The “road” to safety starts in school. Road Safety Education Program in Achaia

• Pan-Hellenic Road Safety Week (March 16-22, 2026) organized by the “Panos Mylonas” Road Safety Institute (RSI)
• Experiential training in 7 schools and a military camp in Achaia.
• Aiming at building a strong culture of responsible driving.
• Positive changes in students’ behavior when it comes to road safety.

For the Pan-Hellenic Road Safety Week (March 16-22, 2026), Olympia Odos and the “Panos Mylonas” Road Safety Institute are teaming up to offer a new series of training sessions as part of the traffic education program “In real life there is no Undo”. The training sessions are going to be held in different secondary and high schools of Kato Achaia, Patra and Aigion, as well as at the Military Camp “A. Mouzakis” (Technical Corps Training Center) in Patras.

In this experiential program, students wear special goggles to see how easy it is to make deadly mistakes when you're drunk. Simulators are also used to create the sensations of a car crash and a rollover. The objective is to build a robust culture of responsible driving among young individuals.

The road safety program “In real life there is no Undo” was launched in 2019. To date, over 18,000 students and teachers from approximately 157 schools in Ilia, Achaia, and Korinthia have participated.

According to data collected from students through road safety questionnaires administered by the "Panos Mylonas" Road Safety Institute, there is a significant discrepancy compared to European standards. The survey found that only 26.5% of students said they always wear a seatbelt when sitting in the back seat of a car. In comparison, the corresponding percentage in the EU is 75.5%. After the training sessions, 68.3% of students indicated that seatbelt use is essential. Overall, the questionnaires from before and after the training sessions show that there is a better understanding of the risks.

The need for road safety training sessions is also demonstrated by the results of the Eurobarometer on responsible driving conducted annually by the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation. Specifically, in 2025, the survey found that rates of distracted driving remain high:

• 82% of drivers use a smartphone or adjust the GPS while driving;
• 67% talk on the phone;
• 25% send or read text messages or emails;
• 81% of respondents admit to occasionally taking their eyes off the road for more than two seconds while driving.