44th CIECA General Assembly and Congress, Istanbul 15 June 2012

15.06.2012: Istanbul - Over 150 delegates took part at the 44th Congress of the International Commission for Driver Testing (CIECA) on 15 June 2012, which was hosted by CIECA Associated member TÜV SÜD TGK.
 
This year’s CIECA Congress focused on collaboratively emerging ITS technologies, including Driving Assistance Systems (DAS), and their future impact on training and testing and how in an educative context they could contribute to improve road safety. Opening speeches were held by Dr. Luciana Iorio from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (WP1) and Mr. Gilles Bergot from the Road Safety Unit at the European Commission.
 
The 44th CIECA Congress  dealt for the first time with ITS and driver standards and how driving examiners and instructors are coping with them. ITS  are valuable means that bring solutions and systems to facilitate safer, sustainable and comfortable mobility for all transport users. It is clear that driver assistance, navigation and tracking and tracing systems are extremely useful to promote transport safety and it is necessary to foster their deployment on a wider scale.
 
However, this modern technology can produce unintended consequences (e.g. lapse of concentration, accidents due to ignorance on how to operate the devices, etc.). Drivers and road users need education and training if they are going to handle effectively all these new technological benefits. The need to increase and improve driving techniques and skills is greater than ever, not only because of the complexity of current traffic systems but also because additional technology can overload drivers and even increase safety risks. The congress discussed the practical consequences of the use of ITS in the conduct of a practical driving test and how it can be used during driver training and also after licensing to monitor the drivers performance. The congress also pointed out that there is an urgent need to develop an education and testing strategy based on research and consultation with road safety practitioners and other members of society that should establish future requirements for driver education.
 
All the Congress presentations can be downloaded from the CIECA website.
 
The previous day CIECA Members held their General Assembly where they were informed of further developments to the CIECA’s Strategy and of the financial situation of the Association. The Members were also briefed about all the activities for Members organized by CIECA during 2011 by the chairs of the Permanent Advisory Groups and the Secretariat.
 
Members elected Tamás Hima (NTA, Hungary) as Secretary-General, Soteris Kolettas (Ministry of Communication and Works, Cyprus) and Pavel Nahodil (Ministry of Transport, Czech Republic) as Vice-Presidents.  The General Assembly also unanimously elected former Vice-President Mr. Peter Ripard from Transport Malta as Honorary Member of the Association.
 
In addition, the 3rd CIECA Members’ Forum was organized enabling 5 members to report on current developments, problems and progress in their home countries and exchange experience with other members. During the Forum, all new CIECA Associated Members had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the rest of Members.
 
CIECA members can download the presentations given during the Members’ Forum from the CIECA extranet page.
For more information, please contact daniel.vandenberghe@cieca.be