The research group PRECOVIR has as its main goal the prevention of risk road behaviours in all the actors that participate in any type of road situation, from all the perspectives of scientific research, and even from the pure reflection, the professional ethics and the philosophy of safety also attract some of its members.

PRECOVIR, was born by the driving force of the cornerstone of a culture of safety, the human being, logically alone or in connection with other elements of the traffic system (road, vehicle, environment, weather conditions, legislation, monitoring…). Complex human beings, who are constructed from the genome, but also from culture (and subcultures) throughout life. Longitudinal views which force to consider prevention throughout life, only thus, the needs of this mutable, changing and hardly predictable being that is a person, can be reasonably, even efficiently answered.

As in many human groups, even in scientific disciplines, PRECOVIR has a short story but a long past. Its formal history goes back only 6 years ago, but its past goes back to the 80s, those promising 80s that contemplate among other things the crystalisation of a democracy that had a few years of life!

At the beginning of the decade, already in our university, a group of people, university students and professionals, transformed the department of general psychology of the Faculty of Psychology in a place where to investigate about Road Safety. Soon, in 1983, there were theses (doctoral and licenciatura theses), conference papers, articles, and even books. Already in 1987, José Soler and Francisco Tortosa published the first Spanish manual of road safety. Moreover, specialised seminars and international conferences of great importance were organised. The DGT (Spanish General Traffic Directorate) celebrated its 25 anniversary in Valencia, in a major event organised by the members of the current PRECOVIR group. There a prescriptive transcendent change was conceived, which was reflected in the R.D. 2272/1985 of 4 December.

After, the awarded series published in the of that time journal TRAFICO, published by the DGT. During two years, in each issue appeared a short article discussing crucial aspects of prevention. This helped without doubt to put the dominant technological optimism in its place, and to assume, generally, the complexity of preventive actions. The journal was awarded by the Official Association of Psychologists.

Since then, in the group curriculum you can see an innumerable quantity of conferences, symposiums, courses (inside and outside Spain), articles, book chapters, books, research projects from public calls…and from companies and organisations. Also you can see the awards received (the last one received by the INTRAS, only few weeks ago), of dissertations, of doctoral theses, many approvals for doctoral special awards and scientific publications. Technical developments and patents, collaborations with experts, associations, institutes and reference groups.

In a nutshell, years full of work, enthusiasm, and efforts, always shared it. All these, with an only objective, to contribute with modesty and anonymously, but tirelessly, to save lives and to avoid pain. In this objective there is place for many people, many, but among them, there is without doubt the people linked to our university, to our Research Institute, to our PRECOVIR, and to the institutions that have placed their trust in us and have gave support to our daily activities for risks prevention and for the improvement of quality of life.