental habits that keep them and others safe – by learning to observe more, react earlier, and drive smarter.

Nextop Co-pilot is an intelligent driving assistant app designed to enhance road safety and operational efficiency for professional drivers. It operates fully offline using preloaded routes and special geofences to deliver real-time, on-edge audio alerts—no network connection required.

By combining GPS tracking with customizable geofence zones, the app provides precise voice guidance about critical road segments, including dangerous curves, steep downhills, speed limits, obstacle zones, and other risk areas. Fleet operators can personalize messages per route or region, offering context-aware advice that improves driver awareness and decision-making.

The solution also integrates vehicle health data, enabling real-time alerts for issues like overheating, brake wear, or system warnings—helping to prevent breakdowns and improve maintenance planning.

All processing happens directly on the device, ensuring fast, reliable alerts even in remote areas. Designed for fleets and logistics operations, Nextop Co-pilot empowers drivers with the information they need, exactly when they need it—boosting safety, compliance, and route efficiency.

One of the key challenges in modern road safety is ensuring that driver assistance systems (ADAS) function reliably and accurately in real-world conditions. Among these, the Speed Limit Information Functions (SLIF), which display the current speed limit to the driver, are critical to encouraging compliant and safe driving behavior.

However, if these systems display incorrect or outdated speed information, drivers may unintentionally drive too fast or too slow for the road conditions, increasing the risk of collisions, fines, and public distrust in vehicle technology.

IVEX has developed an innovative platform that enables vehicle manufacturers and consumer testing organizations like Euro NCAP to objectively evaluate how well these systems perform on real roads, not just in simulations or controlled environments.

By enabling large-scale, real-world testing and providing quantifiable performance insights, IVEX helps:

- Manufacturers improve the reliability of their ADAS systems,
- Regulators and safety organizations set smarter standards,
- Consumers make informed decisions about the safety of their vehicles.

Ultimately, IVEX's solution contributes to:
- higher transparency,
- better engineering,
- fewer speed-related accidents.

Helping advancing Europe’s Vision Zero goals and making roads safer for everyone.

TyreSafe is addressing the critical issue of tyre-related road casualties by equipping all road users with the knowledge to identify and act on poorly maintained or illegal tyres. Our mission follows the Safe System approach, recognising human error and injury tolerances, and aims to eliminate harm through education, engineering, and enforcement. TyreSafe’s focus is on reducing incidents caused by poor tyre maintenance, illegal tread depth, under-inflation, and other defects. Research consistently shows tyres are one of the most neglected safety components. Data from our 2023 Tread Depth Survey revealed over 6 million tyres are replaced annually when already illegal. A 2022 post-collision investigation revealed that 81% of vehicles involved in incidents had tyre defects. Despite this, under-reporting in Police collisions data, Stats19, limits national awareness. TyreSafe’s campaigns, research and stakeholder engagement address this knowledge gap. We work with government, emergency services, tyre industry and other road safety groups to increase understanding and action. TyreSafe’s vision is zero harm from tyre defects on UK roads. By raising awareness, influencing behaviour and advocating for better data and enforcement, we aim to instil long-term change and reduce preventable tyre-related collisions and casualties.

Children and young people (till 25 years old) make up 41% of the world’s population (United Nations, 2024) and about 25% of this age group is represented in the EU population (Eurostat, 2024). They are an active group, often dependent on public space for movement and social interaction. Yet, that public space is not designed with them in mind, nor does it reflect their world and needs. This has consequences. Every day in Flanders, an average of 10 students (aged 3 to 18) are involved in traffic crashes on their way to school (VIAS Institute, 2019–2023). Over 60% of those victims were walking or cycling. In Europe there were still 455 fatalities amongst children and 2 388 fatalities amongst youth which shows that mobility is not yet inclusive, safe and of high quality for all.
Poorly adapted public space brings dangers and challenges, but it also has more subtle barriers. Children and young people are becoming increasingly less physically active. Regular movement is however essential for both their physical and mental health. One way to encourage this movement is by promoting walking and cycling from an early stage and at a young age.
Inadequate public space also negatively affects the independence of children and young people. About a quarter of students in Flanders are driven by car even for short trips between home and school. That’s unfortunate, because travelling independently helps children learn how to navigate their environment, assess risks, and interact with other road users. This builds confidence and equips them with the skills—and the right—to travel alone.