Effects of cerebral diseases on driver distraction (original) (raw)

In-vehicle distraction and brain pathologies: Effects on reaction time and accident probability

2016

Driving is a complex task that requires the ability to receive sensory information, process the information, and to make proper, timely judgments and responses. Older drivers or drivers suffering brain pathologies may have deficits in their driving ability (motor, visual, cognitive or perceptual) and these deficits may lead to reduced driver fitness and increased accident probability. These particularities of impaired driver’s behaviour and safety characteristics make the assessment of their driving ability a very challenging task especially regarding driver distraction. Driver distraction is estimated to be an important cause of vehicle accidents. Especially in the elderly and people with brain pathologies, because of the degradation of cerebral function, they may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of distraction; however, relatively few studies have examined the effect of cerebral diseases on distracted driving behaviour. The objective of this research is the analysis of tw...

Mild Cognitive Impairment and driving: Does in-vehicle distraction affect driving performance?

Accident; analysis and prevention, 2017

In-vehicle distraction is considered to be an important cause of road accidents. Drivers with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), because of their attenuated cognitive resources, may be vulnerable to the effects of distraction; however, previous relevant research is lacking. The main objective of the current study was to explore the effect of in-vehicle distraction on the driving performance of MCI patients, by assessing their reaction time at unexpected incidents and accident probability. Thirteen patients with MCI (age: 64.5±7.2) and 12 cognitively intact individuals (age: 60.0±7.7), all active drivers were introduced in the study. The driving simulator experiment included three distraction conditions: (a) undistracted driving, (b) conversing with passenger and (c) conversing through a hand-held mobile phone. The mixed ANOVA models revealed a greater effect of distraction on MCI patients. Specifically, the use of mobile phone induced a more pronounced impact on reaction time and acci...

The Effects of Driver Distraction for Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injuries

Human factors, 2015

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of secondary tasks on the driving performance of individuals with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Studies suggest detrimental impacts of driving with TBI or while distracted but the impact of driver distraction on TBI drivers is not well documented. Bayesian regression models were used to estimate the effect of relatively simple secondary tasks on driving performance of TBI and healthy control (HC) drivers. A driving simulator was used to develop prior distribution of task effects on driving performance for HCs. An on-road study was conducted with TBI and HC drivers to generate effect estimates for the posterior distributions. The Bayesian models were also compared to frequentist models. During a coin-sorting task, all drivers exhibited larger maximum lateral acceleration and larger standard deviation of speed than in a baseline driving segment. There were no significant driving performance differences between the TBI and the H...