Training

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Formal education on road safety is inconsistent and often outdated.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.

With this project, we contribute to the development of courses by offering standardized, consistent quality for various risk groups.
To provide substantive expertise through a new technical solution. This solution simplifies the explanation of complex traffic risks.

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!

At RoadMaster VR, we focus on solving some of the most pressing road safety challenges in the logistics and transport sector. One of the key problems we address is the lack of real-world readiness among new and inexperienced truck drivers. Traditional training often falls short in preparing drivers for critical, high-risk scenarios - such as low visibility, sudden obstacles, maneuvering, or poor road conditions - without exposing them to actual danger.

Another major issue is the inconsistency in training quality across companies and regions. Our VR-based platform ensures standardized, repeatable, and high-quality training experiences for all drivers, regardless of location or instructor.

We also tackle the challenge of low engagement and knowledge retention in conventional training methods. VR simulations significantly increase driver involvement, attention, and retention of critical safety procedures by allowing them to actively experience and respond to real-world situations.

Finally, by collecting and analyzing performance data, we identify high-risk behaviors early and provide personalized feedback - helping drivers improve faster and more effectively.

In short, RoadMaster VR enhances driver preparedness, reduces risk on the road, and supports transport companies in building a safer, more efficient workforce.

Video about RoadMaster VR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEd8uxqYoAs

By 2050, the percentage of people over 50 in the European Union will be almost 50% of the total population. According to UN estimates, the average life expectancy will increase from the current 68 to 76 years, and in highly developed countries from 77 to 83 years. This group of road users will therefore grow, which consequently means that the statistical probability of crashes involving a senior will also increase.

According to data from the Motor Transport Institute in Poland, the main problems of Seniors leading to a crash are related to:
• undivided attention,
• incorrect perception of road situations,
• narrowing of the field of vision, poor contrast sensitivity and distance assessment,
• extended time of performing maneuvers, reaction time, eye-hand coordination.

The main causes of road crashes in Poland are:
• among Seniors driving cars - failure to give way at an intersection,
• among Seniors cycling - uncontrolled entry into a part of the roadway not designated for cyclists (pedestrian crossing),
• among Seniors walking - entering the roadway directly in front of an oncoming vehicle (often from behind an obstacle).

The social costs of all road incidents in Poland in 2022 amounted to PLN 52 billion, including the costs of road crashes PLN 37.9 billion and the costs of road collisions PLN 14.1 billion. In 2021, these costs were lower. The share of seniors in the cost statistics accounted for 9% of all road crashes and amounted to PLN 3.4 billion. The lower cost in the case of seniors results from the adopted assumptions regarding productivity and projected life expectancy. However, it should be borne in mind that society is "aging" and the number of seniors will increase. The life expectancy of seniors will also increase. These factors will undoubtedly affect changes in the proportions of the annual costs of road crashes in Poland.

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.

We focus on several key road safety problems related to motorcyclists:

Insufficient real-world riding skills. Many motorcyclists lack the practical skills needed to respond effectively to unexpected or dangerous traffic situations, such as emergency braking, low-speed maneuvering, and obstacle avoidance. These skills are rarely practiced outside of license training.

Overconfidence among riders. Especially for novice or seasonal riders, there is often a dangerous gap between perceived and actual riding ability. This overconfidence can lead to risky decisions on the road.

Lack of safe environments to practice. In Lithuania, there are very few opportunities for riders to improve their control skills in a structured, non-competitive, and safe setting. Without such environments, many riders turn to public roads or unsafe spaces to "practice."

Social pressure and risky riding behavior. Young riders in particular may feel social pressure to show off riding skills or speed on public roads, increasing the risk for themselves and other road users.

Through our activities, motogym.lt provides a safe, engaging space to improve skills, build self-awareness, and promote a safety-first riding culture.

While road safety efforts often focus on prevention and driver behavior, a critical yet under-recognized issue is the post-accident condition of roadways. Hazardous residues such as oil, fuel, and vehicle debris left after a traffic incident significantly increase the risk of secondary accidents, especially in urban environments with high traffic flow or during adverse weather conditions.

It is estimated that up to 7% of road accidents are directly caused by solid or liquid waste remaining on the roadway following previous incidents. Despite this, post-accident cleaning is frequently inconsistent, delayed, or not conducted in accordance with environmental regulations.

Our initiative addresses this gap by offering a nationwide, 24/7 emergency intervention service focused on restoring road safety and environmental conditions after accidents. Activated by Civil Protection or law enforcement, our patented equipment and trained teams clean, decontaminate, and report damage with full traceability. We also georeference each intervention, helping municipalities identify accident hotspots and improve their prevention strategies.

By acting immediately after incidents, we not only reduce accident recurrence but also promote environmental compliance, public safety, and operational efficiency. Our service transforms a reactive task into a strategic road safety solution.

As an insurance company we know that the safer our roads are, the fewer accidents we will have. We also know that children are the best audience in order to ensure that bad road usage habits will change in the years to come.

Road safety is a major issue in the EU, taking into consideration Vision Zero and all the proposals towards reducing fatalities and serious injuries. At the same time, the crosswalks outside schools all around Greece are faded or even invisible. While we talk to the children about safety, we have no means to safeguard their most regular trip, to and from their school, and lack the practical prompt to show them how they can walk safely in the urban environment.

At Hellas Direct we care, beyond insurance, about safety, and acknowledge that both infrastructure and road safety education do not rise up to current needs and expectations, we decided to act.

Thus we launched the Safe Roads project. With our expert crew, we go wherever we are needed all around Greece. Always in cooperation with the municipalities and schools, we paint faded crossings. That's how we're changing insurance for good.

Children perceive the world and thus also the street space differently. This fact implements a higher risk for children to get injured in different traffic situations. It is therefore important to start age-appropriate road safety education as early as possible.