Educational staff

To warn road users of a danger on a road section, for instance following an accident, and to divert the traffic in a safe direction, traditionally wind-powered torches made of wax material are used. This solution implies some relevant road safety problems. First, exposure and risks for operators, on one side of being hit by vehicles while torches are placed on the road surface and turned on, on the other side of being wounded by open flames. Furthermore, damage of the asphalt on which torches are placed during use, compromising its useful time, and lack of practicality since they are made of fibrous materials and wax and can’t be extinguished even if no longer needed.
Every year road workers and emergency operators are injured or killed while deploying temporary warning devices in live traffic environments. Flash-Led was conceived to eliminate this exposure by enabling remote deployment of warning systems and significantly improving operator safety.
The present invention relates to a road signalling system aimed to substitute the traditional use of wind-powered torches, allowing an effective signalling of danger and/or obstruction and/or traffic channelling, ensuring the complete operators safety, avoiding infrastructure damages and, furthermore, informing road users through road navigation platforms. The solution includes n. 4 electric movable elements signalling with high visibility LEDs, remotely controlled by an operator from a plurality of possible schemes and arranged in an easily transportable container, which can reports the danger to users through platforms like Google/Waze etc.

Young and inexperienced drivers are a key target group for road safety because safe driving requires more than passing a formal test. It requires understanding rules, recognising risks, building long-term knowledge and applying that knowledge under pressure. Traditional theory education can be limited by fixed course times, uneven learner engagement, fragmented communication and a lack of real-time visibility into individual weaknesses. As a result, some learners only discover knowledge gaps shortly before the exam or after they enter traffic as licensed drivers. DriveHero addresses this challenge by moving the driving school process into a digital, data-supported and learner-centred environment. The platform helps learners prepare more consistently, at their own pace and with targeted support. Its AI assistant, Aurum, provides 24/7 guidance, while analytics and reporting help driving instructors identify where learners need additional explanation or practice. By making learning more personalised, transparent and accessible, DriveHero aims to improve theory knowledge, increase exam readiness and contribute to safer behaviour among new drivers.

The main road safety challenge we address is the lack of clear, objective insight into real-life traffic behaviour around primary schools. These locations concentrate large numbers of vulnerable and inexperienced road users—particularly children—who face increased risks in complex traffic environments. During school peak hours, traffic volumes intensify within a short time frame. Parents arriving by car, combined with cyclists and pedestrians, create congested and often chaotic situations. This leads to unsafe conditions such as unclear routing, risky crossing behaviour, informal parking, and frequent near-misses. A key issue is that traditional traffic data methods—such as counts, surveys or incidental observations—fail to capture the dynamic interactions between different road users. As a result, many risks remain invisible or are only addressed after incidents occur.
In addition, there is often a mismatch between infrastructure, behaviour and organisation. Measures are frequently implemented in isolation, limiting their effectiveness.
We address these challenges by making risks visible before accidents occur, focusing on school environments where improving everyday safety for children has the greatest societal impact.

Hasselt University in Diepenbeek, Belgium, is home to one of the top transport engineering graduate programmes, the Transportation Research Institute (IMOB), and as such, attracts top talent from around the world. Around 80% of international students (713 students at the time) come from outside the European Union; meanwhile, the urban environment around Hasselt’s campus is a complex cycling network reflecting the mature cycling culture in Belgium, wherein the majority of Hasselt students commute by bicycle.

For the 713 students coming from outside the EU, largely from Africa and Asia, this can feel like a culture shock, leading to unsafe road behaviour or avoidance of cycling altogether, despite it typically being the most inexpensive and reliable commuting mode for students. A needs assessment survey to 53 international students found outsized fears around cycling and walking to campus, and pinpointed 14 critically unsafe cycling intersections.

This assessment revealed a need for dedicated orientation sessions for international students on cycling, targeted course materials on the local cycling and pedestrian culture, an awareness campaign, and targeted recommendations for top unsafe intersections around campus. These activities would not only keep students safe, but also support their inclusion and integration into Hasselt’s vibrant student culture.