Here is an interesting article from the NY Times on a computer simulation program that tests your driving skills and is
…intended to improve mental acuity, the cognitive software uses bouncing balls and visual memory tests to gauge driving skills.There are already programs like AAA’s Roadwise Review (about $15), which is intended to help older people evaluate their driving. The program was based on research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Institute on Aging that showed that older drivers who had significant declines in particular cognitive abilities were up to five times as likely to be in a car accident as their peers. Roadwise assesses eight physical and mental fitness elements related to driving, an especially pressing issue with an estimated 40 million people over the age of 65 expected to be driving by 2020, up from 29 million in 2005, according to the AAA. The program, which takes about 30 minutes to complete, amounts to a do-it-yourself driving checkup, including video clips explaining the relevance of tests that check visual search and memory skills.
I can almost imaging the future when the DMV or insurance companies would just email you such a test and see if you qualify to drive or quote your drivers insurance based on your score.
If Roadwise does reveal impairments, AAA reminds users that the computer program is not equivalent to being examined by a doctor and that users may want to take additional steps, like seeing an ophthalmologist if one has difficulty discerning low-contrast objects. “The program only looks at abilities that are known to decline with age,” said Dannielle Sherrets, AAA’s manager of traffic safety research and analysis. So the program may not reveal other problems. Furthermore, Roadwise isn’t intended to improve cognitive shortcomings.There are other programs that will test mental agility and then use subsequent computer training sessions to improve a driver’s skills. One such program is an online application called DriveFit ($89), which was developed by CogniFit, an Israeli company specializing in cognitive training software. DriveFit uses visual and memory tests to measure 12 driving-related cognitive abilities. It assesses reaction times, as well as a person’s propensity to take risks, ability to judge relative speed and process information when attention is divided (for example, driving while talking on a cellphone). According to the company, people who are slower at processing information in these areas are going to be more dangerous drivers.I found DriveFit’s 30-minute evaluation much more challenging than AAA’s. Some sections were like a sophisticated version of Pong, in which I had to track moving objects on the computer screen and quickly judge the relative speeds of moving balls. In other sections, my memory was strained trying to recall ever lengthening number sequences and answer questions based on split-second glimpses of photos of busy intersections.
