International Road Safety Event in Bologna on the 9th October
The International Road Safety Event took place in Bologna on October 9th. This is the second event that has seen the EFA, the European Road Safety Charter, and Unasca join forces to spread the culture of road safety. Thanks to their collaboration over the past few years, the Municipality of Bologna chose to host the event.
The first panel was managed by AIPSS, the Italian association of road safety professionals, with a focus on the issues associated with road construction sites. ETSC, ERF, and UNI Roma were involved.
The second panel focused on the European Charter and presented some of the most worthy Italian projects.
The third panel focused on dissemination activities outside the EU, particularly with UNECE and the work EFA is carrying out internationally. The universities of Bologna and Jellylearn were involved. Jellylearn presented its new video in collaboration with EFA on hazard perception. It will soon be officially launched worldwide.
The final panel focused on research activities with universities and the collaborations EFA has been pursuing in recent years to raise the quality of driver training. UNI Rome, Pimas, UNI Bologna, and ERC were involved.
The opening video messages from Jean Todt (Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Road Safety), Ms. Claire Depré (Head of Unit at DG Move), and MEPs Carlo Fidanza, Annalisa Corrado, and Perfrancesco Maran were also highly appreciated by the participants.
Thanks to “Test & Drive” that supported the international event providing alcohol tests to all participants.
Michael Bennett and Jeanette Jedback
Luciana Iorio and Jeanette Jedback
Andrea Scapigliati (IRC) and Alfredo Boenzi (UNASCA)
Andrea Colombo and Andrea Onori
International Road Safaty Event
Federico Semeraro – ERC
EFA General Assembly in Bologna on the 10th October
On October 10th, taking advantage of the previous day’s event, EFA held its general assembly in Bologna.
Several participants, approximately 20 delegates from national associations and other stakeholders, were present.
During the meeting, new collaborations with Škoda Auto and the EFA project on international standards for driving instructors, managed by the scientific committee, were presented. The project with Skoda will offer interesting collaboration opportunities for EFA associations and driving schools.
Pilot projects have already begun in France, England, and the Czech Republic.
The new Bulgarian members, representing SARS, the Bulgarian state agency responsible for road safety, were also introduced.
The next meeting will be in mid-March in Austria, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, where driving instructors will be able to engage in various training activities and test new vehicles and training techniques. Below is the link to the 2018 edition.
Jiri Novotny and Antonio Pais Neto
EFA General Assembly
EFA General Assembly Participants
Modernising EU driving rules to increase road safety
On Tuesday 21st October, the European Parliament confirmed an update of EU driving licence rules that aim to contribute to road safety and reduce collisions with almost 20,000 lives lost on EU roads annually.
New training requirements
To qualify for a licence a driver’s test will now have to include knowledge on blind spot risks, driver-assistance systems, the safe opening of doors, and phone usage distraction risks. As a result of demands by MEPs, new training and testing requirements will place a greater emphasis on risk awareness of pedestrians, children, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. Read more about
ANIECA’s motorbike instructors training session
At the beginning of October, ANIECA was in Braga for the second motorcycle driving instructors course of the 2025: A new vision for better training and qualification of motorcyclists.
Twenty motorbike instructors took part in both theoretical and practical sessions, completing another stage in their training to promote road safety. They were supervised by two trainers for the theory session and by four moto instructors for the exercise in the yard.
The event was also attended by a member of the GNR – Guarda Nacional Republicana (National Republican Guard) from Porto, who took part in the training with great enthusiasm and commitment.
Antonio Reis and Antonio Pais Neto
ANIECA Training Exercises
ANIECA Training Exercises
58th CIECA Congress 2026 – CALL FOR PAPERS
The 58th CIECA General Assembly and Congress will be held in Dresden, Germany, from May 26th to 29th, 2026. The event will be hosted by TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 at the International Congress Center, located in the heart of Dresden’s city centre.
We warmly invite policymakers, representatives of authorities, researchers and practitioners to submit presentation proposals for the upcoming CIECA Congress. This global event will bring together key stakeholders to discuss innovative approaches and evidence-based practices that shape driver education, assessment, and road safety in an evolving mobility landscape.
Please note the deadline for the submission of abstracts is 12 December 2025. Further information, including topics and submission guidelines can be found here. Please follow these carefully when preparing your contribution. All submissions should be sent to Eva Mateo.
Abstracts for individual papers will be peer reviewed by the CIECA Programme Committee and you will be advised of the outcome of the review by 13 February 2026.
ETSC online event on reducing serious injuries on European Roads
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) invites you to an online event that will focus on reducing serious injuries on European roads.
This PIN Talk will look at various countries’ approach in the collection of serious injuries data. It will also look into countermeasures and what can be done to reduce serious injuries.
ETSC will present their latest serious injury data from their March 2025 report. There will be presentations from colleagues from Finland, France, Austria and Sweden.
https://etsc.eu/online-pin-talk-reducing-serious-injuries-on-european-roads-4-november-2025/
Waymo AV performs illegal U-turn but California police can’t issue a ticket
Police officers in San Bruno, California, faced an unusual predicament during a DUI enforcement operation when they stopped a driverless Waymo taxi for making an illegal U-turn – only to discover they had no legal mechanism to issue a citation.
The incident occurred early Saturday morning when the autonomous vehicle performed the illegal maneuver “right in front” of officers at a traffic light. While the vehicle pulled over immediately when officers activated their lights and siren, the situation highlighted a significant gap in current traffic enforcement protocols.
“Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn’t be issued (our citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot’),” the San Bruno Police Department wrote in a Facebook post that has since generated more than 500 comments. “That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue.” Read more
The 2026 edition of the RTR Conference is back in Brussels
We are pleased to announce that the 9th edition of the Road Transport Research Conference (RTR Conference) will take place from 10th to 12th February 2026 at The EGG Brussels.
Co-organised by the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC), the European Green Vehicles Initiative Association for the 2Zero partnership (EGVIAfor2Zero), the Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility Association (CCAM Association), and the European Commission DG Research & Innovation, and with the support of the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA), the RTR Conference remains the key European event to explore the results and impact of EU-funded road transport research.
