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30 Jul 2013

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Design School partner in €3 million road safety project

Experts from the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ 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 º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ 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 º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ 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/

−ENDS−

Notes for editors

Article reference number: PR 13/151

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It was awarded the coveted Sunday Times University of the Year 2008-09 title, and is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in national newspaper league tables. It has been voted England's Best Student Experience for six years running in the Times Higher Education league, and in recognition of its contribution to the sector, the University has been awarded six Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

It is a member of the 1994 Group of 11 leading research-intensive universities. The Group was established in 1994 to promote excellence in university research and teaching. Each member undertakes diverse and high-quality research, while ensuring excellent levels of teaching and student experience.

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