Sufferers of neurodegenerative disorders commonly display driving errors regarding lane positioning, slow driving, observation of the blind spot, and scanning behaviour, according to a new study.
The research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, found patients with Alzheimer’s performed significantly worse than healthy older drivers on operational, tactical, visual, and global aspects of on-road driving.
A variety of driving errors were reported in patients with Alzheimer’s but the report was unclear on which type of driving error occurs most frequently.
The study, which saw drivers participate in a fitness-to-drive assessment, reported those with neurodegenerative disorders other than Alzheimer’s showed large overlap in the types of driving errors. Several driving errors were identified that appear to be characteristic for patients with particular neurodegenerative disorders.
Several other tactical and operational driving errors, including not communicating with cyclists and unsteady steering, were more frequently observed in patients with non-AD neurodegenerative disorders.
Authors of the study said the findings had “implications for on-road and ‘off-road’ fitness-to-drive assessments for patients with neurodegenerative disorders with cognitive decline.”
A link to the full paper is available here.
