Cell phones, texting, iPods, radio, children, eating — the list of distractions we face when driving our cars is quite extensive.

Dave Ball (top), an information services specialist in the Center for Research on Applied Gerontology, shows the features available on the center’s new driving simulator.

A new driving simulator purchased by The Center for Research on Applied Gerontology will enable physicians and UAB researchers to test driving skills while mimicking real-world conditions.

“The driving simulator can be used for any kind of study in which you’re interested in measuring driving competence,” says Karlene Ball, Ph.D., psychologist and director of the center. “The simulator enables researchers to design their study to fit the specifics they want. If there are particular aspects of driving that are difficult for a given population, we can design the driving scenario and put drivers in a potentially dangerous situation where you might not want to put them in a real car.”

The National Institute on Aging and the center funded the purchase of the $100,000 interactive simulator.

Interaction the key
The simulator uses three projector screens that produce a 130-degree field of view that gives drivers the sensation of being in a real car on the road.

Fog or night conditions can be featured in driving scenes, as can driving in city traffic, on rural roads and through construction areas. Cars can be programmed to pull out in front of drivers or boulders can fall from mountaintops, forcing the driver to react quickly, just as they would in a real-world situation.

Ball says the machine surpasses previous simulators by enabling users to respond to these scenarios in real time.

“Our original driving simulator consisted of a whole vehicle and had big screens, but the interface on it was a video,” Ball says. “As you drove the car you were seeing a real road scene coming at you, but it wasn’t interactive. You couldn’t turn the wheel and have the car turn. You could hit the brake and the video would stop but that was about as interactive as it got.”

“Now, every action the driver makes is measured,” she explains. “When they turn the wheel, the car turns. When they hit the brakes the car stops. We can measure details including where the patient likes to drive, on the left or right side of the lane, and the patient or research participant can see that behavior instantly.”

The simulator records each patient’s test drive and a data report can be viewed after the 30-minute session. The report analyzes how well a driver performed at each moment in time during the test. It can show increases and decreases in speed, braking and driver errors.

“It can be known immediately how many times they ran a stop sign, how many road edge excursions they had, how many times there were incorrect or no responses, or off-road accidents and collisions,” says Dave Ball, an information services specialist responsible for running the simulator. “There’s also a playback feature so drivers can watch a replay of their drive to see how they performed.”

Research applications
Some of the studies currently under way or scheduled to begin soon include examining the driving patterns of adolescents with ADHD, drivers who text while driving, drivers who exhibit risk-taking behaviors and those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Anyone interested in conducting a study can contact Ball at kball@uab.edu. “We’re happy to collaborate if anyone’s interested in driving research,” she says.

The simulator also will be used as part of the Driving Assessment Clinic in the Department of Ophthalmology.

Referring physicians will receive a written report describing the results of their patient’s evaluation and whether or not the patient is considered a high-risk driver. The clinic can provide counseling on alternative transportation services as needed.

For appointments or more information, call the Driving Assessment Clinic office at 325-8646 or e-mail driving@uab.edu.