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A major IRF regional congress is being held in Europe & Central Asia. The IRF’s global volunteer leadership invites those interested to take part in the 1st IRF Regional Congress in Europe & Central Asia held in Istanbul, on September 15-18, 2015. The European & Central Asia region is a geographic area covering 23 countries with a shared history of relatively recent transition from planned to market economies, and the profound impact this has had on trading patterns, transport services and infrastructure ne

Germany recorded an increase in the numbers of traffic fatalities in 2014. Data revealed by the German federal statistical office, Destatis, shows that 3,368 people were killed in crashes on German roads in 2014. Provisional figures show that this was an increase of 29 deaths (0.9% compared) with 2013. In all, however, it was the second-lowest number of people killed in the course of a year since 1950. The numbers of those seriously or slightly injured rose by 4% in 2014 from 2013 to approximately 389,000.

A major gain in road safety has been recorded in Brunei during 2014. Official data shows that severe injuries caused by road crashes dropped by 35% in 2014 when compared with the figures for 2013. For the same period, minor injuries due to road crashes also decreased by 12%. Meanwhile, a 25% year-on-year decrease was recorded for the number of fatal road crashes in 2014, according to the Land Transport Department's Communication Minister.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport’s Transport & Logistics Safety Forum is running a premier of a road safety film on the 31st March in the UK. The premier of the film, Our Vehicles, Our Safety, Our Responsibility: Improving Road Safety for Vulnerable Road Users, will be at a high-profile conference in Bedford. The film has been 14 months in the making and has been made to highlight the need for good road safety practice. Its making has been sponsored by DHL, Transport for London, Travis Perki

Sri Lanka’s proposed northern highway project is being reviewed and looks likely to be put out to tender shortly. The country’s new administration previously suspended the project due to issues with non-transparent tenders as well as concerns over its high cost. The project was estimated to cost around US$2.26 billion, which the country’s new administration deemed of concern. At the end of 2014 a number of contractors were awarded work to several sections of the expressway linking Jaffna with capital Colomb

Plans are now being worked on for a new highway that will connect Serbia with Albania, running through Kosovo. The project is momentous and marks a considerable diplomatic advance, given that Serbia’s past relations with its neighbour Kosovo and Albania have been less than harmonious in the recent past. This new move is seeing a Technical Working Group comprised of experts from Albania and Serbia looking into the construction of a new highway link between the two countries, as well as new railway connection

A study on behalf of the Department for Transport by the Transport Research Laboratory into the prevalence of illegal mobile phone use while driving has been released. The TRL has said that the data gives greater understanding of who is using mobile phones while driving and for what purpose, and how this can then be used to support future policy development. The figures show in 2014, 1.1% of drivers in England and Scotland were observed holding a phone in their hand with a further 0.5% observed holding the

While reclaimed asphalt pavement is not a new idea, there are new and innovative technologies coming all the time to improve its application and durability. This RAP is “black gold”, as Thierry De Sars, technical director at Groupe Fayat, told delegates at the Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit conference in Paris this week. But it all comes down to cost savings and efficiencies that importantly include increasingly precise dozing to get the exact amount of bitumen laid down on a pass. De Sars cauti

The Egyptian Government is investing both in road development and road safety, setting strategies in place for future development. The country has a construction programme that will see some 3,600km new roads being built. At the same time, the Egyptian Government has set a budget of some US$5 billion to improve road safety. The authorities in the country have identified the need to boost road safety to international standards as Egypt’s crash statistics and road casualty levels are of concern and have a ver

Environmental issues are now more than ever shaping decisions that governments make when it comes to road building which means contactors have to prove their credentials. For that reason alone sales of the combined polymer and crumb rubber onsite bitumen plant the Italian family business Massenza have been doing well in Europe, said Diego Massenza, who has been in the business for 15 years and is now general manager. The plant was developed by Massenza, a 70-year-old company based in Bologna, around 2010, a

Forget planes, trains and shipping if you want to be a successful global multi-national says Michelin: the only way to get the right things to the right places on time and on cost is by road. Speaking at the PPRS Paris 2015 pavement preservation and recycling summit, Michelin corporate affairs vice president Eric Le Corre said “we are a worldwide industrial giant that could not operate without good roads. Roads give the critical advantage in logistical terms. We can only be successful if the roads we use ar