EFA NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2024

MR. Enrique Lorca was re-elected EFA President On October 25th at the Milan Chamber of Commerce, during the usual EFA meeting, Mr. Enrique Lorca was reconfirmed as EFA President for the next 3 years. President Lorca confirmed his team, placing Mr. Manuel Picardi and Mr. Stefan Ebner as vice Presidents. Mr. Manuel Picardi was confirmed as EFA Secretary General.

Special thanks go to Mr. John Lepine, who had previously communicated that he did not want to continue with the role of Treasurer.

The Swedish M.me Jeanette Jedbäck Hindenburg was appointed Treasurer new Treasurer for the next 3 years.President Lorca comments: “I thank everyone for confirming their trust in us for the next 3 years. This means that we have worked well, but it serves as an incentive for us to work even better. Thanks also to John who has supported us in these years. We are happy with the arrival of Jeanette in our Board. In addition to her personal qualities, in this way EFA has an even better distributed territorial representation towards the European institutions”.

EFA Event in Milan – ERSC

On October 25th, the second EFA meeting for 2024 was held at the Chamber of Commerce of Milan. This year, the event was organized in synergy with the annual event of the European Road Safety Charter (ERSC), organized by the European Commission, for which UNASCA is the national relay.

During the morning, MEPs Carlo Fidanza and Massimiliano Salini intervened via video message, and later on for DG MOVE, M.me Claire Depré. Both expressed gratitude for the joint organization of the event and at the same time regretted not being able to physically participate due to other previous commitments. MEP Fidanza invited EFA Members to organize the final event of the FITDrive project at the European Parliament, in February 2025. Further news will be given shortly.

During the morning, there were many interventions by ERSC members: the Municipality of Bologna, SINA, PISSTA, TOTEM, UNASCAbile, IRC and the Italian Minister of Transport. There was a lot of satisfaction among the participants.

In the afternoon, the usual internal meeting took place, where the new EFA Associate Members had the opportunity to introduce themselves, to describe their area of ​​expertise: the association of Polish driving schools, the Italian SIDA, the French Smartphone ID and the Polish Patron. More information can be found on the EFA website.

Welcome to the new EFA members! New applications for Associate Members were also accepted. The next appointment will be in Prague on 15th and 16th April, for a joint event between the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic and the EFA event, in which there will be the opportunity for driving instructors to carry out exercises on the race track, both with motorbikes and cars.

More information will follow in the next newsletters.

MEP Carlo Fidanza

ANIECA Event

The XVIII ANIECA Congress was held in Tavira on October 19th.

This year too, the event was well attended by Portuguese driving schools. Since every year important innovations are presented that influence European choices, this year the event was characterized by an increasingly large international presence. Many international guests: Jen Petter Wigum (Nord University), Raul Viladrich (FAC), Kay Schulte (ETG CIECA), Manuel Picardi (EFA), Jasper Tammeling (TAG CIECA), Javier Galindo (EAG CIECA).

The participation of the IMT, the Portuguese Ministry of Transport, was also strong. Under the title “Mission zero deaths on the roads”, a series of panels followed one another to highlight the important results achieved in recent years in terms of reducing road accidents.

ANIECA President Antonio Reis specified: “We have worked hard in recent months to obtain acceptable results, in a medium-term perspective to reach the objectives set by the European Union (50% reduction in deaths by 2030). We are aware that there is still a lot to do to improve. But we are convinced that we are on the right path.

Our synergy with national institutions is essential to achieving the objectives set. We are very proud of this, also because we know that in Europe our colleagues are unable to collaborate at this level with their respective national authorities.

Perhaps we understood before others the value of teamwork, that only together can we work well to obtain good results. We are proud that Portugal is taken as an example of efficiency and cooperation between the public and private sectors by many European colleagues”.

Susana Paolino

Antonio Reis

GRSP and EFA monitoring of motorbike schools in Nairobi

From 8th to 9th October an EFA delegation attended the international seminar organized by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) for the International Red Cross and the International Red Crescent in Nairobi, Kenya. The Secretary General of EFA, Manuel Picardi, was involved to talk about the standards of the new training models for Driving Instructors for motorcycles.

In recent years there have been increasing requests for EFA involvement in providing initial and periodic courses for driving instructors for cars and motorcycles. EFA thanks the organizers and a special thanks goes to Mrs. Britta Lang who elegantly led the panel dedicated to training. On October 6th and 7^th an EFA delegation visited several local driving schools to better understand how the motorcycle driving license system works.

Thanks to the important support of the Kenyan Boda-Boda Association, the EFA delegation was able to visit four driving schools and learn more about the system and its shortcomings. The head of the EFA Working Group on Two-Wheel Vehicle Training, Czech Jiri Novotny, commented: “We saw many young people interested in the lessons and well-prepared teachers. The main problem remains that only theoretical training is provided, which includes a final exam. The practical exam is quite trivial, and takes place in a closed yard.

Given the level of vehicles and roads, it would be appropriate to integrate the practical training of drivers.” His Portuguese colleague from EFA, Antonio Pais Neto, also comments: “All motorcyclist training must be increased in Kenya. But above all, the training of trainers must be professionalized. Driving instructors in Kenya do not take a professional training course. It is necessary that they also take an initial and periodic training course to be able to increase their skills and subsequently align themselves with the examiners. The EFA training model that partly combines the curricula, would be perfect for the Kenyan reality. EFA will be more than happy to be able to contribute to this important objective”.

Jiri Novotny

Manuel Picardi

Antonio Pais Neto

EFA represents FitDrive project in Kentucky

The Road Safety and Simulation Conference was established in Rome in 2007 as a biennial platform for researchers and practitioners from different backgrounds and research expertise to share individual experiences and cutting-edge research in the field of road safety and simulation.

The main objective of the conference is to improve existing knowledge in the field of road safety and to contribute to reducing the number of fatalities and injuries occurring worldwide, through the dissemination of innovative research and applications.

The RSS conference is hosted every two years by a local organization, such as a research institute, a scientific organization, a university or a national agency. They are identified by the permanent steering committee among the candidates submitting an application for the “Call for hosting the entering RSS meeting”.

Researchers from all over the world presented the latest innovations in the field of simulation and had the opportunity to exchange ideas with numerous colleagues.

The paper of the FITDrive project was selected and EFA had the honour of presenting the progress of the work and the first results. The methodology and research tools used in the project attracted considerable interest among the participants and numerous questions were posed to the European representatives.

Manuel Picardi

Prof. Giuseppe Marinelli

EFA and EUMOS are ready to start their partnership 

It is with great pleasure that EFA participates in the meeting of the European Safe Logistics Association (EUMOS).

With the motto: “Training, Training and Training” the session opened, which aimed to point out the lack of specific legislation that provides for quality professional training in the sector of loading on heavy vehicles. EFA participated through the intervention of the Secretary General Mr. Manuel Picardi, who presented a draft of the specific Training Matrix for professional licenses that EFA is preparing, also through the analysis of the latest data from the FITDrive project.

EUMOS wants to use the network of EFA driving schools to organize a series of specific courses on safe loading of vehicles. These courses, after a specific exam, will be certified by EUMOS.

Mr. Angel David Hernández, the President of EUMOS, showed great interest in EFA activities and stated: “I believe that there are many synergies between our two associations. For us one of the key words in the coming years will be Training. We need your support to be able to offer quality courses to transport company employees, throughout Europe”. Mr. Picardi commented: “For us it is an honor to have participated in your event today, and we believe this is only the first of a series of steps that we will take together. We will soon sign a Memorandum to consolidate our partnership. From there the work for the logistical organization of the courses will start”.

New UN regulation for driving assistance systems

A new United Nations Regulation on Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS), adopted by the UNECE World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) at its session in March 2024, has entered into force. 

Regulation No. 171 defines DCAS as systems which assist the driver in controlling the longitudinal and lateral motion of the vehicle on a sustained basis, while not taking over the entire driving task. Read more and download the report

Latest road safety research reports

New reports on road safety in the EU are now available from the European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO), covering the latest data, trends, and analysis on several groups of vulnerable road users. These research publications are part of a series of 20 thematic reports that provide qualitative analysis and topic overviews to assist policymakers in decision-making. The latest reports examine the trends and factors affecting road safety for vulnerable users, particularly children, cyclists, pedestrians, and users of powered two-wheelers (mopeds and motorcycles).