SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Van Dyke NA, Fillmore MT. Psychopharmacology 2015; 232(23): 4277-4284.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 171 Funkhouser Dr., Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00213-015-4055-2

PMID

26349918

Abstract

RATIONALE: Research indicates that alcohol intoxication and increased demands on drivers' attention from distractions (e.g., passengers and cell phones) contribute to poor driving performance and increased rates of traffic accidents and fatalities.

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined the separate and combined effects of alcohol and distraction on simulated driving performance at blood alcohol concentrations (BrACs) below the legal driving limit in the USA (i.e., 0.08 %).

METHODS: Fifty healthy adult drivers (36 men and 14 women) were tested in a driving simulator following a 0.65-g/kg dose of alcohol and a placebo. Drivers completed two drive tests: a distracted drive, which included a two-choice detection task, and an undistracted control drive. Multiple indicators of driving performance, such as drive speed, within-lane deviation, steering rate, and lane exceedances were measured.

RESULTS: Alcohol and distraction each impaired measures of driving performance. Moreover, the magnitude of alcohol impairment was increased by at least twofold when tested under the distracting versus the undistracted condition.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the need for a clearer understanding of how common distractions impact intoxicated drivers, especially at BrACs that are currently legal for driving in the USA.


Keywords: Driver distraction; Cannabis impaired driving; DUID; Ethanol impaired driving


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print