SOTERIA Completes First Round of Demonstrations to Advance Road Safety for Vulnerable Road Users
Image from netcompany.com by Dariya Rublova
Seven months ago, the SOTERIA project celebrated a major milestone – its two-year anniversary. But this was more than just a birthday. It marked the launch of the project’s first round of real-world demonstrations across four Living Labs in Germany, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom. These demonstrations are a key step in SOTERIA’s mission to develop and validate innovative road safety solutions in live urban environments.
Since its launch in November 2022, SOTERIA has focused on addressing critical road safety challenges faced by Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), including pedestrians, cyclists, children, and older people. These groups often face heightened risks due to limited physical protection, inconsistent infrastructure, and a lack of real-time safety information. In response, project partners have been working to develop adaptive, data-driven solutions tailored to the complex and ever-changing nature of urban mobility.
Across the four Living Labs, seven pioneering solutions were tested in collaboration with local authorities and end users, including schoolchildren, courier drivers, and cyclists. These demonstrations offered vital insights into the usability, technical performance, and social impact of the tools developed.
“The first round of demonstrations has validated the potential of SOTERIA’s innovations to make a tanglible difference in urban road safety,” noted Maria Pohle, Lead Researcher from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., responsible for the Living Lab covering the city of Munich and the Free State of Saxony in Germany.
“By engaging directly with end-users – ranging from schoolchildren to professional courier drivers and cyclists, as well as public authorities – we have been able to test SOTERIA solutions in real-world conditions and ensure that technologies being developed are practical, inclusive and ready to be scaled across European cities,” added Jeronimo Bueno from Nommon Solutions and Technologies S.L. leading the demonstrations
Guided by the CIVITAS Evaluation Framework
To ensure a harmonised approach across its four Living Labs, SOTERIA adopted the CIVITAS Evaluation Framework as the foundation for specifying and assessing its demonstration results. The framework’s core principles were carefully tailored to reflect the project’s unique goals and innovation pathways (Read more here).
Lessons from the first demonstration phase
The first round of demonstrations across the SOTERIA Living Labs yielded encouraging results; One of the standout successes was the Virtual Reality (VR)-based accident prevention programme rolled out in schools in Saxony. The immersive format not only captured the attention of young participants, and educators alike, but improved their understanding of road safety principles.
In the realm of micromobility, the sensor-based hazard detection solutions proved both accurate and responsive. These tools effectively identify infrastructure risks, such as uneven surfaces and sudden braking events, offering valuable data for micromobility users and city planners. Similarly, the REBO smart camera, designed to capture near-miss incidents, generated interest among participants, who appreciated its potential to prevent unreported safety threads.
Public authorities also expressed enthusiasm for the accident data visualisationand monitoring tools. These platforms enable a clearer understanding of traffic patterns and VRU behaviour, supporting informed decision-making and targeted interventions. The integration of novel data sources, including crowdsourced feedback and mobile phone data, further enriched the project’s analytical capabilities, offering a more comprehensive view of urban mobility challenges.
The insights gained from the first phase of demonstrations directly inform the refinement of tools and development of more robust, user-friendly and impactful solutions for the second round of demonstrations scheduled for later this year.
SOTERIA’s journey toward safer and smarter urban mobility is moving forward – stay connected for what's next!
Author: Marina Georgiou
