27 March 2018 | Sofia, Bulgaria

Around 350 stakeholders gathered in Sofia (Bulgaria) to participate in the “International Road Safety & Innovation Forum – Leveraging new technologies and good practices from Europe and beyond”.

The Forum was co-organised by the Bulgarian Branch Association Road Safety, ERF and IRF under the patronage the Ministry of Regional Development & Public Works (MRRB), the Road Infrastructure Agency (API) and the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU.

The key objective for the Forum is to understand how new technologies in the field of asset management and the vehicle side can allow for important road safety gains and help promote a constructive framework for infrastructure adaptation

Panelists presented new and innovative solutions like road markings optimized for ADAS-enabled vehicles and as well latest innovations in passive safety measures designed to protect vulnerable road users. The Forum served to show the infrastructure stakeholders commitment with authorities tp reach EU targets on road safety both to reduce fatalities and number of injuries.

During the morning sessions two main issues were addressed: the road financing and how better data could lead to an improvement in road safety. In the afternoon sessions new technologies for safer and smart cities and proven solutions for the improvement of road safety were presented.

3 October 2017 | Brussels, Belgium

On 21 September, the ERF, in cooperation with IRF and the TRB, organised the 5th European edition of the AFB 20 (2) Roadside Safety Committee on International Research Activities.  Co-chaired by Michael Dreznes and Francesca La Torre, the event gathered around 90 participants from industry, certification bodies, academia and road authorities.

The first session of the event was dedicated to new research initiatives linked to roadside safety including the durability of safety barriers, evaluation of soil conditions and provision of updated guidelines for roadside safety in European roads.

The second session focused on industry developments in roadside safety for both safety barriers and passive safety support structures.  It included, amongst others, numerical performance assessment of bridge anti-falling load systems and the development of passive safety cabinets based on EN 12767.

The event was concluded by a panel debate on ‘Transitioning standards into real-life performance’. The five panelists, representing road authorities, safety experts and industry, debated how current performances standards can be improved in order to ensure better reproducibility of results on the road.  In addition, the need for a more coherent approach for certification bodies was discussed to ensure a level playing field for the sector.