Emergency services

In Valladolid, one of the main road safety challenges we identified was the safety of children on school routes, especially at intersections with high vehicle flow and limited visibility. Traditional pedestrian crossings, marked only by paint, often fail to capture drivers’ attention — particularly during early morning or late afternoon hours when light conditions are poor, and traffic is dense.

Children, due to their smaller size and unpredictable behavior, are among the most vulnerable road users. Despite the presence of static signage, many drivers fail to reduce speed near school zones, and pedestrians, especially children, faced heightened risks when crossing.

We addressed this issue by implementing the Retrolight System®, an innovative smart crosswalk solution with embedded LED panels and intelligent vertical signage, in one of Valladolid’s key school routes. The system uses real-time sensors to detect pedestrians’ intention to cross and activates dynamic lighting both on the ground and in vertical signs, immediately alerting approaching drivers. By combining active visual cues with automated detection, the system significantly improves pedestrian visibility, raises driver awareness, and ultimately reduces crossing-related risks. This project serves as a replicable model for enhancing safety on school routes across urban environments.

Due to the specific characteristics of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship — extensive forested areas, type of the road infrastructure, and the predominance of single-carriageway, two-way roads — we record a higher-than-average number of severe traffic incidents compared to the national average. These include collisions with wild animals, crashes into roadside trees, and head-on vehicle collisions. Statistically, these are the leading causes of fatal accidents in our region. If we were able to reduce the number of such incidents to the national average, then — considering the number of fatalities — we would have a real chance of becoming the safest voivodeship in Poland. We recognize the need for infrastructural improvements: traffic separation, reducing the number of potentially hazardous objects within the road zone, and, equally important, the need to change driver behavior. Excessive speed is a common factor contributing to accidents, which we, as the Police, strive to address through monitoring and speed enforcement. However, we believe that effective educational initiatives can bring measurable improvements in road user awareness and, in turn, lead to meaningful changes in behavior on the road.

Road crashes is a major societal problem worldwide, especially in cities where pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are highly exposed and vulnerable in case of a collision. The new policy of city-wide 30 km/h speed limit is intended to ensure vulnerable road users’ safety accounting for 70% of deaths in road crashes in urban areas in Europe.

Scientists urge continuously for lower speeds; however, speeding remains a model and sought behaviour among most drivers and riders, especially the young. The voices of vulnerable road users for less speeding remain weak towards our long-established car and speed-centred societies.

The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) launched the innovative and original 30 Marathons in 30 months campaign (www.georgeruns30x30.com), aimed at promoting city-wide 30 km/h speed limit in all cities worldwide, as a key policy for safer, healthier and greener cities for all. The NTUA campaign was implemented by the internationally renowned NTUA Professor George Yannis, who is ranked 2nd in Europe and 9th worldwide in road safety science, and supported by the NTUA Road Safety Observatory (https://www.nrso.ntua.gr), a Centre of Research and Innovation Excellence on road safety with global recognition.

This impactful campaign represents a major shift towards a more human-centred approach to urban planning, where people are at the heart of design decisions.

More and more trucks on our roads means that the potential for dangerous incidents involving trucks is on the rise. Society’s demand for delivered goods has continued to increase. The net effect is a prediction that global freight demand will treble between 2015 and 2050 (ITF, 2019). Heavy trucks are likely to become more and not less important. Currently, heavy trucks comprise only 1.5% of vehicles on Europe's roads, yet they are responsible for almost 15% of all EU road fatalities. Vision Zero cannot be reached without tackling the challenges presented by trucks on our roads. Euro NCAP believes that fleet managers have the greatest opportunity to make changes on the road and to the safety of their fleets because usually their procurement orders are significant.

Euro NCAP’s new Safer Truck programme looks at a heavy vehicle’s ability to prevent, react, and deal with a possible accident, for example, considering the fitment of technologies for occupant monitoring and safety assistance, as well as good vision. Euro NCAP considers diverse types of scenarios in a collision: frontal, lane departure, and low-speed manoeuvring. Euro NCAP also wants to convince businesses of the economic viability of delivering safety to their fleets, which will lower the number of truck accidents whilst lowering the loss and costs for businesses.

Drivers often find themselves in unexpected situations where the appearance of an emergency vehicle causes anxiety and uncertainty. A wrong decision in such a moment can lead to an accident or delay, which in turn may affect the efficiency of rescue operations or even the chance to save lives. The mission of the project is to help prevent such situations by providing drivers with clear and practical guidelines on how to act in these high-stress moments.

In addition to its practical value, the project also has a broader societal goal — to improve traffic culture and make it safer not only for everyday road users but also for professional drivers such as rescuers, paramedics, and police officers. When all road users understand the importance of emergency vehicles and know how to respond consistently, the entire traffic system functions more effectively. This contributes to creating a safe and considerate traffic environment where people feel responsible not only for their own safety but also for the safety of others.

Low Awareness and Misuse of Child Restraint Systems (CRS)
Despite legislation requiring child car seats, many children in Romania travel unrestrained or improperly secured. The event highlights the importance of proper CRS selection and installation, using crash simulations and expert demonstrations to correct misconceptions and promote evidence-based practices (e.g., extended rear-facing travel).

High Risk Among Young and Inexperienced Drivers
Adolescents and newly licensed drivers are overrepresented in serious road crashes due to inexperience, distraction (especially smartphone use), alcohol or drug influence, and fatigue. The event uses VR simulations and interactive sessions to show real consequences, helping young drivers internalize the impact of their decisions behind the wheel.

Vulnerable Road Users: Pedestrians and Cyclists
Children and teens are especially vulnerable as pedestrians and cyclists, often due to low visibility, risky crossings, and lack of road safety education. Through distorted-vision simulations (alcohol, cannabis, fatigue), the event raises empathy and awareness about the fragility of vulnerable road users and the need for responsible behaviour from all traffic participants.

Parental Misconceptions and Risk Normalization
Many parents underestimate the consequences of everyday traffic choices—such as holding a child in their lap or disabling safety systems for comfort. Our activities directly engage parents through emotional storytelling, live demonstrations, and one-on-one safety consultations.

Lack of Intersectoral Collaboration in Road Safety Education
Road safety is often treated in silos (e.g., enforcement without education). This event brings together NGOs, emergency services, police, international road safety experts, and civil society in a unified effort to educate, engage, and empower local communities.

Gaps in Road Safety Education in Schools and Public Campaigns
Formal education on road safety is inconsistent and often outdated. Our project develops modern, engaging, and scalable tools (e.g., VR technology, interactive workshops) that can be replicated in schools and youth programs.

According to the data from the European Commission, in 2023 Bulgaria is ranked first in casualties in the Road safety statistics in the EU. In previous years we were second after Romania, which shows that an already bad situation is getting worse.

Over the last 20 years, almost 20,000 people have died and more than 220,000 have been injured, which worsens the demographic problems facing Bulgaria, which ranks first also in the world in terms of population decline!

It is self-evident that road accidents can never be fully eliminated. As normal people and drivers, we accept them as inevitability when they happen due to unforeseeable factors such as infrastructure deficiencies, drivers’ sudden health issue, a person unexpectedly jumping out onto the road, etc.
However, we cannot accept that for decades Bulgarian children and young people have been brutally executed by drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs, by ones driving over the speed limit and by such driving with blatant disregard for the law and the safety of self and others! Most of them are habitual offenders who have previously committed dozens or even hundreds of traffic violations and even accidents without being sanctioned at all! If they had been held accountable by the law, our children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters and cousins would not have been killed! Even after the road killings, such people often receive either suspended sentences or minimal actual imprisonment and then they continue with their criminal behaviour! These kind of sentences are pronounced for tragic accidents in which between 1 and 6 children and young people are killed!

In the Maritime Neighbourhoud of Molenbeek, we identified multiple road safety barriers that disproportionately affect children and women. Many vulnerable residents, especially children, do not have access to a bike or a safe space to ride, making it difficult to learn and practice cycling. Public space is often dominated by car traffic, and children are rarely given the opportunity to move independently and safely. Additionally, many women never learned to ride a bicycle or have lost confidence due to long-term disuse and fears around traffic. A lack of infrastructure, awareness, and cycling culture further limits active mobility. Through Openstreets, we tackled these challenges by creating car-free zones, offering safe spaces for learning, practicing, and enjoying cycling. We provided access to bikes, organized lessons for women and children, and ensured on-site bike repair services. This comprehensive approach helped remove practical, cultural, and emotional barriers to cycling. In doing so, we promoted cycling as a safe, accessible, and empowering mode of transport and helped shift perceptions of who “belongs” on the road.

The main road safety challenge addressed in this initiative was ensuring the safety of both pedestrians and drivers along the main street of Põlva, Estonia. This road segment experiences a high daily traffic volume—around 5,000 vehicles, including heavy trucks—while also serving as a key pedestrian route for people commuting to work, school, or public services.
From a safety perspective, the road presents multiple risks: its hilly and winding layout can distract drivers and encourage speeding, and the growing use of light mobility vehicles such as bicycles and scooters increases the complexity of traffic interactions. These conditions create a hazardous environment for vulnerable road users.
The Bercman Smart Road represents a forward-looking approach to urban street design—one where all road users are given equal priority, and the focus shifts away from cars alone. The system is designed to encourage drivers to reflect on their behaviour and increase their awareness of pedestrians and cyclists. At the same time, it recognises that vulnerable road users are not always easily visible and provides intelligent support systems to help drivers notice and respond to them more effectively.

A critical yet often neglected challenge in road safety is the time lag and communication gap between an accident and the activation of road cleaning services. Post-accident residues such as oil, fuel, and vehicle debris present immediate and serious risks to other road users. These hazards are responsible for a significant number of secondary accidents, especially in urban areas with high traffic volumes or poor weather conditions.

Traditionally, the activation of road cleaning services depends on manual reports, delayed communication, or unstructured channels, which often results in slow response times and inconsistent data. Moreover, in many municipalities, tow truck drivers—often the first on site—are not integrated into the communication chain, representing a missed opportunity for early detection.

To address this, Eurosistra Portugal, in partnership with MK Group, developed a real-time digital activation system, embedded within the platform GESTOW (tow operator platform). This solution allows tow truck drivers to report the need for cleaning, send photos, and geolocate incidents instantly. The system automates service activation, improves response times, and ensures structured, auditable records.

By closing this communication gap, the project helps prevent further accidents, improves operational coordination, and reinforces a proactive approach to post-accident road safety.