RETURN TO DRIVING AFTER TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY - Part I
Guest Editors: Bruno Gradenigo, Anna Mazzucchi Free access

Europa Medicophysica 2001 December;37(4):209-13

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Evaluation of car driving abilities

Neuwirth W., Schuster B.

From the Schuhfried Ltd, Moedling, Austria

In Austria and Germany the traffic psychology test battery has been officially recommended as an instrument to assess the abilities necessary for safe driving. The Reaction Test (RT) is used to measure reaction times for simple or multiple choice responses. Separate registration of reaction and motor times is possible. The Cognitrone (COG) Test form S1 is a general performance test for analyzing attention and concentration. The scoring program uses the data compiled to calculate a series of measures describing the speed, accuracy and consistence of a subject´s performance. Test form S2 of the Visual Pursuit Test (LVT) is a visual perception test applied to analyze orientation and visual structuring in the sense of focussed purposeful perception. The Determination Test (DT) Test form S1 is applied to measure reactive capacity, check the ability to provide sustained multiple-choice responses to quickly alternating stimuli and to analyze attention deficit disorders. Test form S1 of the Tachistoscopic Traffic Perception Test Mannheim/ for Screen (TAVTMB), analyzes optical perception (visual perception performance) and speed of perception. The test Two-Hand Coordination (2HAND) analyzes two abilities: sensory-motor coordination between eye and hand and between the left and the right hand. The Standard Progressive Matrices Tests (SPM) is a non-verbal procedure for analyzing deductive reasoning. Normative data for the tests from a representative sample of the normal population is available. Tests such as COG and DT proved to be very sensitive to alcohol-related deterioration. Furthermore, in a multi-centric study, the whole range of the tests mentioned in the description above proved to distinguish between competent and less competent drivers as grouped according to a standardized driving sample. The authors of this study had also been able to demonstrate significant correlations among the various tests and peoples driving behavior. In a further study this test battery also proved to be able to distinguish among various classification groups for psychological testing (psychiatric and neurological subjects or subjects with a history of alcohol abuse) and a representative group of “normal persons”. A comparison study was carried out to examine the relation between the test presentation on PC and the standard testing station of the ART90. Results indicate that the correlation between PC administration using the VTS and the ART90 is very high and significant at the 1% level. The ART90 has been used in Traffic Psychology for years. The described traffic psychological tests have been standardized according to the state of the art and validated under aspects of traffic safety.