The MY VISION ZERO: Students for Safe Roads project, in its 4th year this year, brings together innovative ideas from young people with one thing in common: to help reduce the accident rate and improve the quality of traffic on Czech roads. The winner was a student from the University of Economics and Management with a project to reduce the impact of collisions with fixed obstacles. Photo credit: MY VISION ZERO: Students for Safe Roads
Czech Republic, July 27 (BD) – “Young drivers under the age of 24 are over-represented in the statistics of serious road accidents. The MY VISION ZERO project is therefore aimed at young people. It not only provides insight into how the young generation perceives road safety, but also tries to actively involve them in the issue,” said Roman Budský, a traffic expert from the VIZE 0 Platform.
Students could choose from six different areas related to their field of study to develop projects to address traffic problems. A total of 76 projects were submitted by both individual students and teams from higher education institutes and secondary schools across the country. Their projects variously proposed road improvements, assessed the safety of road sections, looked at assistance systems and other protective features, and created marketing campaigns aimed at improving road behaviour.
“Young people can do great things. It was really difficult to choose the best projects. The students showed us that they are not indifferent to traffic problems and want to be involved in making changes,” said Jan Polák from the Road Safety Team.
The top-ranked project, entitled “Implementation of Absorption Terminals”, was submitted by a student from the University of Economics and Management. The project focuses on reducing the number of fatalities due to collisions with fixed obstacles. The jury was impressed by the 3D model of the bollard proposed as part of the entry.
Gabriela Zikánová from the Czech University of Applied Sciences in Prague was behind the second-placed project. She impressed the jury with her sophisticated analysis of day and night road safety inspections. She focused not only on lighting conditions on roads, but also on signage and driver distractions.
The students behind the five finalist projects will receive a total prize money of CZK 100,000, as well as receiving paid internships. With the help of the competition partners, they will also have the opportunity to put their ideas into practice. “This year’s contestants have convinced us that they deserve to participate in larger-scale projects, and therefore they will have the chance to work with industry leaders and bring their insight to projects that are already underway,” said Milan Medek, Director of the Kooperativa Foundation.
