Expert Conference on Safety of Military Road Users
Friday, 9.10.2026 | Stories from Units
The three-day 8th Expert Conference on the “Safety of Military Road Users,” organized by the Logistics Directorate (J-4) of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, opened yesterday at the “Omorika” Hotel on Mount Tara, attended by over one hundred participants.
This year's scientific gathering featured the presentation of 63 expert papers covering topics such as the management of the military road user safety system, traffic safety factors, personnel education and professional development, transport systems, traffic regulation and control, and the transport of dangerous goods, alongside discussions on military vehicle development and vehicle cyber security.
In addition to papers presented by personnel from the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, technical studies were also presented by representatives of the national Road Traffic Safety Agency, the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade, the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the University of Novi Sad, and companies operating in the transport sector.
Major General Saša Petrović, Chief of the Logistics Directorate (J-4) and Chairman of the event’s organizing committee, opened the gathering by emphasizing the steadfast position that road safety is not merely an engineering, legal, police, or military challenge, but fundamentally a matter of preserving human lives.
"Every figure used to describe traffic safety conceals at least one name. Therefore, statistics should reveal where we are going wrong, while professional expertise and conscience must dictate that we correct those errors. Improving the safety of road users requires a systemic approach and synergy among science, legislation, the education system, the police, and all other stakeholders whose actions can contribute to the greater good," said Major General Petrović.
The conference program committee is chaired by the Rector of the University of Defence, Brigadier General Boban Đorović. He noted that this eighth gathering featured an expanded range of thematic areas, with the number of participants and papers doubling; he further highlighted that some of the papers surpassed the level of standard professional work, with their authors making significant strides into the realm of scientific research.
Professional gatherings focused on the safety of military personnel in traffic take place every five years. In addition to the aforementioned participants, the organizers from the Serbian Armed Forces receive significant support from experts representing the University of Defence’s Military Academy, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Chamber of Commerce of Vojvodina.
In addition to assessing the safety status of military personnel in traffic over a five-year period, these meetings provide an opportunity to examine—from a professional perspective—the challenges faced by military motor vehicle drivers and to establish guidelines for future preventive action based on scientific principles.
The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the safety status of military personnel in traffic over the preceding five-year period will serve as guidelines for developing the Safety Strategy for Military Personnel in Traffic for the 2027–2031 period and for implementing future safety measures.
The safety of military personnel participating in traffic has been monitored with special attention within our armed forces since 1957. To identify new preventive measures aimed at mitigating the consequences of traffic accidents and to analyze past efforts, representatives of the Ministry and the military have been organizing modern expert gatherings since 1985. The first four events took the form of consultative meetings, subsequently evolving into scientific and professional forums attended by representatives from numerous relevant institutions and all stakeholders concerned with traffic safety.
