Motorway Safety in Europe and Greece: A Comparative Analysis

Motorways offer a high level of road safety as compared to other road types. In most EU member states, motorways represent a percentage of all primary and secondary roads varying between 1% and 12% (EU15). In Greece this figure has been significantly lower until 2004 and since then it has been sharply increased. Road safety levels have been also improved as a consequence of that. The paper provides a comparative analysis of motorway safety among Greece and the EU and furthermore among Greek motorways. To achieve this, it makes use of certain safety indicators such as fatality and accident rates. In addition, for the Greek motorways, it makes use of additional data which are available from the motorway operators' data bases including incidents and their causes. Association of accidents to drivers' behavior is sought where possible. Finally, a more in depth investigation takes place concerning accidents in the Greek motorways, mainly in the ATTICA TOLLWAY and in EGNATIA ODOS. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under rsponsibility of the Programme Committee of the Transport Research Arena 2012