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Athens hosted the 8th IRTAD International Conference in April 2026, bringing road safety data leaders and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) innovators into the same conversation. The message was clear, the next step-change in safety performance will come from turning digital signals (in vehicles, infrastructure, phones and public datasets), into practical interventions that prevent serious harm before it happens.
The International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) network sits at the heart of evidence-led road safety policy. When IRTAD convenes, it is not only to compare casualty numbers, but to align definitions, improve measurement and strengthen the link between policy choices and outcomes. For ITS professionals, this matters because digital systems are now central to safety strategy, yet they are only as credible as the data used to target deployments and assess impact. The Athens conference theme, “Better Road Safety Data for Better Safety Performance”, reflected a growing expectation that ITS must demonstrate measurable safety benefits, not just operational efficiency.
The 8th IRTAD International Conference, held in Athens, Greece, from 15–17 April 2026, served as a pivotal stage for the convergence of high-level road safety data and emerging Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Co-organised by the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), the event, themed "Better Road Safety Data for Better Safety Performance", underscored how digitalisation and automation are now the bedrocks of modern mobility strategies.
A primary focus of the conference was the shift from reactive crash data collection to proactive, data-driven safety interventions. Experts highlighted that while historical fatality data remains crucial, the future of road safety lies in Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs), metrics that monitor risk factors like speed, seatbelt usage and phone distraction before an accident occurs.
This shift is partly practical because deaths and serious injuries occur less frequently than everyday risky behaviour, meaning traditional crash-led approaches can be slow to reveal whether a new measure is working. SPIs such as speeding prevalence, red-light compliance, helmet and seatbelt wearing, distraction rates, or safe passing distances, offer earlier, more granular feedback. They also map naturally to ITS capabilities, from enforcement and in-vehicle warnings to network management and behavioural nudges delivered through apps and variable message signs.
At the same time, the conference discussions highlighted a reality ITS teams know well, “more data” does not automatically mean “better insight”. Floating car data may over-represent newer vehicles, smartphone signals can miss groups without consistent access and AI models can inherit bias from incomplete or uneven ground-truthing. Building a dependable SPI framework therefore requires transparent methods, careful validation and clear governance around privacy, security and permitted use, especially when datasets originate from multiple public and private sources.
AI and big data integration. Speakers explored how machine learning can fuse diverse sources, such as floating car data, smartphones, connected vehicle telemetry and even satellite imagery, to identify risk patterns that are invisible in traditional datasets. The goal is not simply to produce “heatmaps”, but to forecast where conflicts and near-misses are likely to cluster by time of day, road type, weather or local land use. For road authorities, this opens the door to prioritising interventions earlier, whether that means redesigning a junction, adjusting signal timing or targeting enforcement and communication in a specific corridor.
Digitalisation of road inspections. Automated video inspection, computer vision and conflict-based approaches were discussed as practical ways to detect risk without waiting for a history of severe crashes. By analysing roadway video, inspectors can systematically spot missing signage, inadequate sight lines, poor markings or inconsistent speeds. Meanwhile, AI-supported conflict simulation and surrogate safety measures help practitioners estimate how often road users come into potentially dangerous interactions, valuable for locations where collisions are rare, but risk is high, such as complex urban intersections or mixed-traffic corridors.
For many delegates, the most important question was implementation, how to move from pilot projects to routine practice. That involves interoperable data standards, procurement that rewards outcomes (not just technology features) and cross-disciplinary skills, including data engineering, safety science, behavioural insight and operations. It also requires clarity on who is accountable when insights cross institutional boundaries (for example, when a city relies on private mobility data to justify changes to street design).
The conference also spotlighted Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) as a transformative force for reaching the EU’s Vision Zero 2050 goal. Speakers noted that as vehicles become more autonomous, the data they generate will provide an unprecedented level of detail for traffic management and safety monitoring.
From an ITS perspective, CCAM changes both the inputs and the expectations of safety management. Connected and automated vehicles generate high-resolution operational data (braking events, lane-keeping performance, system disengagements, perception challenges), that could enrich safety monitoring if shared appropriately. But CCAM also introduces new requirements, safety cases that can be audited, clearer definitions of operational design domains (ODDs) and mechanisms to manage risk during the long transition period when automated and non-automated road users share the same space.
Several conversations returned to infrastructure readiness, including the need for consistent road markings, well-maintained signage, predictable signal behaviour and high-quality digital mapping, which are essential for automation to reliably and predictably operate. This is where digitalisation efforts, including network-level asset data and simulation environments, can support safer roll-out. When authorities can test scenarios in a digital twin, assess conflict likelihood and then verify changes with field data, they create a feedback loop that benefits all road users, not only connected vehicles.
Crucially, the conference positioned CCAM within broader global commitments, including the UN “Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030”. The tone was pragmatic, recognising that technology is an enabler, not a substitute for Safe System design. ITS solutions deliver the greatest safety benefit when paired with policies that reduce exposure to high-energy collisions, such as safer speeds, forgiving road layouts and protection for pedestrians and cyclists. In practice, that can mean using Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and enforcement technology to support 30 km/h urban zones or using connected infrastructure to improve compliance at high-risk crossings.
With more than 80 member countries, IRTAD provides a platform to make safety data comparable, which is an essential precondition for learning what works. In Athens, delegates emphasised the importance of consistent definitions for serious injury and shared methodologies for collecting exposure and behavioural metrics. For ITS, harmonisation has an additional dimension, how to measure the performance of digital and automated interventions across different legal frameworks, road types and data ecosystems. If one city introduces AI-supported speed management or conflict analytics, the lessons are far more transferable when other jurisdictions can interpret the indicators in the same way.
Safety is becoming predictive. SPIs and surrogate measures are moving centre stage and ITS is one of the main ways to measure and influence them.
AI needs governance. The value of big data depends on validation, representativeness and clear rules for privacy, security and acceptable use.
CCAM raises the bar. Automation can improve safety, but it also demands auditable safety cases, clarity on operational limits and strong infrastructure basics.
Safe System still applies. Digital tools work best when aligned with speed management, street design and protection of vulnerable road users.
Harmonised definitions unlock learning. Comparable indicators and shared methods make it possible to benchmark ITS safety interventions across borders.
Ultimately, the 8th IRTAD Conference reinforced that the next decade of transport safety will be defined by how effectively we can turn raw digital data into actionable intelligence.
As road networks become more digitally instrumented, the competitive advantage will belong to organisations that can translate intelligence into decisions, quickly, transparently and with public trust. The Athens conference reinforced a direction of travel for the ITS sector, invest in data quality and harmonised metrics, scale analytics that highlight risk before harm occurs and integrate technology into Safe System programmes rather than treating it as a standalone solution. If those pieces come together, the next decade could see road safety management evolve from counting tragedies to systematically preventing them.
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