Maximising road safety research to keep motorists safe
In spite of recent improvements, road accidents still kill on average 80 Europeans each day, with thousands more being severely injured. Europe aims for a complete end to such casualties, but realising the goal will require intensified research and prioritisation. The EU-funded PROS (Priorities for road safety research in Europe) project set out to create a European network to establish road safety research priorities. Overall, the aim was to deliver a concrete roadmap and improved networking among stakeholders. Work started with a review of societal trends and scenarios that affect road safety research. Project partners gathered and analysed approximately 30 current national, EU and global research agendas and examined the state-of-the-art in existing road safety research activities at EU and national levels. Based on this, the team identified gaps in existing research and prioritised related research topics with the assistance of various stakeholders. As a result, about 120 experts from over 40 organisations helped deliver a roadmap for the future of European road safety. It contains 11 prioritised research topics to assist policymakers in defining Horizon 2020 calls. A pan-European network was set up to develop long-term joint priorities in road safety research and overcome existing fragmentation among related stakeholder groups. Finally, project members devised a plan for dissemination, specifying the target audience and tools required. More than 20 presentations were delivered on the work, at either conferences or other meetings. PROS developed a list of priority research topics for road safety, paving the way for safer and more sustainable road transport.
Keywords
Road safety, road safety research, motorists, road accidents, road transport