16th Year Anniversary of the Hellenic Research and Educational Institute for Road Safety and the Prevention and Reduction of Road Accidents

The Event was broadcasted in live streaming and videos & speeches can be viewed here (highlights edit) and here (full version) and the photo album of the Event can be viewed here
The 16th Year anniversary event of R.S.I. "Panos Mylonas" held under the Auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, took place on Thrursday 9th September 2021, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC). The main message was "16 years with a vision we continue, growing stronger TOGETHER".
The event was attended by a number of personalities, representatives of the country’s leadership, politicians, executives from the Public and Private sector and other important social partners who pledged the commitment to improving Road Safety in our country.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy of the UN’s Secretary-General and President of FIA Mr. Jean Todt was the Honorary Guest invited by the President of R.S.I. Vassiliki Danelli-Mylona. Mr. Todt traveled to Greece specifically to attend this event.
The event, that was, also held, in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, was honored by the presence of its Minister Mr. Costas Karamanlis who was, the official representative of the Prime Minister of the Greek Government Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In his salutation address Mr. Karamanlis announced the commitment of his Ministry that “a strong effort will be made to immediately find the resources for the creation of R.S.I.’s “Panos Mylonas” National Referral Center for Road Safety”, an announcement that was greeted with enthusiasm by the attendees.
Regional Governor of Attica Mr. George Patoulis attended R.S.I.’s anniversary celebration as co-organizer being a great supporter and stating his commitment to the Institute’s efforts to improve Road Safety. The Deputy Minister of Sports Mr. Lefteris Avgenakis was also present, together with other prominent partners and supporters from the public and private sector, journalists and volunteers, honouring the President of R.S.I. Mrs. Vasiliki Danelli-Mylona, whose dream and life vision, for "a world without road crashes" and the creation of the National Refferal Center for Road Safety.
R.S.I.s efforts are supported by the PoliceTraffic Authorities, who are present, at all times, throughout the country’s road network, and its Chief Lieutenant General Michail Karamalakis stated, among other things: "The goal of the Hellenic Police has always been the shaping of a responsible driving culture, the etablishment of road behavior for the promotion and strengthening of safety, the adoption of best practices for the integrated promotion of safety strategies and policies, and finally the optimization of the provided traffic enforcement services.” Thanking Mrs. Mylona and R.S.I.’s Executives, for their great co-operation with all sectors of the Hellenic Police he concluded by addressing the RSI President: "Thank you for the respect you show to human life and to the Greek driver, mobility means life!"
Important speakers, representing R.S.I.’s Sponsors and highlights of their speeches were:
Dr. Petros Arvanitis, Head of Strategy, Planning & Investments of TRAINOSE S.A., who, amongst other things said: "We all know the importance of Road Safety and that its conquest is a matter of education and culture. The most important factor towards this direction is how each one of us behaves on the road. Road Safety must be a priority for all of us."
Ms. Anna Malti, Director for Corporate Responsibility OTE Group, mentioned that her company is honoured that it has been close to R.S.I. since its creation and stated: "OTE Group, as a responsible provider of technology and telecommunication products & services, supports the initiatives of R.S.I. and will be involved to its projects more dynamically and intensely in the coming years. This is a promise and a commitment to you, Ms. Mylona!"
Mr. Vassilis Halkias, the first Greek President, in the 75 years of operation, of the International Road Federation (IRF) stated: “The aim of IRF is to enhance the knowledge, skills and actions of a group of Road Safety experts. After congratulating you Ms. Mylona for the endless efforts I want to assure you that IRF will assist R.S.I. in expanding its programme not only in Greece and Europe but also in the whole world. We need you everywhere! »
Prominent Speakers who travelled from abroad for this Anniversary event stated:
Jean Todt, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and President of the FIA, after greeting and congratulating Mrs. Mylona on her valuable achievements, stated: "In a few weeks from now, the WHO and the UN will launch a Global Plan for the new Decade of Action for Road Safety. I hope that will send a strong message regarding the importance of continuing the saving of lives in the new decade as we have an extended deadline to halve deaths and injuries on the roads, as well as providing safe and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030 - we cannot miss this opportunity. You can count on my support. I look forward to our continued cooperation."
Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director General of the Directorate-General of DG MOVE, could not travel to Greece, as he had prior commitments to be in Lisbon, sent a recorded message where he stated that he definitely wanted to pay tribute to everything Vassiliki Mylona has done over the years. “1.3 million Victims of road crashes each year are NOT statistical numbers but, unfortunately, real people and our energy to fight this scourge stems from this fact alone. Greece is heading in the right direction, having achieved significant progress in cooperation, of course, with S.R.I. We, who work on Road Safety, are committed to reducing the death rate by another 50% in the next decade, and for this reason we ALL need to work together. Thank you, dear friends, for what you have done and for what you will do in the next 16 years".
Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of ETSC stated that "Greece has achieved the impossible since, first in all of Europe, it has managed to reduce deaths from road accidents by 54% in the last decade. A significant percentage that, while it still wants improvement towards vision zero, if this is possible, and we cannot ignore that, R.S.I. has played a critical role for this success ".
SRF’s Executive Chairman, Michael Woodford referred to the problems on the roads around the world and the significant daily effort that everyone must make, in every city, in every country, so that drivers are less and less endangered and finally stated that “the SRF is committed to working hand in hand with the governments of the countries and their services to make the AHO (Automatic Headlights On) and ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) a reality".
The President of Hellastron Mr. Konstantinos Koutsoukos stated that, now that the creation of safe infrastructure with new modern and safe highways throughout Greece is a reality, all must now focus on the driver, the main priority of R.S.I. “HELLASTRON is committed to one of R.S.I.’s strategic goals which is to inform and educate current road users as well as the future ones.”
Two more significant speakers, Claes Tingvall, the "founder of Vision Zero" and Kurt Bodewig, President of the German Road Safety Association (DVW), could not travel to Greece but participated with recorded messages:
Claes Tingvall, believes that “Vassiliki Danelli-Mylona has managed to combine human motivation with the proven scientific methods to apply, in the best possible way, what must be done to save lives, and that is AMAZING. I hope you continue like this so that we can celebrate, together, many more years of operation of the Institute."
In his very warm and congratulatory message, Kurt Bodewig referred to his travels “with the President, Mrs. Mylona, from Reykjavik to Athens where, together, they recorded the best practices in Europe to create the model for the Referral Centers for Road Safety developed by R.S.I. in the framework of the European programme AVENUE for Traffic Safety”.
The event ended with the nomination of R.S.I.’s established awards for the “Best Traffic Policeman” for their important contribution to Road Safety and the "Volunteer of the Year" for their support in the work of the Institute, respectively, to two active traffic policemen and three active volunteers who were distinguished for their work.
The event was coordinated by the leading journalist and anchorwoman of ERT (the Hellenic National Radio & Television) Mrs. Adriana Paraskevopoulou and the R.S.I.’s Vice President Mr. Dimitrios Gatsonis, Executive Director of Aegean Motorway S.A.
Gold Sponsors: HELLASTRON, TRAINOSE, EUROLIFE, Silver Sponsor: COSMOTE Sponsors: ACS, INTERAMERICAN and Anytime, direct car insurance, GENESIS PHARMA, BEAT. Supporters: AUDI, BESAFE, DRÄGER, DUR, GOODYEAR, GROUPAMA, TOTAL ENERGIES.
Major Communication Sponsor: ERT (Hellenic National Radio & Television, Communication Sponsorship: AUTO TRITI, METAFORESPRESS.GR, MOTOR ONE, YPODOMES.COM.
VIDEOS
16th Year Anniversary of the Hellenic Research and Educational Institute for Road Safety and the Prevention and Reduction of Road Accidents
NEWSDESK
Festive Nationwide Awareness Campaign for Road Safety by the Hellenic Road Safety Institute (RSI)
27/Dec/2024
Intervention for the enhancement of Road Safety on Athinas Street by the Road Safety Institute (RSI) Panos Mylonas
03/Nov/2024