Speeding is the main problem in road safety: it is a major factor in some 30% of fatal road accidents and significantly increases the risk of an accident.

Despite this, 40-50% of drivers on European roads exceed the recommended speed limit and 10-20% drive 10 km/h faster than the permitted limit. Confirmation of this trend is also provided at local and Italian level by the “Driving Style Observatory”, which in a recent survey of the behaviour of users of the A4 motorway (Brescia-Padua) found that on the section of road analysed, 16% of light vehicles and 85.5% of heavy vehicles exceeded the permitted speed limit on the motorway, and 2% of light vehicles and 1% of heavy vehicles exceeded the speed limit by more than 20 km/h.

This is a sample of the widespread behaviour, known to be ‘dangerous’ but completely underestimated in terms of the outcome. Incorrect and risky driving endangers your own life and that of others. Respecting the limits is an act of responsibility.

Recent European figures indicate that 70% of victims on urban roads are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. It is therefore very important to map the technology available for improving road safety in order to give significant impetus to progress in the sector as well as the chance to reduce the ever-increasing accident figures, particularly those affecting more vulnerable road users.

Yet technology in itself may not always be the answer when faced with an emergency. Examples of positive innovation that are disconnected from road safety risks and behaviour patterns show that it is not always so.

One of these involves the silent running of electric and hybrid cars.

Paradoxically, this innovation has resulted in increased risks for pedestrians, who are not used to not being able to hear the noise of a car and are therefore more vulnerable to accidents.

This has led to corrective action by the EU that will “oblige” ‘green’ vehicles to make a minimum level of preventive noise.

Ultimately, road safety is always the result of a constant dialogue between innovation and cultural norms, meaning that as technology responds to its challenges, it always needs to strike a balance between forward-looking thinking and social behaviour.

Another milestone for Safe Pedestrian 2.0: our system for monitoring pedestrian crossings without traffic lights has now reached Santa Marinella.

In line with European legislation, which requires a significant reduction in the number of deaths and injuries caused by road accidents by 2020, the Region of Lazio has decided to undertake a series of initiatives aimed at making the area safer. These include the adoption of a ‘Safe Pedestrian 2.0’ system that was installed at the end of May on the Aurelia State Road (Km 60+800) at a pedestrian crossing that presents a potentially critical safety risk to more vulnerable road users.

The 360° camera allows Safe Pedestrian 2.0 to monitor pedestrians in real-time and retrieve video recordings that can be used to establish the circumstances and responsibilities in the event of an accident.

Following on from Porto San Giorgio, Labico, Arosio and Torno, Santa Marinella is now the fifth municipality in Italy to host Safety21’s high-tech pedestrian system, at a time when local authorities are becoming increasingly conscious of a problem whose numbers are tantamount to an emergency: in 2017, 600 pedestrians died in Italy and more than 20,000 were injured, most of them permanently. In the Santa Marinella municipality alone, ACI (Italian Automobile Club) statistics for 2017 show that there were 26 road accidents on the Aurelia road, leaving 44 people injured.