The focus of this paper is the assessment of fitness to drive of neurologically impaired drivers. Licensing authorities have extensive experience in assessing the fitness to drive of physically impaired drivers, but existing assessment procedures fall short in case of cognitively impaired drivers. Neuropsychological test performance yields only modest correlations with driving behaviour, indicating the need for actual on-road evaluations. In an attempt to combine the merits of neuropsychological assessment (standardisation, reliability) and an on-road test (ecologically valid measures, behavioural observations), a diagnostic test ride in a driving simulator was designed. Due to the implementation of intelligent traffic participants, the simulator provides a convincing driving environment, in which interaction with other cars can be studied and behavioural observations can be scored. Safety measures of driving can be obtained during test rides. The difficulty level is gradually increased, while operational and tactical aspects of driving are registered. Specific situations are built-in that are demanding for people suffering from attentional or related cognitive impairments. (A)
Abstract