Information on Loughborough

Royal recognition for Loughborough University research

Posted on 27/12/2008

Loughborough University Website

Royal recognition for Loughborough University research

Loughborough University’s world-leading research into road traffic accident investigation and driver sleepiness is to be recognised with one of the country’s most prestigious educational awards.

Her Majesty The Queen will present Loughborough with the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education on 14 February at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It is the sixth time the award will have been bestowed on Loughborough an achievement unbeaten by any other university.

The University’s Vehicle Safety Research Centre is the largest crash investigation research group in the world. Using real-world crash research it examines the causes of accidents and injuries and has made major contributions to European road and vehicle safety.

The Driver Sleepiness Research Group was the first UK research organisation to recognise the real problem of driver sleepiness and bring it to public attention. Its research and application of sleep science has led to widely adopted guidelines for the identification of sleep-related road crashes and to practical countermeasures, including the ‘Tiredness can kill Take a break’ signs on motorways, changes to the Highway Code, and the setting of legal precedents concerning driver liability.