Name: Jenny Carson

Job title: Project Manager 

Panacea project partner:  ETSC

Panacea project work packages: WP8

Q1. What is your personal area of expertise?

Having worked for many years on EU policy on behalf of English regions, in 2020 I starting working on road safety projects at ETSC. I am now a project manager at ETSC and Programme Manager for the PIN programme which benchmarks the road safety performance of 32 countries.

Q2. What are you currently working on for the Panacea project?

ETSC is responsible for communicating and disseminating the project results. We have set up a website, social media accounts and we promote other project partners when they attend conferences and events.

Q3. Tell us about one particularly striking thing that you learned from your latest research for the project.

ETSC is not carrying out any research for the project but as this is the first Horizon project I have worked on, and being a project manager myself, I have enjoyed watching the project come together, bringing all the partners and their various areas of expertise together to create the desired outcomes.

Q4. Explain how you think this will help the PANACEA project achieve its aims of improving fitness to drive among professional transport workers.

Good project management and good communication between the partners are crucial elements in the project being able to deliver on its promises. Ultimately if the PANACEA project and system are successful, awareness of fitness to drive among professional drivers will be better road safety will be improved.

Q5. Why is working on a road safety project important to you?

There was a lot of publicity during the pandemic about the working conditions of, particularly, lorry drivers and this certainly made me more aware of the difficult circumstances in which these drivers work. Also, the images from the UK of long queues of lorries waiting days on the motorway to cross the channel due to customs issues. Anything that can be done to improve the conditions for these drivers – and that includes more awareness of what it means to be fit to drive these vehicles – should be welcomed.