Experts from the Loughborough University Design School will be analysing data from thousands of accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists as part of a €3 million European-wide road safety project.

The VRUITS – Improving the safety and mobility of vulnerable road users through Intelligent Transport Systems application – is a consortium of 12 partners from eight countries.

The main aim of the study is to develop technological countermeasures to help prevent road accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.  It is anticipated that cooperative systems will be developed that will allow interactions with vehicles and the road infrastructure, alerting motorists if vulnerable road users are present.

At Loughborough the team, led by Dr Andrew Morris, will be analysing data from several thousand accidents that have taken place across Europe.

He explains: “To understand what measures are needed to prevent accidents that involve pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, you first have to understand the cause of accidents in the past.  Through the data analysis we hope to uncover the leading causes of these accidents, which can help guide the design and development of technological interventions.

“I am delighted that the expertise of the Loughborough Design School in road accident analysis has been recognised once again through this pioneering project.”

Once the technologies have been developed field trials for a select number of applications will take place before recommendations are made to the European Commission and other stakeholders.

VRUITS is being led by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.  For further information visit www.vruits.eu/

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