SOL eMagazine No11

S O L - S A V E O U R L I V E S . A C O M P R E H E N S I V E R O A D S A F E T Y S T R A T E G Y F O R C E N T R A L E U R O P E

THE SOL F INAL CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE IN BRUSSELS ON THE 27TH OF MAY 2013

DEAR READERS

THE SOL eMAGAZINE

The SOL eMAGAZINE is produced by the SOL consor-

tium. All articles are written by the SOL partners. The

responsibility for all contents and statements made

lies with the authors. The eMagazine does not repre-

sent the opinion of the European Communities. The

project „SOL – Save our Lives“ in the Central Europe

Program www.central2013.eu is co-financed by the

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Find more about SOL on: www.sol-project.eu

Welcome to the new issue of the SOL project

eMagazine. In this issue, we would like to focus

your attention on our final conference that took

place in Brussels in May. It was a great success

all around. The invited speakers captivated the

audience with their presentations.

The SOL Road Safety Guidelines for Experts and for

Decision Makers are also available now. You can

download them on the website: http://www.sol-

project.eu/index.php?id=2589&ID1=2589!

The other articles presented here will deal with the

youth Flashmob for Road Safety that took place

in Athens and with the new WHO European Road

Safety report.

Enjoy reading

Alberto Milotti Project Manager SOL

The SOL Final Conference, was held in Brus-

sels on 27th May 2013 in Brussels. This was

an opportunity for all SOL Project Partners to

The conference was started off with an intro-

ductory speech from Mrs Olga Sehnalova, Czech

MEP Transport and Tourism who showed that

road safety is a cross cutting priority and that,

to achieve positive results a good cooperation

among EU institutions and national and local au-

thorities is necessary. The ensuing discussion

started with a speech of Mr. Szabolcs Schmidt,

Head of Road Safety Unit of DG MOVE, European

Commission. Mr. Szabolcs Schmidt presented

the latest developments on the European Road

Safety Area from the perspective of the EC. Then

Ms Di Pietro from GRSP showed how we can

learn from a different kind of road safety part-

nerships that can be established among local

authorities, stakeholders and national govern-

meet many experts from all over Europe and

to present the project results obtained in the

area of road safety in the partner countries.

ments. ETSC Director, Mr Avenoso, provided in-

teresting recommendations to public authorities

and also the European Commission with regard

to future actions.

During the second part of the Conference the

discussion focused on the effectiveness of the

developed pilot projects in the project area.

Thanks to representatives of the public admi-

nistrations, police and other stakeholders from

Mantua, Kocevje, Gyor, Presov, Olsztyn, the

round table showed how working together at a

local level is fundamental for achievements con-

cerning of road safety issues.

You can find all presentations from the confe-

rence on our project website

www.sol-project.eu.

ISSUE No. 11 JUNE 2013

Photo: FGM

One of the most interesting lectures at the Fi-

nal Conference was the one from Mr. Szabol-

cs Schmidt, Head of Road Safety Unit of DG

As starting point, Mr. Schmidt presented the

most recent EU road safety statistics: compared

to last year the accident rate was reduced by 9%,

this means 28.000 fewer road fatalities in 2012.

Despite the improvements that have been made

within the last years this value is still unaccept-

ably high for the Commission. For this reason,

the Commission has recently drafted a step wise

strategy to tackle seriously injured. This strategy

will not only improve the statistic but also set a

target for. To achieve this result an EU strategy

with seven strategic objectives has been outlined

in the Policy Orientations for the Road Safety Pol-

icy: 1. Education and training; 2. Compliance with

road traffic rules; 3. Safer road infrastructure; 4.

MOVE, European Commission. He presented

the latest developments in the European Road

Safety Area from the EC perspective.

As starting point, Mr. Schmidt

presented the most recent EU

road safety statistics: compared

to last year the accident rate

was reduced by 9%, this means

28.000 fewer road fatalities in

2012.

Safer vehicles; 5. Intelligent Transport Systems

(ITS); 6. Emergency and post-injuries services; 7.

Vulnerable road users.

The second key point of the speech presented

the holistic integrated approach underlying all EU

initiatives in the field of road safety. Concretely,

this is a system-wide intervention based on the

long-term elimination of death and serious in-

jury and on the shared responsibility among all

citizens. Sharing responsibility among all the citi-

zens means that all road users, not only drivers,

should make an effort in behaving safely. This

also includes pedestrians and cyclists. In order to

achieve this awareness and cooperation have to

be increased through the European Road Safety

June 2013 ISSUE No. 11

Photo: A.L.O.T.

Photo: A.L.O.T.

2

EUROPEAN COMMISSION: THE STATE OF THE ART IN ROAD SAFETY

3

Charter. The European Road Safety Charter is a

well known instrument, conceived in 2004, to in-

tegrate the civil society in the endeavour to reach

the common EU target.

Mr. Schmidt underlined that the Project “SOL

- Save Our Lives” may provide interesting Les-

sons Learnt concerning the application of the

shared responsibility principle at different gov-

ernance levels. This is because SOL involved lo-

cal authorities from different Member States and

provided them with support to elaborate a road

safety strategy and actions that are tailor-made

to the need of local communities. Here it needs to

be underlined that SOL is not top-down initiative

proposed or financed by DG MOVE but rather the

opposite: SOL was conceived and implemented

by local and regional authorities.

A major objective of SOL is to

provide guidance for both ex‑

perts and practitioners and

road safety decision makers

on the key concepts regarding

road safety.

ARE DYING85 PEOPLE

ON EUROPEAN ROADS

DO YOU KNOW, THAT EVERY DAY,

Photo: FGM

Photo: FGM

THE SOL ROAD SAFETY GUIDELINES - “ADVICE FOR EX-PERTS AND DECISION MAKERS” ARE AVAILABLE NOW

The “SOL Road Safety Guidelines - Advice

for experts and decision makers” is avail-

able as electronic and paper version since

A major objective of SOL is to provide guidance

for both experts and practitioners and road safe-

ty decision makers on the key concepts regard-

ing road safety. This also includes the principles

of a Safe System approach to road safety man-

agement.

The Guidelines are divided in two main sections:

a guidance manual for experts and practitioners,

and a shorter manual that highlights the key is-

sues for decision makers. Some content is the

same in both manuals, but as each manual de-

signed as a stand-alone all texts are available in

both documents.

The manuals describe the global road safety

situation in the context of the Decade of Action,

and the current road safety situation in Central

European countries compared with other EU

countries, showing the need for urgent action to

address the road safety problem. They include

details of the SOL project’s aims and method-

ology and how they have been implemented

through a range of pilot actions.

A major section in the manual for experts de-

scribes the steps to be undertaken in order to

May. Moreover, a DVD with all major outputs,

deliverables and the movie is included in the

brochure.

develop and implement a road safety strategy

and the importance of monitoring the results.

Wider issues such as community engagement,

sustainable transport and land use policy are

also included. There is also a detailed section

that describes the tools which a low a replica-

tion on a transnational level. These tools are a

key output of the SOL project.

The manual for decision makers concentrates on

the need for action and how roads can be made

safe. Both manuals include sections on the most

important road safety interventions but it is not

the purpose of the manuals to provide compre-

hensive guidance on interventions. There are

many existing sources of information, including

the manuals published by WHO that focus on

how to develop and implement programmes to

address the key risks such as speed and drink

driving. Primary information sources are refer-

enced, and a full bibliography is included.

You can flip through or download the guidelines

on the SOL website:

www.sol-project.eu/index php?id=2589&ID1=2589

A YOUTH FLASHMOB FOR ROAD SAFETY TOOK PLACE IN ATHENS, GREECE

As part of the Second UN Global Road Safety

Week a flashmob was organized in Syntagma

Square, Greece. It promoted the message

“Stop Road Crashes”. The stunt was organized

The event brought together a group of young people

on a square in Athens/Greece and the performance

of a live, orchestrated dance to grab the attention of

the unsuspecting and astonished public. The video

of the event shows a crowd of dancing people on

the square performing their choreography that

transported the key message: “Stop road crashes”!

What is a Flashmob?

A Flashmob (or Flash mob) is created when a

group of people assemble suddenly in a public

place. This group of people then perform an unu-

sual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time.

After that they quickly disperse. The purposes of

such a Flashmob can include entertainment, sat-

ire, advertisement and artistic expression. Flash

in Athens by the Hellenic Road Safety Institute

(I.O.A.S) - RSI Panos Mylonas with the support

of the European Commission and the Europe-

an Youth Forum for Road Safety - EYFRS.

mobs are organized via telecommunications, so-

cial media, or viral emails. In this case, the Flash-

mob was organized to raise awareness of the

United Nations Global Road Safety Week to and of

the cause of pedestrian safety. The target group

were the people present in the square at the time,

but to also leave a legacy of the event, it was

captured on video. Considering its huge success,

the Greek Delegates will present their Flash-Mob

guidelines during the next edition of the EYFRS in

September 2013 in Crotone (Italy), for you to be

able to reproduce it in your country as well.

Watch the video here: Link to the video

EYFRS: www.eyfrs.eu

RSI Panos Mylonas: www.ioas.gr

4

Photo: EYFRS / RSI “PANOS MYLONAS”

Photo: EYFRS / RSI “PANOS MYLONAS”

June 2013 ISSUE No. 11

RELEASE OF THE NEW WHO EUROPEAN ROAD SAFETY REPORT

The “European facts and Global status re-

port on road safety 2013” published today

by WHO/Europe reveals a significant im-

The “European facts and Global status report

on road safety 2013” published today by WHO/

Europe reveals significant improvement in

overall fatalities but also indicates that only

half of the European countries have adequate

road safety laws.

Fifty-five per cent of the European population

lives in countries that do not provide com-

prehensive road safety laws on the five key

risk factors: drinking and driving, speeding,

helmets, seat-belts and child restraints. The

remaining 45% benefit from rapidly improving

legislative change as countries work hard to

meet the target set by the Decade of Action for

Road Safety 2011-2020.

The report demonstrates that improvements

are achievable and 40 out of 48 countries have

reduced the number of deaths on their roads

in recent years.

“The improvements in road safety in the Euro-

pean Region are striking,” said Zsuzsanna Ja-

provement in overall fatalities but also in-

dicates that only half of the European coun-

tries have adequate road safety laws.

kab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “How-

ever, 92 000 deaths per year is 92 000 deaths

too many. Thanks to this report, we have a

clear vision of what needs to be done and also

a clear vision of the human and economic ben-

efits of improving road safety. We would like to

appeal to governments to act on this evidence,

knowing that this course of action will pay

dividends in the short and long term.”

The “European facts and Global status report

on road safety 2013” is the second report in a

series analysing to what extent countries are

implementing effective road safety measures.

In addition to the risk factors, it highlights the

importance of issues such as vehicle safety

standards, road infrastructure inspections and

policies on walking and cycling. The report

presents information from 51 countries, ac-

counting for 99.4% of the European Region’s

population or 891 million people.

The project SOL shall help to prevent road

crashes, deaths and injuries in the Central Europe

Space (CEUS). In 12 pilot areas of the 7 countries

Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slo-

venia, Italy and Austria targeted strategies will be

developed implementing effective programmes to

build a transnational road safety network. Find

detailed informations to all pilot areas on the

website of SOL: www.sol-project.eu

THE PILOT AREAS OF SOL:

• Poland: Olsztyn, Barczewo, Nidzica

• Czech Republic: Region of Liberec

• Slovakia: City of Prešov and Region of Prešov

‑ Selfgovernment County

• Hungary: City of Gyor

• Slovenia: Tolmin, Kočevje and Maribor

• Italy: Province of Brescia and Mantua

• Austria: Province of Styria

THE P ILOT AREAS OF THE PROJECT SOL

GERMANYCZECH REPUBLIC

AUSTRIA

ITALY

SLOVAKIA

POLAND

SLOVENIA

HUNGARY

The SOL Countries

Photo: istock

Photo: istock

5

SOL – A COMPREHENSIVE ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY FOR CENTRAL EUROPE

The main goal of the project is to promote

sustainable mobility and increase awareness

for safety issues as well as contributing to the

achievement of higher quality of living condi-

tions.

The approach of SOL sees Road-Safety within

the context of sustainable mobility, i.e. to make

walking and cycling safe and to promote a modal

shift from the private car to public transport.

SOL unites some of the most competent RS or-

ganisations from CEUS and worldwide, among

them the Global Road Safety Patnership (GRPS).

The multi-sector partners from eight countries

of CEUS have jointly developed a strategy that

supports the region in catching up with highest

EU standards in Road Safety.

A.L.O.T. Agency of East Lombardy for Transport and Logistics (Italy)

Austrian Mobility Research FGM-AMOR (Austria)

Province of Styria – Traffic Department (Austria)

University of Tuebingen, Institute of Geography (Germany)

HBH Projekt spol. s r.o. (Czech Republic)

ITS Motor Transport Institute(Poland)

University of Zilina(Slovakia)

Global Road Safety Partnership Hungary(Hungary)

KTI Institute for Transport Sciences(Hungary)

Automobile Association of Slovenia(Slovenia)

ZAS – The Association of the Driving Schools in the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)

WORD Olsztyn organization(Poland)

12 PROJECT PARTNERS FROM 8 COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL EUROPE

The project „SOL – Save our Lives“ in the Central Europe Program www.central2013.eu

is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Imprint:

Texts: Alberto Milotti, A.L.O.T. (p.1 and Foreword, p. 2);

All other articles collected by FGM-AMOR

Design by FGM-AMOR

June 2013 ISSUE No. 11