Driving skills among ADHD drivers: Preliminary research

The purpose of this study was to understand how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects driving under single and dual-task (distraction) conditions. ADHD and control participants self-reported various driving outcomes and completed a battery of psychological tests and a car following task in a driving simulator. While driving, participants also attempted common secondary tasks such as operating the CD player or having a simulated cell phone conversation. Results found that the ADHD group was 4.4 times more likely to have received a traffic citation and 3.6 times more likely to be in a crash. People in the ADHD group performed worse on psychomotor tests measuring concentration and stress tolerance. The ADHD group was more sporadic in terms of input control through the accelerator pedal, which resulted in less stable headway maintenance. The ADHD group also showed lower coherence and a longer delay in responding to lead-vehicle speed changes. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results for future research and the testing, licensing, and training of ADHD drivers