Until now, the approach to road safety has primarily focused on analyzing the most common types of injuries based on road user types and crash characteristics. There is a growing consensus to shift the paradigm towards a user-centric approach that considers the specific needs (incl. their diversity) and the behaviours of road users. IMPROVA project will focus on current knowledge regarding the conditions and mechanisms leading to serious injuries of all road user types, and both physical and psychological long-term consequences as well as future scenarios regarding the overall crash occurrence considering changes due to vehicle automatization. IMPROVA will introduce a formula that will predict a likelihood of sustaining LTC. This will allow stakeholders to estimate physical and psychological long-term consequences due to road traffic accidents in a compact manner directly after the crash. HBMs will be specifically upgraded in their capabilities to depict LTC-relevant injury mechanisms. It will be achieved through validation of mode responses against experimental tests and through the development and tailoring of risk curves, using the latest available biomechanical data. Virtual Testing procedures will be developed and demonstrated for future application environments, specifically through the involvement of industrial partners and NCAP labs. IMPROVA network consisting of NCAPs, US, Australian and Asian entities and medical and psychological expert panel group will help the harmonization not only of the knowledge of the long-term consequences but also to harmonize the data collection, evaluation of such injuries leading to LTC and to use appropriate tools validated for this purpose. The communication with regulatory authorities, NCAPs, rescue team and end-user will enable the awareness of the topic and implementation of appropriate countermeasures.

The objective of SafetyCube is to develop an innovative road safety Decision Support System (DSS) that will enable policy-makers and stakeholders to select and implement the most appropriate strategies, measures and cost-effective approaches to reduce casualties of all road user types and all severities. At the core of the project will be a novel and comprehensive analysis of accident causation factors combined with newly estimated data on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of safety measures, not just in relation to reduction of fatalities but also the number of injured. An operational framework will be established to provide future access to the DSS once the project is completed. The project has four sub-objectives: 1. To develop new analysis methods for (a) Priority setting, (b) Evaluating the effectiveness of measures (c) Monitoring serious injuries and assessing their socio-economic costs (d) Cost-benefit analysis taking account of human and material costs 2. To apply these methods to safety data to identify the key accident causation mechanisms, risk factors and the most cost-effective measures for fatally and seriously injured casualties 3. To develop an operational framework to ensure the project facilities can be accessed and updated beyond the completion of SafetyCube 4. To enhance the European Road Safety Observatory and work with road safety stakeholders to ensure the results of the project can be implemented as widely as possible The project outputs will be framed according to the specific policy and stakeholder areas – infrastructures, vehicles and road users – so that the measures developed in the project can be most readily applied. A systems approach will ensure effective coordination between these areas. The close involvement of road safety stakeholders of all types at national and EU levels and wider will enable the DSS to be focussed on the most appropriate policy-making procedures and ensure the project outputs have global reach.