Completion Of Project – April 2012
SMART Road Restraint Systems Project Final Event – Safe Roadside Barriers for Motorcyclists, an urgent need in Europe
“How to efectively protect vulnerable road users improving the EU standard for roadside barriers”
The SMART RRS Project Final Event took place from Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th of April, 2012 at the European Parliament in Brussels, hosted by MEPs Wortmann-Kool (The Netherlands) and Ayala-Sender (Spain).
Co-funded by the European Commission, the SMART RRS project has developed an innovative road restraint system taking the safety of vulnerable road users into account.
The new intelligent barrier brings several substantial improvements to today’s EU standardized roadside barriers by proposing solutions addressing motorcyclists’ safety issues such as shock absorption, traffic information, and emergency response, three of Europe’s key road safety priorities 2011-2020.
At the occasion of the SMART RRS Final Event, MEPs Wortmann-Kool and Ayala-Sender addressed the problem of roadside barriers and motorcycle safety.
the final event consisted of :
- An Information Stand “Safe roadside barriers for motorcyclists, an urgent need in Europe – How to effectively protect vulnerable road users improving the EU standard for roadside barriers”; which showcased the SMART RRS prototype, a motorcycle friendly road restraint system using integrated sensors able to transmit data on road conditions and accidents;
- the Opening Reception of the Information Stand, (April 24th at 6:00pm – ground floor ASP Area Galerie Cafétéria)
- and a Lunch Debate at the Parliament’s Members Salon, on April 25th at 12:30pm, which addressed the problems of motorcyclists with regard to European standard roadside barriers and discuss possible solutions;
The exhibition was opened from April 23rd through April 25th.
SMART RRS Project
Project Acronym: Smart RRS
Project Full Title: Innovative Concepts for smart road restraint systems to provide greater safety for vulnerable road users.
Grant Agreement No.: 218741
Recent figures from WHO and ETSC reveal frightening statistics on road traffic accidents across Europe and beyond
1.2 million people worldwide are killed in road crashes each year with up to 43,000 dying in Europe.
Up to 50 million are injured with at least 600,000 hospital admissions on a European level directly attributed to road traffic accidents. This costs European society approximately 160 billion euro and uses up 10% of all health care resources.This would mean that by 2020 road traffic injuries will be the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease and injury.
- World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention [WHO, 2004] Report on European Road Transport Safety [Prof. Mackay, ETSC, 2000]
Many injuries and deaths are a result of impacts with current road restraint systems especially in the case of vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and passengers where impacts with supports or edges usually result in amputations or sectioning of torsos in a guillotine effect.
Furthermore once an accident has occurred; the time between the impact and receiving immediate inicial first aid can be crucial; delays in alerting emergency services or incorrect location information given to emergency can cause waste life saving moments for injured people or even result in emergency services going to the wrong location of the accident.
This project will develop a new smart road restraint system that will reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused in road traffic accidents by integrating primary and tertiary sensor systems in a new RRS system; providing greater protection to all road users, alerting motorists and emergency services of danger so as to prevent accidents happening, and alerting them of accidents as they happen to maximise response time to the exact location of the incident.
Original Source and full details of SMART RSS Project – www.smartrrs.unizar.es
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