PRESENTER: Kristina Stojmenova Pečečnik, University of Ljubljana, Facutly of electrical engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Driving simulators provide safe, controlled and robust testing environment for fast and reliable data acquisition needed for assessment of driving skills and functional capabilities needed for driving. The latter is especially important for medical assessment of driving, as it provides information also on the capabilities of a driver to operate a vehicle, upon which driving skills are built and developed.
When it gets to a basic clinical assessment of fitness to drive the experts have proposed a process consisting of a combination of three sets of tests: 1) neurophysiology's, 2) sensory and motor assessment, and 3) on-road assessment with a driving instructor [1]. Although such comprehensive assessment provides most information for a reliable fitness to drive assessment, a combination of all three tests is time consuming and costly. Focusing on just one or two tests and assessing only a limited set of skills is also not ideal. Because driving is a construct of many skills, drivers can successfully substitute deficits in one domain by relying on other better-preserved functions.
With the goal of improving and optimizing the driving assessment process and exploiting multiple advantages of driving simulators, a medical tool has been developed for assessment of driving skills which provides a fast, reliable and context-relevant assessment of fitness to drive in a dynamic yet safe environment.
With this approach all functional tests (motoric, sensory, cognitive) are performed simultaneously, which allows the medical practitioner to gather information related to all the aspects of driving fitness as well as advanced driving skills through a single assessment procedure. Such test includes also hazard perception which is considered the most prominent higher-order cognitive skill related to road safety, as well as several driving behaviours (e.g., following traffic rules, making right/left turns) in a realistic but risk-free environment.
FURTHER DETAILS OF INTEREST FOR PARTICIPANTS:
- Time: 25 January 2024, 12:00 - 13:00 pm CET
- Fee: This members-only event is free-of-charge
- Location: online
- Working language: English
- Registration: The deadline for registrations is 23 January 2024, 12:00 pm CET