Speaking at the final event of the major EC project, SLAIN, EuroRAP Chairman Ferry Smith has set out the Association’s path for supporting road authorities to save lives through safer road infrastructure in the second UN Decade of Action for road safety to 2030.

Praising the work of Secretary General, Lina Konstantinopoulou, as her work leading the successful SLAIN project concludes Ferry Smith said: “In 2018, the Commission asked EuroRAP and its Members to propose an innovative project on the trans-European road network (TEN-T) using the first ever funding dedicated to TEN-T safety. Lina has provided the leadership to ensure the 6 countries involved in this beacon project achieved their goals. She enabled the first estimates of the extent to which national trans-European networks meet WHO Member State recommendations on infrastructure safety. She has led the SLAIN work towards Road Infrastructure Requirements for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV).

Ferry Smith continues: “EuroRAP has established partnership activity with 31 countries and dozens of government, research and NGO partner organisations, and in particular, Lina has recently forged public and private partnerships to develop safer roads within 20 countries so road assessment can be taken forward. In the 1st UN Decade of Action, civil society and research institutions developed the tools. As we enter the 2nd UN Decade, Lina has laid the foundation for growing the level of collaboration and leadership by road authorities as each country takes practical steps to implement the RISM directive and promote sustainable mobility in cities. These National Programmes, bespoke for each country and supported with globally acclaimed tools and a shared platform for sharing training, knowledge, and experience, are key. I warmly thank Lina for managing the Association’s transition so it can provide a valued forum for practical applications. I wish her well as she moves on in her career in another International Association.”

Lina Konstantinopoulou said: “I have immensely enjoyed leading the NGO and supporting Ministries and Road Authorities in the practical implementation of the European Commission Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive and the European Green Deal by promoting safer and sustainable mobility in cities. I have relished working with the committed Members of the Association, our donors (ACEA, 3M, IRAP) and other Brussels based organisations to develop relevant policy and commitment to the new WHO recommendations and European legislation so thousands of lives can be saved.

Lina will leave her role end-March 2021 and Marianne Dwarshuis will then serve as Acting Secretary of the Association. The Association’s General Assembly will be held on 17th June when Members will review their new National Programmes collectively alongside the latest global developments from the global road assessment charity, iRAP and the project work of the institute, EIRA, founded by EuroRAP to support countries in south east Europe.

Note for Editors
1. The European Road Assessment Association (EuroRAP)[1] is a not-for-profit Association with Members from civil society, authorities and universities. The Association encourages countries to build National Programmes to save lives and to follow WHO and UNECE guidance and, in the EU, comply with the 2020 Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive.

2. WHO Member States have developed the Global Road Safety Performance Targets that recommend a minimum 3-star safety standard for in-built safety standard for new roads and that 75% of travel for all road users should achieve that standard on existing roads [2],[3]

3. The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP)[4] is the global charity established by EuroRAP for the 1st UN Decade. iRAP provides free to air tools for assessment of in-built safety and life saving countermeasures. There have been applications in more than 100 countries worldwide helping to shape many tens of billions of investment in safer roads.

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[1] https://eurorap.org/
[2] https://www.who.int/roadsafety/publications
[3] https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/12GlobalRoadSafetyTargets.pdf
[4] https://irap.org/