News

 

New SAFER Partner Project: Equal Safety for the Whole Population of Powered Two-Wheeler Riders

The new project Equal Safety for the Whole Population of Powered Two-Wheeler Riders, funded by VINNOVA, will develop new methods and tools to better understand injury risks and create effective protection systems for powered two- and three-wheeler riders. The focus is on variations in rider size, sex, posture, and vehicle types.

TEAPaN2 – the next step towards faster and smarter emergency response after traffic accidents

How can we save more lives after serious road crashes? The new project TEAPaN2 aims to answer that very question – by leveraging data from connected vehicles, individuals and the traffic environment to improve decision support for emergency operators and first responders. The goal is to reduce fatalities and serious injuries through faster, more accurate interventions.

When assistance systems don’t assist enough…

That gap between trust and confusion is not just frustrating – it is a traffic safety issue. If drivers don’t understand or trust assistance systems, they deactivate them. And when systems are switched off, safety benefits are lost. This is where the new project Driver SUPPORTive INteraction and Improved User Experience comes in.

Congratulations to Lin Zhao - a new doctor

Congratulations to Lin Zhao, who successfully defended his PhD thesis “Remote Driving of Road Vehicles: Feedback Effects, Latency Compensation, and Driver Behavior” on 15 September at KTH, Stockholm.

Vision Zero International Course 2025

This week we are proudly co-hosting the seventh edition of the Vision Zero International Course together with the Swedish Transport Administration at Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg.

New partner project in the SAFER portfolio: When the car thinks for itself – and drives safer than ever

The project, "Enhancing Safety of Automated Electric Vehicles through Motion-by-Wire," is developing an advanced control system where the vehicle is no longer steered through mechanical linkages, but entirely by digital signals – steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire. By smartly coordinating various components such as wheels, motors, and brakes, the vehicle will be able to perform rapid, controlled evasive manoeuvres if something unexpected happens – like a pedestrian suddenly stepping into the road.

New partner project: CONAI – AI as a coach for safer truck drivers

The new FFI-funded project CONAI (ConAI: AI-based conversational agents that support drivers' understanding of ADAS and enhance traffic safety) takes on this challenge. By exploring how AI-based conversational agents can explain and support drivers – before, during, and after driving – the project aims to pave the way for safer and more frequent use of ADAS among a broader and more diverse group of drivers.

🚗 Exciting News from the IGLAD Initiative!

We are proud to announce the release of 180 new Pre-Crash Matrix (PCM) cases as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance global road safety through in-depth crash data analysis. These cases provide valuable insights into crash causation and vehicle dynamics in the moments leading up to the collision—supporting researchers, and traffic safety experts in developing effective countermeasures. A big

Welcome to join SAFER's Working Groups

These groups serve as SAFER’s main arenas for inspiration, idea incubation, and strategic collaboration. They are open to all partner organisations, and offer a valuable opportunity to explore new insights, connect across disciplines, and jointly develop research initiatives – often leading to funded projects. Many also find the groups an effective way to bring new knowledge into their own organisation’s workstreams.

SAFER is moving to new premises in 2026

From January 2026, SAFER will relocate from Navet to new premises on the second floor of Kuggen at Lindholmen, a distinctive Chalmers building known for its bright and inspiring environment.

Call for ideas to SAFER’s Idea Exploration program!

We are happy to announce the opening of a second call in SAFER's Idea Exploration program this year, aimed at project stimulation by using the benefits of our multi-disciplinary collaboration platform.

The first SAFER newsletter of the autumn is here!

Welcome to read the first autumn newsletter!

Call for Members – Steering Group at SAFER

We warmly invite nominations to SAFER's new streering group from across the partnership!

Welcome back – Let’s co-create this autumn!

We hope you all had a wonderful and refreshing summer! As the autumn term begins, we look forward to a dynamic and engaging season filled with collaboration, creative idea generation, and shared knowledge-building in the field of traffic safety.

IGLAD – New Dataset Released!

IGLAD is the "Initiative for the Global Harmonization of (in-depth) Accident Data" and is the only continuous international effort to provide a database of in-depth accident data from different countries around the world within a unified data scheme. Data from traffic safety researchers from Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia is merged on a yearly basis into the

The roads are talking – and C-ITS is now part of the SAFER partner project portfolio

This project takes a comprehensive approach to ensure that C-ITS can be deployed safely, securely and effectively in Sweden.

FATAL – Making rural roads smarter and safer

Using smart 3D-based sensors embedded in the infrastructure, this project detects and analyses road user behaviour to identify what causes danger at these junctions. The goal is to develop a method that recognises risky patterns early and gives traffic authorities the tools to intervene proactively, both for existing and future roads. This is about turning data into insights – and insights into action – for areas that are often overlooked, yet critical to road safety.

Save the date – Barn, Liv och Trafik 4 mars 2026

Den 4 mars 2026 är det dags igen! Barn, Liv och Trafik samlar yrkesverksamma, forskare och beslutsfattare för en heldag om barn och ungas trafikvardag.

Making rural road cycling safer and more comfortable in new SAFER partner project

ComCy – Comfortable Overtaking of Cyclists on Rural Roads is a newly launched initiative funded by Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency, with the goal of improving overtaking behaviour by drivers on rural roads. The vision is clear: safer and more comfortable conditions will make rural cycling a viable and attractive option – leading to more sustainable mobility and healthier communities.

SAFER becomes part of Lindholmen Innovation District

Lindholmen has long been a place where ideas, people and technology come together. Now, the area is shifting gears – from being a science park to becoming a full-scale innovation district. This means the place itself – with companies, research, education, housing, restaurants, culture and much more – is seen as one cohesive environment where collaboration is at the core.

New SAFER partner project aims to save lives – with focus on two-wheelers

The project, “Safe System Principles for MC”, is based on the recognition that the global goal to halve the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries cannot be achieved without dedicated efforts to improve motorcycle safety. With a global perspective, the project will identify the necessary requirements for vehicles, road infrastructure, protective equipment, and speed limits to ensure a genuinely safe environment for riders.

New SAFER partner project to improve the design of speed-reducing measures on rural roads

Building on a previous study that analysed 34 different speed-reducing designs in southern Sweden using drone footage and video tracking, this project will now take a deeper look into why some solutions work better than others. The earlier study found significant differences in effectiveness – even among similar designs.

SAFER Thursday Seminars – the agenda for this autumn’s lunch series is now set!

Our agenda for the autumn is taking shape, and we look forward to another inspiring season together! Almost every Thursday, we at SAFER gather for a joint networking lunch followed by an engaging seminar – all linked to our shared ambition of achieving a safe transport system for all.

New EU project targets long-term injury prevention in road safety

A new Horizon Europe project, IMPROVA – Injury Mitigation to PROmote Vision-zero Achievement, is now underway with the goal of addressing one of road safety’s most overlooked areas: the long-term consequences (LTC) of traffic accidents.

New SAFER partner project to strengthen traffic safety culture in Swedish municipalities

How can municipalities, often the closest authority to citizens’ everyday lives, take a more systematic and proactive role in improving traffic safety? That is one of the key questions addressed in the newly launched partner project “Systematic Traffic Safety Implementation at the Local Level: Trafiksäkerhetslyftet and Traffic Safety Culture in Municipalities”, now part of SAFER’s partners' research portfolio.

Wrapping up the term with a future focus

Today we wrapped up the final SAFER Research Day of the term – and what a day it was! The spotlight was on how we can generate even greater impact with Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) – and how the SAFER platform can continue to act as a catalyst for collaboration, knowledge and real societal benefit. Ingrid Skogsmo opened

Five New Projects Approved in SAFER’s Idea Exploration Program

This spring’s call for proposals to SAFER’s Idea Exploration Program received an overwhelming response – with 16 applications submitted! We are now happy to announce that five promising projects have been granted funding to explore new research ideas and strengthen collaboration for safer road transport.

📬 Our May newsletter is out now!

Catch up on everything that has been going on at SAFER this spring — new partner projects, fresh podcast episodes, and upcoming events, including Sweden’s Road Safety Days this autumn.

Unlocking the Full Potential of ADAS – Highlights from SAFER Research Day

How can we ensure that Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are used effectively in real-world conditions? That was the central question at SAFER’s Research Day on 6 May, themed "ADAS & Human Interaction – Unlocking the Full Potential", which brought together more than 120 participants at Clarion Hotel Karlatornet in Gothenburg and online.

Nu är anmälan till Sveriges Trafiksäkerhetsdagar öppen!

Den 21 oktober 2025 samlas vi på Lindholmen Science Park i Göteborg för Sveriges Trafiksäkerhetsdagar - en unik mötesplats för alla som brinner för säker mobilitet. Med SAFER som värd och i samverkan med Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) och Trafikverket förenar vi krafter för att skapa en dag fylld av dialog, samskapande och inspiration för att skapa verklig förändring

Sharing life-saving knowledge: Correct safety belt use during pregnancy

On April 29, experts gathered at Lindholmen Science Park to highlight the life-saving importance of correct safety belt use during pregnancy. With more than 50 years of crash research behind us, the evidence is clear: the safety belt – correctly positioned – remains the most critical protection system in the car, helping to reduce injury risk for both the mother and the unborn child in all types of collisions.

Congratulations, Dr. Ali Mohammadi!

We warmly congratulate Ali Mohammadi on successfully defending his doctoral thesis “Computational models for safe interactions between automated vehicles and cyclists” at Chalmers University of Technology.

Meet STIG – the smart new project sweeping the way for safer walking and cycling paths

This new project is developing and testing an AI-based tool to help municipalities systematically assess the condition of walking and cycling infrastructure and identify where maintenance is needed. The goal? To make it easier, smarter and more cost-efficient for cities to maintain the paths that support safe and sustainable mobility.

April edition of the newsletter is out

Welcome to explore our latest newsletter! Here you can get to know about our partners latest projects and opportunities for co-creation and learning. April newsletter!

SAFER Partner Day 2025 – Thank you for a truly valuable day!

Last week, SAFER hosted our annual Partner Day, where we gathered to reflect on the year’s achievements and progress across our collaborative research community.

New PhD in the SAFER community: Congratulations Xiaomi Yang!

We are proud to welcome a new PhD graduate to the SAFER community — Dr. Xiaomi Yang , who successfully defended her thesis on March 31, 2025, at Chalmers University of Technology. Her thesis, titled “Improving Pre-Crash Safety Systems: Using Computational Driver Behavior Models and Efficient Sampling Methods” , presents cutting-edge research on how to improve the efficiency and realism

Five new partners join SAFER to contribute to safer road transport

SAFER continues to grow as a neutral platform for world-leading traffic safety research. We are excited to welcome Amparo solutions , Innobrain, IPG Automotive, Mittlogik and Terranet, as new partners. Magnus Granström, Director of SAFER, comments: "We are very happy to welcome these new partners and to leverage their expertise. To meet national road safety tagets, it is crucial that

SAFER Annual Report 2024 is here – our first year in Stage 6 summarised!

We are proud to launch SAFER’s first annual report in Stage 6, reflecting on a year of renewal, deeper collaboration, and a sharpened focus on the future of traffic safety research. 2024 marked the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for our community – with strategic shifts and fresh ways of working.

New partner project in SAFER’s portfolio: Employers in focus for improved road safety

Nearly half of all fatal road traffic accidents are work-related – meaning that one of the individuals involved was either on duty or commuting to or from work. Despite this, road safety remains an under prioritised aspect of occupational health and safety in many workplaces. The new project “Safe Travel at Work” aims to change that.

Congratulations to Erik Brynskog – new Chalmers Doctor in Vehicle Safety!

Today, Erik Brynskog successfully defended his thesis and can now call himself a Doctor at Chalmers University of Technology! A big congratulations from the entire SAFER community!

Congratulations to Dr Magnus Gyllenhammar! 

We at SAFER extend our warmest congratulations to Magnus Gyllenhammar (KTH & Zenseact), who successfully defended his PhD thesis yesterday! His dissertation, "Safety Assurance Strategies for Automated Driving Systems" , tackles key challenges in proving the safety of self-driving vehicles. Magnus has developed innovative methods to address uncertainties and complexity in autonomous systems using quantitative risk norms and precautionary safety

SAFER Newsletter for March

Stay updated with the latest from SAFER! In our fresh newsletter, we highlight several new partner projects, this spring’s collaborative agenda, and key activities in our platform.

Call for ideas to SAFER’s Idea Exploration program!

We are happy to announce the opening of a new call in SAFER's Idea Exploration program, aimed at project stimulation by using the benefits of our multi-disciplinary collaboration platform.

Registration to the 2025 edition of the Vision Zero International Course now is open!

We are happy to announce that the registration to the 2025 edition of the Vision Zero International Course now is open! Road traffic injuries are a global epidemic that is recognized by the international community and is a part of the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). In 1997, the Swedish Parliament adopted a ‘Vision Zero’

Safer and more comfortable seat belts for all – a collaborative project

SAFER partners are now launching an exciting new project: Safe and Comfortable Seat Belts for All. Through collaboration between Volvo Cars, Autoliv, and Chalmers, the project aims to generate new knowledge on how seat belts can be better adapted to a diverse range of passengers and seating postures – a crucial step toward safer and more inclusive mobility.

Who’s watching? Let’s keep it Safe – The GUARD project

Ever wondered how much data our smart technologies collect? And how safe it is? With data being the new “gold” for future mobility and AI, keeping it private and secure has never been more important. That is where the new partner project at SAFER; GUARD - GUarding Anonymization pRoceDures - steps in!

Hospital reporting to STRADA – a vital missing piece?

What happens when crucial information about traffic injuries doesn't reach its destination? During the Covid pandemic, hospital reporting to STRADA dropped dramatically – and in some cases, it still has not recovered. Now, VTI is launching a new research project, funded by Skyltfonden, the Swedish Transport Administration, to understand why reporting has faltered and what can be done to address the issue.

The depot of the future: Where buses get smarter and safer

Imagine a bustling bus depot where electric and automated buses glide seamlessly into place, guided not by drivers but by cutting-edge infrastructure-based automation. No chaos, no delays - just precision, safety, and sustainability. This vision is becoming a reality through the new project Depot for Electrified and Automated Buses (DEPAUT), a feasibility study led by RISE, in collaboration with Unikie

Adaptive Interventions for Impaired Driving – a new SAFER partner project

Every year, tragic fatal accidents occur on the roads where drivers are impaired by fatigue, distraction, or alcohol and drugs. But what if vehicles could adapt to the driver's condition and intervene before it's too late? This is exactly what the new research project ADAPTIN – Adaptive Interventions for Impaired Driving aims to solve!

New partner project at SAFER: More effective braking for safer cycling

The Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) has revolutionized vehicle safety by preventing wheel lock-up during hard braking, allowing drivers to maintain control and reduce stopping distances. Now, it’s time for cyclists to benefit from the same technology. At SAFER, we are excited to welcome a new partner project exploring how ABS can reduce cycling accidents and enhance the overall riding experience