The Slovenia-based European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA) has signed the contract for its work on a €2.15 million project over 3-years to improve road infrastructure safety across 12 countries in the Danube region.

The Danube Transnational Programme approved for funding of EIRA’s RADAR project (Risk Assessment on Danube Area Roads) under the Specific Objective 3.1 “Support environmentally-friendly and safe transport systems and balanced accessibility of urban and rural areas”.

RADAR (Risk Assessment on Danube Area Roads) will identify risk on road networks and produce plans to systematically reduce that risk by improving infrastructure and road layout.  It will, provide training and encourage transnational cooperation activities to help road safety stakeholders in the Danube area learn from the best.

EIRA Chairman Ferry Smith said RADAR will take in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia and be key to Europe meeting SDG Goal 3.6 to halve deaths and serious injuries in the Danube region.

“Large parts of the Danube road network rate poorly for safety, particularly for vulnerable road-users, and death rates in many countries are higher than the EU average.

“Many countries lack the professional capacity to assess the safety of their network and design roads that meet a 3-star or better minimum safety standard,” he said. “RADAR will provide a much-needed capacity boost.”

The 3-year project will involve 10 project partners and 11 associated Ministry and road authority partners as well as two international organisations South East Europe Transport Observatory and the European Union Strategy for Danube Region (Priority 1b – Rail-Road-Air Mobility).

Training courses and study visits for road safety professionals will guide project partners through the steps from analysing safety on their road network to defining road safety solutions that are cost effective and likely to generate the highest reduction of crashes and casualties.

Project Director Olivera Djordjevic explains “National Action Plans will define clear steps for implementation and pilot actions will assist local authorities to prioritise high risk road sections.  The development of implementation-ready Road Layout Concept Plans will identify specific needs at locations prior to crash countermeasure implementation.

“The establishment of a transnational Road Safety Expert Group will bolster knowledge across the region and draw on input from beyond its borders towards a first region-wide Danube Infrastructure Road Safety Improvement Strategy.

“RADAR will be instrumental in building regional capacity and strategic action plans for evidence-based smart road infrastructure investment in Eastern Europe in the years ahead,” Ms Djordjevic said.

EIRA was one of several hundred organisations who applied for funding for projects.  Work commenced on 1 June 2018.

For more information, contact RADAR Project Director Olivera Djordjevic on email olivera.djordjevic@eurorap.org

Notes to editors:

The World Health Organisation estimates the number of deaths in the project countries in the most recent common comparison year as follows: Austria (455), Bosnia and Herzegovina (676), Bulgaria (601), Croatia (395), Czech Republic (654), Hungary (765), Montenegro (74), Republic of Moldova (437), Romania (1881), Serbia (735), Slovakia (360) and Slovenia (132).  Note that these are estimates modelled by WHO to allow for under-reporting and are generally higher totals than data held nationally.  EIRA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP AISBL), a not-for-profit international association registered in Brussels.

Image caption:

Countries involved in EIRA’s project Risk Assessment on Danube Area Roads (RADAR)