Overview
The objective of this research is the analysis of the performance of drivers with cerebral diseases at unexpected incidents. The basic cerebral diseases to be considered concern cerebral incidents, parkinson, alzheimer, dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Additional factors are also considered, including demographic, medical, neurological, neuropsychological, road and traffic factors. These factors are examined jointly in terms of driving performance for the first time internationally. A driving simulator experiment is carried out, comprising a medical/neurological and neuropsychological evaluation of the participants, and a set of driving tasks for different scenarios. The participants comprise two distinct groups from the general population: a group of individuals with cerebral diseases, and a group of healthy individuals.
Models of driving performance are developed in order to identify and rank the factors related to impaired driving. Models of road safety are also developed, in order to quantify the impacts of impaired driving due to cerebral diseases and other related factors. Driver speed and vehicle position on the lane are modeled in relation to demographic, medical / neurological, neuropsychological, road and traffic factors. Moreover, driver reaction time and accident probability are modeled in relation to the above factors, within the occurrence of unexpected incidents. A synthesis on impaired driving mechanisms is carried out, in which the impaired driving due to cerebral diseases and other related factors are integrated both qualitatively (i.e. chains of events, distracted driving patterns) and quantitatively (i.e. magnitude and relative importance of causes and impacts). The analysis of the performance of drivers with cerebral diseases allows for the identification of measures for the improvement of driving performance e.g. restrictive measures, training and licensing, information campaigns, medical and neuropsychological monitoring etc.