Alcohol, drugs and driving: implications for evaluating driver impairment.

Alcohol, drugs and driving: implications for evaluating driver impairment. Ann Adv Automot Med. 2013;57:23-32 Authors: Brown T, Milavetz G, Murry DJ Abstract Impaired driving is a significant traffic safety problem, and alcohol and drugs taken before driving contribute substantially to this problem. With the increase in use of prescription medication and the decriminalization of some drugs, it has become increasingly important to understand the manifestation of driver impairment. Building upon previous alcohol research conducted at the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), this study enrolled commercial bus drivers to evaluate the effect of triazolam on driving performance to assess difference between placebo, 0.125, and 0.25 mg doses in a randomized and double-blind design. On each of three randomized visits, subjects drove a simulator scenario that had previously been used to demonstrate effects of alcohol on driving performance. Plasma triazolam levels were obtained before the simulator drive. The protocol included participants receiving study medication and placebo over a 3-week period of time one to two weeks apart. The simulator drives used for this analysis occurred approximately 140 minutes after dosing-after the subjects had completed four bus simulator drives and neuropsychological tests over a 2-hour period of time surrounding dosing. The driving scenario contained representative situations on three types of roadways...
Source: Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine - Category: Global & Universal Tags: Ann Adv Automot Med Source Type: research