During the spring of 2026, TRAFIKKLAB at NORD University had the pleasure of hosting Francesco Angioi, a PhD researcher from the University of Granada (Spain), for a two-month research stay as part of the international SARAH – SmArt Road for Assisted Human Driving project.
The SARAH project investigates how smart road technologies influence driver behaviour, safety, acceptance and adaptation across different countries and cultural contexts. Norway is one of three countries participating in the project, alongside Spain and Italy, enabling valuable international comparisons of driving behaviour under identical experimental conditions.
During the stay at NORD University, Angioi worked closely with the TRAFIKKLAB research team to adapt the experimental driving simulator scenarios to Norwegian road and traffic conditions. This involved calibrating the simulator, implementing and validating virtual driving environments, and ensuring that the Norwegian experiment remained fully comparable with the studies previously conducted in Granada and Turin.
An important part of the work also involved preparing and launching data collection with Norwegian participants. The study examines how different road delineation technologies—including conventional and innovative smart road markings—affect driver behaviour on rural roads and curves. Objective measures such as vehicle speed, lateral position and eye-movement data are used to better understand how drivers interact with different infrastructure solutions.
Although data collection in Norway is still ongoing, the research stay has already produced significant benefits. Beyond the technical work, the visit created valuable opportunities for academic exchange, knowledge sharing and discussions about future research directions. The collaboration strengthened the ties between NORD University and the University of Granada and contributed to the development of a common methodological framework for international road safety research.
The Norwegian data collection will continue at TRAFIKKLAB following the protocol established during the stay, ensuring consistency with the datasets already collected in Spain and Italy. The final results will help researchers better understand whether the effects of smart road technologies are transferable across different cultural and driving environments, providing important insights for the future design of safer roads.
We would like to thank Francesco for his contribution to the project and for his engagement with the TRAFIKKLAB team. We look forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration and to sharing the results of the SARAH project in the future.
About the SARAH Project
SARAH (SmArt Road for Assisted Human Driving) is an international research project led by the University of Granada and funded by the Spanish State Research Agency. The project aims to investigate the safety implications and user acceptance of smart road technologies through driving simulator studies, surveys and other research methods conducted in Spain, Italy and Norway. More information can be found at the official website, here