The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) commissions research on road safety issues of national importance. Our findings help the Australian Government and other stakeholders formulate and review road safety policies. They also contribute to work undertaken by the vehicle safety standards area of DOTARS.

While most of our research is contracted out to academics or private sector specialists, ATSB officers are responsible for overall project management, quality control and publication of findings.

In addition to its core research activities, the ATSB also funds an annual competitive road safety research grants programme. These grants are intended to promote innovative road safety research and to encourage new researchers into the field.

The ATSB (and the former Federal Office of Road Safety) have published more than 400 road safety research reports. These include commissioned works published in our 'Consultant's Report' (CR) series, as well as in-house research papers and reports funded through our competitive grants programme.

Some of our recent research topics include:

• Speed management
• Community attitudes to road safety
• Novice driver education
• Vehicle occupant protection issues
• Road safety themes in vehicle advertising
• Road environment factors
• Driver fatigue in the transport industry

ATSB research publications are generally available in printed form or electronically, and most reports issued since 1997 are directly accessible through the ATSB web site.