# Safer roads
**Source**: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/spotlights/safer-roads/
**Parent**: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/spotlights/
Enhancing international road safety policymaking to reduce crashes and serious injury
##### During 2019, according to the [European Transport Safety Council](https://etsc.eu/euroadsafetydata/), 51 people per million inhabitants died in road traffic crashes across the EU.
However, putting Europe-wide road safety policies in place has long been hampered by the incompatibility of EU Member States’ crash data – and how it is recorded – which has made aggregated crash estimates unreliable and safety planning challenging.
Our research (2004-19) has underpinned the development of new resources that enable road safety policymakers to access reliable, consistent safety data to support their decisions.
## Our impact
### Award-winning research
- Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2019 (SafetyCube)
- Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2019 (SaferAfrica)
- Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2013 (ERSO)
### Our new EU-wide initiatives
- MAIS 3+ adopted in 2015
- The [European Road Safety Observatory](https://www.roadsafetyobservatory.com/) was established in 2009
- The [Road Safety Decision Support System](https://www.roadsafety-dss.eu/#/) was established in 2018
- The [African Road Safety Observatory](http://www.africanroadsafetyobservatory.org/) was established in 2019
## The research
##### To achieve the [UN Sustainable Development Goal](https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/) to reduce traffic casualties, road safety policymakers worldwide need consistent, reliable and detailed data – something not always available to them.
Addressing this problem, we have led a 15-year EU-wide partnership – comprising several major projects including SafetyNet, [DaCoTa](http://www.dacota-project.eu/) and [SafetyCube](https://www.safetycube-project.eu/) – which has resulted in several new resources to enhance data analysis.
Our novel procedure, CADAS, adopted in 2008 will gradually align the 28 sets of EU crash data, while our Road Safety Decision Support System will address the need amongst policymakers for specific information about the magnitude of road safety risks and the effectiveness of countermeasures to reduce them.
Meanwhile, the new classification of Maximum AIS 3+ injury severity, according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), has helped policymakers to overcome the major obstacle of classifying and enumerating non-fatally injured casualties – and underpins a target of a 50% reduction in serious injuries by 2030.
More recently, we have applied our expertise within SaferAfrica – examining the road safety challenges in African countries.
Supported and adopted by key international stakeholders – including the EC, OECD, World Bank and WHO – our research is having a direct and positive impact on road safety policies worldwide.
> I am confident the results of the SafetyCube project will present an excellent opportunity to inspire a strong renewed commitment for safer roads for all.
**Jean Todt**
FIA President
[### There has been a 42% drop in EU traffic fatalities (2007-16)](https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/statistics/dacota/asr2018.pdf)
[### The Road Safety DSS evidenced >7,000 risks and measures](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457518304020)
### Research funder
- European Commission
### Development partners
Our partners include
- National Technical University of Athens
- VIAS Institue
- SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV)
- Austrian Road Safety Board (KfV)
- French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR)
- SAFER Vehicles and Traffic Safety Centre (Chalmers)
- Institute of Transport Economics (TOI)
- European Union Road Federation (ERF)
- Centre for Transport and Logistics, University of Rome (CTL)
- Agency for Public Health Barcelona (ASPB)
- Medical University of Hannover (MHH)
- Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency (AVP)
- Laboratory of Accidentology, Biomachanics and Human Behaviour (LAB)
## Meet the experts
### Professor Pete Thomas
#### Professor of Road and Vehicle Safety
- [+44 (0)1509 226931](tel:+44 (0)1509 226931)
- [Send email](mailto:p.d.thomas@lboro.ac.uk)
### Dr Ashleigh Filtness
#### Senior Lecturer of Human Factors in Transport Safety
- [+44 (0)1509 226934](tel:+44 (0)1509 226934)
- [Send email](mailto:a.j.filtness@lboro.ac.uk)
### Professor Andrew Morris
#### Professor of Human Factors in Transport Safety
- [+44 (0)1509 226981](tel:+44 (0)1509 226981)
- [Send email](mailto:a.p.morris@lboro.ac.uk)
### Dr Jo Barnes
#### Senior Lecturer
- [+44 (0)1509 226922](tel:+44 (0)1509 226922)
- [Send email](mailto:j.barnes@lboro.ac.uk)
### Ruth Welsh
#### Senior Lecturer Traffic Safety
- [+44 (0)1509 226937](tel:+44 (0)1509 226937)
- [Send email](mailto:r.h.welsh@lboro.ac.uk)
### Rachel Talbot
#### Senior Research Associate
- [+44(0)1509 226954](tel:+44(0)1509 226954)
- [Send email](mailto:r.k.talbot@lboro.ac.uk)