Compensatory driving behaviour of older drivers with Parkinson's disease. Is it sufficient to counterbalance their driving difficulties?

Drivers with Parkinson’s disease (PD) may have difficulties in their driving competence and these deficits may
lead to reduced driver performance and increased accident probability. The objective of the present paper is the
analysis of traffic and safety behaviour of drivers with PD and the identification of possible compensatory
strategies that these drivers follow, by applying a large driving simulator experiment. A thorough neurological and
neuropsychological assessment was carried out and then a driving simulator experiment was applied. 54 elderly
drivers of similar demographics went through the whole experimental procedure: 34 healthy controls and 20 PD
patients. The following driving performance measures were examined: mean speed, time headway, lateral position,
steering angle variability, reaction time, and accident probability, by Generalized Linear Models. Summarizing
patients with PD are aware of their driving difficulties and they try to develop - not in a successful way - a
compensatory driving behaviour and follow a more conservative driving pattern.