Pedestrians

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.

The main road safety challenges we are addressing relate to the increasing number and vulnerability of older road users in traffic.
As life expectancy increases and people remain mobile longer, the proportion of senior drivers is growing. This trend brings several safety-related challenges:
1. Age-related decline in driving abilities:
With age, many individuals experience reduced visual acuity, slower reaction times, decreased attention span, and limited cognitive and physical flexibility — all of which can impair driving performance and increase crash risk, particularly in complex traffic situations.

2. Lack of awareness about new traffic infrastructure and rules:
Many older drivers may not be familiar with modern traffic features such as roundabouts, dynamic signage, or changes in highway driving behavior. This lack of familiarity can lead to confusion, hesitation, or incorrect maneuvers.

3. Delayed self-recognition of diminished driving fitness:
Seniors often have difficulty recognizing or accepting their own limitations. Without proper guidance, they may continue driving when it is no longer safe, putting themselves and others at risk.

4. Insufficient communication about legal obligations:
Older drivers are often unaware of the legal requirements surrounding driver’s license renewal, mandatory medical assessments, and other responsibilities related to continued driving.

5. Limited knowledge about alternative mobility options:
When it becomes unsafe to drive, older adults may not know what options are available to them, which can lead to social isolation and a decline in independence.

6. Stereotypes and lack of societal support:
Older drivers are often unfairly stigmatized, which may discourage them from seeking help, discussing concerns, or exploring new solutions. At the same time, the broader community may not be sufficiently informed on how to support them.
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Our initiative addresses these problems through a combination of awareness-raising, education, respectful dialogue, and collaboration with stakeholders. The goal is to promote safer, more confident participation of older adults in traffic — whether as drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, or passengers.

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.

Based on our topic modelling study of road safety literature for older EU road users, we have identified several critical challenges that disproportionately affect the ageing population. First, older pedestrians and cyclists face significantly higher fatality rates due to frailty and vulnerability, especially in urban environments lacking safe infrastructure. Our findings highlight the urgent need for age-friendly design, including 30 km/h zones, improved crosswalks, and well-maintained sidewalks.
Second, while targeted driver training (cognitive, visual, and simulator-based) can reduce crash risk by up to 30%, these programs remain small-scale, methodologically inconsistent, and underfunded. Third, although technologies like Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) offer safety benefits, they are underutilized by older drivers due to usability barriers.
We also address a key policy issue: the tension between safety and mobility. Arbitrary age-based licensing restrictions risk undermining elderly independence. Evidence-based, functional fitness-to-drive assessments are needed.
Lastly, our study reveals major gaps in research concerning emerging mobility modes (e.g., e-bikes, scooters) and underserved populations like older pedestrians. By applying a novel machine learning approach across multiple databases, we mapped these gaps and proposed evidence-driven solutions in infrastructure, education, vehicle technology, and licensing policy, aligned with EU Vision Zero goals and the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety

In 2024, Kerry County Council’s Road Safety Office launched a series of road safety campaigns, with the lead conference aimed at older road users and aligning with ‘Transportation’ a World Health Organisation Age Friendly Theme. This event was delivered in partnership with Age Friendly Kerry and Older People’s Council Kerry and in association with An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority.
The conference addressed changes in road layouts, signage, speed limits, road traffic laws, and how vehicles and driving habits have changed. It focused on promoting safer driving behaviour. Presentations were delivered in plain language to ensure all attendees could fully engage.
The event offered older drivers an opportunity to share their experiences and raise concerns about their safety on the roads. The event served as an information session and a valuable opportunity for engagement with older road users.

The stagnation of accident and mortality figures in Spain, particularly regarding run-off-road incidents, demonstrates that traditional road safety solutions, while still essential, have reached their maximum possible impact. Road network authorities must therefore immediately commit to new, disruptive, and innovative measures. An urgent response is required to make the European goal of Zero Victims by 2050 achievable, and this response must be supported by solutions that harness the potential of technology and artificial intelligence.
The main pain points are as follows:
1. High accident rate: Worrying levels of accidents, run-off-road incidents, and pedestrian collisions persist, resulting in severe human and economic consequences.
2. Reactive rather than preventive safety: Existing systems intervene only after an incident to minimise its consequences. There are very few real-time risk detection and alert mechanisms in place.
3. Lack of connected response: There are no infrastructure-based solutions capable of automatically detecting incidents or run-off-road events unless incorporated by the vehicle itself, which often leads to critical delays in notifying emergency services or alerting other road users.
4. Limited technological adaptability: Many roads lack basic supplies such as electricity or signal coverage for remote management.
5. Level of investment: While national authorities are progressively beginning to invest in advanced technological solutions, budgets remain limited, often restricted to pilot programmes and trials without genuine commitment. In numerous regional and local administrations, no officials have yet been appointed for road modernisation or digital transformation, and no budgets are allocated for these matters.
6. Digital technological expertise among road administrators: There is a clear shortage of technical profiles with expertise in IT or telecommunications, and public administrations are slow in equipping themselves with such profiles.
7. The challenge of intelligent infrastructure and the connected vehicle: There is an urgent need to seek alternatives to large-scale V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication protocols between vehicles or between vehicles and infrastructure, as these may not prove effective in the short term due to factors such as public investment levels, the gradual renewal of the vehicle fleet, or the complexity of harmonising protocols across manufacturers and countries. Tactical solutions that demonstrate real, immediate impact are critically needed.
These are the principal pain points slowing the advancement of smart road deployment, understood as an entire ecosystem of connected, proactive, and preventive solutions to ensure safe, sustainable, and intelligent mobility.

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.

Serious accidents involving the so-called “blind spot” of heavy commercial vehicles, as well as a safety summit convened years ago by the city government, prompted the Vienna Chamber of Commerce to take initiative as early as 2017. The goal of the traffic safety project "The Dangers of the Blind Spot” is to raise awareness among pupils (3rd and 4th grade, by the age of 8-12 years) about potential sources of danger through theoretical instruction and then to train proper behavior in the area of the blind spot at a practical training station.

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.