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

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 (HUD).Methods: Effects of the information on speed and headway control were studied in a longer-term driving simulator study including twelve repeated measures spread out over four weeks. Nine healthy older drivers between the ages of 65 and 82 years making up one group and nine drivers diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) between the ages of 68 and 82 years making up another group participated in the study. Within the four weeks, groups completed twelve consecutive sessions (ten with ADAS and two 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.