Samenvatting
The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council established a university- based unit in 1981 to conduct research into the medical aspects of road traffic accidents. The research program of the unit is in two main areas: drink- driving countermeasures and the epidemiology, mechanisms and means of prevention of head injuries in road crashes. The results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of random breath alcohol testing by the police are presented. Studies on the epidemiology of head injuries are then reviewed briefly.