At the 1st Danube Road Safety Conference for the project RADAR (Risk Assessment on Danube Area Roads) experts and distinguished speakers from leading institutions discussed the importance of improvement of road networks in the Danube area.

The goal was to raise awareness about the vision, purpose, objectives and organisational structure of RADAR project, create an understanding of the work by providing explanations on specific aspects of the implementation and establish an open communication channel with target groups and beneficiaries by fostering discussion and feedback. The event was organised within the cooperation with the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). The conference was organised during the European Road Conference, where 500 transport stakeholders participated.

The 1st Danube Road Safety conference addressed partners countries’ national public authorities and all projects’ Associated Strategic Partners. The altogether 50 participants of the conference were the representatives from non-governmental organisations, universities and national public authorities including representatives from relevant Ministries and Road Authorities from partners’ countries.  

Michael Dreznes, Executive Vice President at International Road Federation, explained in his opening speech, how cooperation that goes beyond national could save many lives on roads, starting with sharing the common understanding about where the risky roads are. Delivering Danube Infrastructure Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan are the main focuses of the project RADAR, which contributes to identifying and reducing risk on roads. The goal is to raise awareness in public, implement learning and transnational cooperation activities to help the responsible safety organizations in the Danube area realise the need to improve the road infrastructure.

The first part of the conference addressed the problematic statistics on road safety in the Danube area. 3.827 people died on roads in the Danube area, and 160.777 people got seriously injured in 2017 annually costing up to 2 % of countries’ GDP[1]. Franc Žepič, European Union Strategy for Danube Region PAC 1b, Road, Rail, explained these numbers are worrisome. Not only do we need to improve the EU legislation, adopt regulations and provide better guidelines, but we also need to build safe and forgiving roads with better road infrastructure. Further, we “need to apply information and communication technologies in the field of road transport, including infrastructure, vehicles and users, and in traffic management and mobility management, as well as for the interfaces with other modes of transport,” stated Dr. Panagiotis Lytrivis, Senior Researcher, Institute of Communication & Computer Systems, and explained how Intelligent Transportation Systems can contribute to improving the road safety for all users, including the vulnerable road users (VRUs).

Klaus Machata, Senior Researcher, KfV; Vice-President of FERSI, discussed how things went wrong for vulnerable road users in the past, starting with non-compatible speed and no secure crossing facilities. One of the many vulnerable road users are children, and the vulnerable road areas are schools. “Every day over 3,000 children and adolescents are killed or seriously injured on the worlds’ roads,” stated Nikola Galović, Road Safety Director of Rotonda, when presenting the novelty app Star Rating for Schools, which will contribute to safer areas around schools for pedestrians, cyclists and other VRUs. As explained by Steve Lawson, Regional Director of EuroRAP, we need to define cost-effective solutions to reduce risk by improving road infrastructure.  

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The roundtable discussion between all the participants on the thematic areas on how to plan investments for safer roads, what can we do to make vulnerable road users safer, how to build safety into intelligent transportation systems and how can the proactive approach of star ratings around schools make a difference, followed. 

After the event, participants of the 1st Danube Road Safety Conference attended the tour around the Walls of Dubrovnik related to provisions for pedestrians and relevant vulnerable road users.

Full press release is available HERE.

Check out the RADAR 1st Danube Road Safety Gallery HERE. 

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[1] RADAR raw data including Hr, Hu, Si, Md, Bg, Srb, BiH, A and Cz.