Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: İbrahim Öztürk

1. Where are you connected? 

I am a PhD candidate and a research assistant in Traffic and Transportation Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

2. How did you first get involved in road safety? 

The first time I got involved in a road safety-related activity was as a volunteer field researcher in Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program in Turkey. I conducted seat-belt observation in Ankara and Afyon, Turkey in 2014. After that, I finished my undergraduate education in Psychology and started my graduate education.

3. How long have you been working in the road safety and sustainable mobility field? 

I began my graduate education in 2015 and since then, I have been working in the field.

4. Tell us about the work you’re doing now

Currently, I am a PhD candidate in Traffic and Transportation Psychology and writing my thesis on automated driving and drivers’ preferences in Turkey and Sweden. The project is supported by the Swedish Institute – Swedish-Turkish Scholarship Programme and I was a visiting researcher at VTI, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. Moreover, I am conducting research at Laboratory LESCOT, Université Gustave Eiffel with the French Embassy Research Fellowships for PhD Students program. In Turkey, I am also a managing editor in a national journal, Journal of Traffic and Transportation Research, publishing studies related to road safety and a student coordinator of the Safety Research Unit, Middle East Technical University.

5. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety? 

My first encounter with the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety was thanks to the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Sweden. While researching the events held before the congress, I came across the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety. I knew about various activities of the coalition before, but this is how I became actively involved.

6. What are your comments on the Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities? 

First of all, the coalition offers you an international network in the field of road safety. Within this network, you can meet people from several different disciplines and countries and gain knowledge and skills on a wide range of interventions. You can also interact with others by sharing your own knowledge and skills in addition to opportunities to improve yourself. In addition to all these, you can get together with key stakeholders in this field and gain significant experience. 

7. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the coalition? 

Become a part of the coalition and follow its activities to improve yourself and be part of more effective practices in terms of road safety. So do not forget and keep #ClaimingOurSpace!