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Excursions out‐of‐lane versus standard deviation of lateral position as outcome measure of the on‐the‐road driving test
Author(s) -
Verster Joris C.,
Roth Thomas
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.2406
Subject(s) - standard deviation , measure (data warehouse) , driving test , position (finance) , outcome (game theory) , psychology , statistics , audiology , medicine , computer science , mathematics , logistic regression , finance , database , economics , mathematical economics
Background The traditional outcome measure of the Dutch on‐the‐road driving test is the standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), the weaving of the car. This paper explores whether excursions out‐of‐lane are a suitable additional outcome measure to index driving impairment. Methods A literature search was conducted to search for driving tests that used both SDLP and excursions out‐of‐lane as outcome measures. The analyses were limited to studies examining hypnotic drugs because several of these drugs have been shown to produce next‐morning sedation. Results Standard deviation of lateral position was more sensitive in demonstrating driving impairment. In fact, solely relying on excursions out‐of‐lane as outcome measure incorrectly classifies approximately half of impaired drives as unimpaired. The frequency of excursions out‐of‐lane is determined by the mean lateral position within the right traffic lane. Defining driving impairment as having a ΔSDLP > 2.4 cm, half of the impaired driving tests (51.2%, 43/84) failed to produce excursions out‐of‐lane. Alternatively, 20.9% of driving tests with ΔSDLP < 2.4 cm (27/129) had at least one excursion out‐of‐lane. Conclusions Excursions out‐of‐lane are neither a suitable measure to demonstrate driving impairment nor is this measure sufficiently sensitive to differentiate adequately between differences in magnitude of driving impairment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.