New Driving Simulator at UAB to Help Patients Get Back on the Road

Experts say distractions while driving are a major cause of traffic accidents, but a new driving simulator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) could help to make the roads safer.

February 24, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Experts say distractions while driving are a major cause of traffic accidents, but a new driving simulator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) could help to make the roads safer.

According to AAA, between 4,000 and 8,000 crashes related to distracted driving occur daily. Drivers can become distracted due to multitasking such as talking on a cell phone or texting. But some elderly adults and people suffering from certain illnesses may also experience problems keeping their attention on the road, says UAB psychologist Karlene Ball, Ph.D., director of the UAB Center for Research on Applied Gerontology.

The center houses the new $100,000 driving simulator that is funded in part by the National Institute on Aging.

Ball and other UAB researchers across campus can now test subjects' driving skills with the new simulator that mimics real-world driving conditions. Physicians in the metro area also can refer patients for testing through the UAB Driving Assessment Clinic.

"We want to use the simulator to determine how specific diseases or impairments can put people at risk and then create interventions to help those drivers," Ball said.

The new simulator uses three projector screens that produce a 130-degree field of view and gives drivers the sensation of being in a real car on the road. Researchers can program the system for different conditions such as day or night, fog, city or rural roads and road construction. The new device also is more interactive than previous simulators, allowing drivers to respond to pedestrians, other vehicles and road conditions on the screen in real time.

At the top of the screens on the left and right are arrows that tell drivers when to perform what's known as divided attention tasks such as honking the horn or turning on the left or right turn signals.

A driver can complete a test in 30 minutes and afterwards UAB researchers can extract data from the system's computer to analyze how well a driver performed at each moment in time during the test. The data can show increases and decreases in speed, braking and driver errors. The new simulator also has a playback feature so drivers can see for themselves how they performed.

"We also will be able to use the simulator to evaluate other special populations, including young drivers and people with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis," Ball said.