sabrina project

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

The year 2020 is slowly but surely coming to its end and we hope this newsletter finds you safe and well. The past twelve months have brought many challenges and obstacles in different aspects of our lives. The same goes for the implementation of the SABRINA project (Safer Bicycle Routes in the Danube Area). Since we believe in the words of John Maxwell who once wrote that “Teamwork makes the dream work”, a strong consortium of 11 project partners and 4 associated strategic partners was built. We overcame the obstacles of 2020 and we are determined to keep the balance even firmer in the year ahead. 

The SABRINA project focuses on road infrastructure safety for cyclists as one of the most vulnerable road users. It tackles cycling infrastructure safety issues on existing, planned, and missing cycling corridors crossing nine countries in the Danube region. A few thousand kilometers of bicycle routes will be inspected using specially equipped vehicles, software, and trained analysts. Our goal is to improve conditions for road bicycle infrastructure safety in the region by raising the capacities of all relevant national, regional, and local stakeholders to build and improve bicycle infrastructure in a safe and sustainable way. 

The updates about the project are posted on the project webpage and social media accounts. Two to four times per year the highlights will be collected in the form of the newsletter. We hope you will join us on the journey towards safer bicycle routes in the Danube area and beyond. 

Read more about the SABRINA partnership HERE. 

Project duration:
1 July 2020–31 December 2022

Budget:
Overall: 2,086,019.00 EUR
ERDF Contribution: 1,701,992.40
ENI Contribution: 71,123.75

Programme:
Danube Transnational Programme (Interreg), Call 3

Priority:
Better connected and energy responsible Danube region.

Specific objective:
Support environmentally friendly and safe transport systems and balanced accessibility of urban and rural areas.

Check the SABRINA project webpage for timely updates, subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on social media:

SABRINA PROJECT’S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE SAFETY AND RADAR PROJECT SHOWCASE OF RESULTS INSPIRED 160 PARTICIPANTS AT THE JOINT CONFERENCE

In mid-October 160 road safety experts and representatives of the road infrastructure safety sector from the Danube area and transport stakeholders from 29 countries from different parts of the world joined an online conference of SABRINA and RADAR projects organized in cooperation with the European Union Strategy for Danube Region (EUSDR) – PA1b: To improve mobility and multimodality – Road, Rail, and Air Links. The conference 'Improving Road Safety in Danube Area for all Road Users: Challenges and Opportunities in the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021–2030)' was a kick-off event for the SABRINA project. It offered a great opportunity for road safety organizations and experts to discuss and chart the future strategic directions focusing on the improvement of road infrastructure safety in the Danube area for all road users. 

Read more about the joint conference and access all the conference materials, including the Virtual field visit video we have prepared in cooperation with all project partners, HERE.
 

WELCOME TO MOLDOVA! – SABRINA PROJECT PARTNER: AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF MOLDOVA

One of the key ingredients for the successful implementation of the project is a strong and dedicated project team. In each edition of the newsletter, we will present two project partners, their work, role in the SABRINA project, cycling infrastructure situation in their countries, and other interesting things. The first country opening the door for us was Moldova. We have talked with Tatiana Mihailova, Project Manager at the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM), about their role in the project, road safety, and the cycling infrastructure safety in Moldova. The interview is available HERE. The ACM is very active also in different campaigns for safer streets. Recently, they have joined the #ThisIsMyStreet advocacy campaign. Read about their contribution HERE.

WELCOME TO HUNGARY! – SABRINA PROJECT PARTNER: WESTPANNON TEAM

From Moldova we have traveled (currently only virtually) to Hungary and talked with Zsombor Aradszki, Project Manager of transnational cooperation projects at the Westpannon Team. Our Hungarian partners introduced us to the work of their team, their role in the SABRINA project, and cycling challenges and opportunities in Hungary. The interview is available HERE. Besides, we explored the interesting railway crossing lights dilemma on the border between Hungary and Austria. Believe it or not but railway crossing lights work differently on each side of the border. Read more about that HERE.

SABRINA AND RADAR PROJECTS JOINED FORCES TO SUPPORT #COMMITTOACT CAMPAIGN

Approximately 1.35 million people are killed on roads around the world each year. Between 20 and 50 million are left with non-fatal injuries. On the European Union roads, more than 22,700 people lost their lives last year. Among them were more than 2000 cyclists. In the SABRINA (Safer Bicycle Routes in Danube Area) and RADAR (Risk Assessment on Danube Area Roads) project partners’ countries the number of deaths goes up to almost 6000 per year, with about 10% of those being cyclists. We are committed to road safety in SABRINA and RADAR projects, therefore we have joined forces and supported the #CommitToAct campaign led by the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. Check our contribution HERE. 

WORLD DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2020

On the third Sunday in November each year, we remember millions of people who have been killed or seriously injured on the world’s roads. We acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families, and communities. Every year, 41,000 cyclists die in road traffic-related crashes worldwide. Unfortunately, Darko (51) from Slovenia was one of them. Miro (76) had more luck. Read their stories and how we have to Remember, Support, and Act HERE.