Project proposal road safety 2010_230710

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Programme
DG Mobility and Transport
Call for proposals with a view to
obtaining grants in the field of
transport (DG MOVE/SUB/01-2010)
Road Safety
Development and implementation of innovative campaigns throughout the European Union; new information technologies to influence user Deadline
15th of September 2010
Applicant
TECLA – Association for transregional
local and European cooperation (Italy)
Project proposal TECLA_ DG MOVE/SUB/01-2010 PROJECT IDEA
Background
In Europe road accidents are one of the first causes of death, with more than 30.000 casualties and about 1 million injured every year in road. They are the first cause of death amongst youth: on average, 22 young people die every day on European roads The majority of road accidents is caused by irrational, wrong and/or careless driving behaviour (high speed, mental/bodily fatigue, etc.); among youth, they are mostly caused by lack of experience, immaturity and lifestyles (aggressiveness, alcohol abuse, etc.), lack of control of the vehicle and high speed. Wrong driving behaviours are also one of the causes of energy consumption, and therefore air and noise pollution, produced by motor road traffic. This situation is made worse by the fact that approximately one third of the global energy consumption is nowadays caused by motor road traffic, in particular car traffic, and that the new low-consumption/electronic vehicle industry is struggling to cope with the ever increasing traffic. These are just soma basic data showing how road transport has strong influences on the environment, health, society and the economy (e.g. the loss of human lives every year in Europe amounts to a loss of about 130 billions of euro). For these reasons, European member states and the European Commission (which has recently published the Guidelines “Towards a European road safety area: policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020”, confirming the objective of halving the overall number of road deaths in the European Union by 2020) have put road safety among their top priorities, working to foster sustainable and safe mobility for all citizens. These issues are also strongly felt at local and territorial level: European Provinces and Municipalities, in fact, take care of both road management and youth policies, developing and implementing policies and initiatives to improve road safety and young people wellbeing. Summary of the project
In order to address these problems, the project intends to initiate a series of road safety
communication, information and training actions aimed at raising awareness
and change the behaviour of young novice drivers, so as to induce a proper use of
the mechanical tool.
This will contribute, in the long run, to the reduction of both the energy consumption/pollution levels (air and noise) and the road accidents, at the same time saving fuel (up to 20%) and thus the economic costs of vehicle management. To reach these objectives, the project will promote the dissemination and use of
eco/defensive driving, that is an innovative driving methodology which focuses on:
a sound knowledge of the equipment and functioning of modern motor vehicles (e.g. a smart and proper driving behaviour which makes an intelligent use of both motor vehicles modern technologies (technical level) and of the mental and psycho- Project proposal TECLA_ DG MOVE/SUB/01-2010 physiological elements (driving position, eyesight, reflexes and reaction time, etc.) Therefore, the eco/defensive driving promotes the principles of the eco-driving, aiming at lower consumption and pollution, and of defensive driving, aiming at improving road safety and at adopting behaviours which respect own and other people’s safety through the prevention of possibly dangerous situation. In particular, the eco/defensive driving is based on the assumption that man and its behaviour is the primary cause of road accidents and thus man itself can be the main safety device. Therefore, it is based on the understanding of the human body, its senses, reflexes, movement dynamics and especially the sending of information from the eye to the brain (eyesight has an influence of about 90% on driving), etc., as well as of the laws of physics which rules moving vehicles and of the technologies which characterize modern motor vehicles. All these aspects, namely, anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others on the road, and at the same time contributing to the reduction of environmental pollution, are the innovative sides of eco/defensive driving and what differ it from the traditional “safe driving”. The project, promoted by a group of European local authorities (Provinces and Municipalities) supported by technical/scientific partners (Universities and associations),is directed to novice drivers of partner territories, with the aim of raising awareness among them and train them on ecodefensive driving with a view of fostering the adoption of efficient and responsible behaviours, right at the beginning of their driving path, when they strongly need additional instruments to build and strengthen conduct, attitudes and techniques respectful of own and other people’s lives. The project includes a preparatory phase focused on territorial analysis, aiming at identify the “killer” situations, locations and behaviours which cause the majority of road accidents among youth in the partner territories (dangerous crossroads or bends, wrong driving movements, etc.) The results of such research (which will use the existing information and data available in partner territories and will involve the experiences of, for instance, traffic policemen) will be useful for the subsequent project activities, that is the planning and implementation of the raising awareness and communication campaign (in order to act on those same situation, behaviour and/or location) and the training course (in order to detail the training aims and modules). Moreover, the partner local authorities will come into possession of such results for future formulation and execution of, for example, road infrastructure prevention projects On the basis of the preparatory phase, the project will develop in the partner countries and at European/international level a widespread and innovative communication and raising awareness campaign on eco/defensive driving and road safety for young novice drivers of the partner countries through the dissemination of communication material (video, etc.), raising awareness events and festivals, etc. The campaign, which will make use of innovative and instruments appealing to young people, aims at raise awareness and change driving behavioural patterns of young people (through the dissemination of the innovative ecodefensive driving methodology). Moreover, the project will include a training course on ecodefensive driving for novice Project proposal TECLA_ DG MOVE/SUB/01-2010 drivers of 18-20 years of age, coming from the schools of the partner territories: this will represent an additional raising awareness tool and an original teaching technique which, making use of modern car technologies and appealing approaches, will provide youth with additional driving skills, knowledge and techniques. Such course, which will make use of equipment such as Ecolog, Drift Box, Skid, Tag Heuer, video/audio systems, etc., will comprise: Theory sessions: psychophysiology of driving (driving posture, influence of the senses on driving, etc.); dynamics of the vehicle (understeer, breaking distance, etc.); issues related to road actors, vulnerable users, etc.; ABS and ESP; technology of modern motor vehicles (common rail, manual/automatic gear-change, etc.) Practical sessions: slaloms, breakings, skid car, etc. Practical sessions on road: personal instruction and evaluation of behaviour and consumption (initial assessment test) and eco-drive and evaluation of consumption (final assessment test) Finally, project management, monitoring and evaluation activities will run throughout the entire duration of the project, in order to assure an efficient and effective coordination of the activities and the achievement of the objectives and expected results. PARTNERSHIP/BUDGET/DURATION
APPLICANT – TECLA (Italy)
PARTNERS
University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy)
1 Italian medium/big size Province
1 Italian medium/big size Municipality
1 medium/big size European municipality
1 medium/big size European Province
European/international thematic associations
ASSOCIATES
UPI – Union of Italian Provinces (Italy)
ANCI – National Association of Italian
Municipalities (Italy)
About 400.000 euro total budget About 50% requested grant Project proposal TECLA_ DG MOVE/SUB/01-2010

Source: http://www.fonduri-structurale.ro/Document_Files//Stiri/00007465/jy2i5_n610_d1.pdf