The 7th GIFTS Symposium - “The Cultural Diversity in Traffic and Building ofSafe Societies: Toward Common Vision”
18 November 2021

Open data as a catalyst
for traffic safety culture change
George Yannis,Professor NTUA
Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering,
National Technical University of Athens

Road Crashes Globally Europe presents the lowest traffic fatality
rate per population globally Africa has the worst road safety
performance (up to 10 times more fatalities
per population compared to the best
performing European countries) The percentage of VRUs’ fatalities in roadcrashes worldwide is especially high (54%)
 Pedestrian fatalities range from 14% to 40%
 PTW fatalities range from 9% to 43%
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Diversity in Road Safety Culture Different levels of economic development
GDP, growth, etc.
 Different levels of transport system development
Road network, vehicle fleet, public transport, etc.
 Different traffic patterns
Modal share between pedestrians, PTW, passenger
cars, HGVs, PT, etc.
Traffic share inside/outside urban areas Different risk perceptions
speeding, distraction, drink-and-drive, etc.
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Measuring Traffic Safety Culture Components
Traffic Safety Performance
Crashes, Exposure, Key Performance
Indicators
Safe System Approach Indicators
Monitoring implementation, evaluating
effectivenessRoad Users' Behaviour
Stated attitudes and beliefs, recordedbehaviour
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Traffic Safety Performance Crash data provide a broad picture of the sizeof the problem, but very little on crashcharacteristics and causation
 Crash data are meaningful only if they are
combined with exposure data (crashes perkm/time driven, per traffic characteristics, perroad user, per time, etc.) in order to highlightthe real dimension of the problem

 Crash causalities are revealed when crashes
are correlated with Road Safety Performance
Indicators (behaviour, infrastructure, traffic,vehicles, safety management)
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Safe System Approach Indicators
Monitoring of measures, programmes
and policies implementation allows
for the identification of the degree ofimplementation of these measuresand programmes over time
Evaluation of safety measureseffectiveness provides valuable
information, necessary for matchingproblems with solutions

George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Users' behaviour, attitudes and beliefs
 Perception of the relative importance ofcauses of crashes
 Acceptability of unsafe behaviour in traffic(speeding, distraction, DUI, etc.)
 Self-declared behaviour (as a driver, rider,pedestrian) Opinions on traffic rules and penalties
 Support of existing or new policy measures

George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Perception of the relative importance of causes of road crashes
ESRA Global Attitudes Survey

 Most respondents from all regions believe thatunsafe traffic behaviors are often a cause of aroad crash involving a car.
 The risk perception of the unsafe behaviors as afrequent crash cause was the highest in Europe(from 74% for fatigued driving to 81% for drinkdriving).
 The lowest rates were recorded in Asia-Oceania(from 51% for driving after taking drugs to 57%
for driving above the speed limit).

“How often do you think each of the following factors is the cause of a road crash involving a car? -%often/frequentlyscores 4 to 6 on a 6-point scale from 1=never to 6=[almost] always

Perception of causes of a road crash involving a car
90%
80%

70%

80.6%

74.8% 74.8% 75.8% 74.4%

74.6%
67.1%

60%

71.6% 70.8%

68.9%

68.5%

68.1%
63.2%

54.6%

50%

61.9%

64.3%56.8%
51.4%

52.6% 52.8%

40%

30%
20%

10%

 In North America, the rates ranged from 67%
0%Europe(driving after taking drugs) to 75% (drink-driving)
using a hand-held mobile phone while driving
and from 62% (using hand-held mobile phone
while driving) to 69% (drink-driving) in Africa.
driving after drinking alcohol

North America

Asia Oceania

driving after taking drugs (other than medication)
driving while tired

Africadriving above the speed limit

Source: C. Pires, K. Torfs, A. Areal, et al., Car drivers‘ road safety performance: A benchmark across 32 countries, IATSS Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2020.08.002

George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Open data can enhance traffic safety culture Motivating Authorities

 increase of accountability
 transparency in the decision making process efficient use of resources Developing road user mentalities

 better understanding of the road safety problem
and behaviour change
 increase of trust in road safety Authorities anddecision makers
 easier acceptance of the new measures and policies

Traffic Safety Cultures of the Authorities and of theRoad Users are fully interdependent
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Open data for international cooperationimproving through benchmarking
at local, national and global levelexchange of good practicefor specific problems and solutions
operating road safety observatories
for regional cooperation
exploiting new technologies
for low cost global big data
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

Conclusion
 Open safety data and knowledge available to all
are the key for cultural and behavioural changesof both the road users and the Authorities
 Serious effort is needed at all phases of datacollection, processing, analysis and openpublication
 Continuous safety monitoring and accountability
can enhance traffic safety culture Traffic safety culture should always be considered
in combination with mobility needs and culture(especially the promotion of Public Transport)
George Yannis, Open data as a catalyst for traffic safety culture change - November 2021

The 7th GIFTS Symposium - “The Cultural Diversity in Traffic and Building ofSafe Societies: Toward Common Vision”
18 November 2021

Open data as a catalyst
for traffic safety culture change
George Yannis,
Professor NTUA
Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering,
National Technical University of Athens