Longer-term effects of ADAS use on speed and headway control in drivers diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

Traffic Inj Prev. 2015;16(1):10-6. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2014.909037. Epub 2014 Sep 26.

Abstract

Objective: An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) provided information about speed limits, speed, speeding, and following distance. Information was presented to the participants by means of a head-up display.

Methods: Effects of the information on speed and headway control were studied in a longer-term driving simulator study including 12 repeated measures spread out over 4 weeks. Nine healthy older drivers between the ages of 65 and 82 years and 9 drivers between the ages of 68 and 82 years diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) participated in the study. Within the 4 weeks, groups completed 12 consecutive sessions (10 with ADAS and 2 without ADAS) in a driving simulator.

Results: Results indicate an effect of ADAS use on performance. Removing ADAS after short-term exposure led to deterioration of performance in all speed measures in the group of drivers diagnosed with PD.

Conclusions: These results suggest that provision of traffic information was utilized by drivers diagnosed with PD in order to control their speed.

Keywords: ADAS; Parkinson's disease; headway control; older drivers; speeding.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acceleration*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Automobile Driving / statistics & numerical data*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Computer Simulation
  • Humans
  • Parkinson Disease / diagnosis
  • Parkinson Disease / psychology*
  • Protective Devices / statistics & numerical data*
  • Task Performance and Analysis*