UWUERZ - Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Germany
The Center for Traffic Sciences at the University of Würzburg is an institution within the university working on traffic related research projects. The Center consists of researchers from different faculties, for example psychology, medicine, legal sciences, engineering. Additionally, the Center is working closely together with administrative authorities. For example, the Center has full access to all governmental accident data bases. The focus is on questions of traffic safety as well as on technical-ergonomic solutions. The staff consists of about 20 scientists with different scientific background. The Center is funded by research projects coming from governmental institutions (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen), from research funding institutions (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Volkswagenstiftung), as well as from the industry (mainly car manufacturers).
The Center conducted large scale studies about the prevalence of psychoactive substances in the German traffic. The most important study was the German Roadside Survey with more than 20,000 controls and more than 6,000 accidents. The study allowed to establish risk functions and was accomplished by studies concerning countermeasures. Studies with drug consumers before discos with extended diagnosis yielded important insights into drug-induced impairment. Additionally, further studies dealt with traffic safety in case of patients and safety-related medications.