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HYPERACTIVE DRIVERS AT RISK
The next driver who speeds past you may be under the influence not of drugs
or alcohol, but of a hyperactive brain. Russell Barkley and colleagues
report that teens and young adults with hyperactivity are at high risk for
getting speeding tickets, losing their licenses, and being involved in
crashes-particularly those involving injuries.
Barkley et al. compared the driving records, skills, and knowledge of 25
young adults (ages 17 to 30) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), and 23 controls matched for age, gender, ethnicity, and educational
status. The researchers interviewed the subjects about their driving
histories and patterns, the number and types of traffic citations they had
received, and the number of crashes in which they had been involved. They
verified these reports by checking state driving records. Then each
participant was tested using a videotaped test of driving knowledge, and a
computerized driving simulator. In addition, subjects and their parents (or
others who knew the subjects) were asked about the subjects' driving
behaviors.
Among the researchers' findings:
- All of the ADHD subjects reported receiving at least one speeding ticket,
"a figure nearly twice that for the control group." In addition, state
records revealed that "the drivers with ADHD had more than five times as
many traffic citations on their records than did control subjects."
- Subjects with ADHD were more likely to have had their licenses suspended or
revoked, and had a greater number of suspensions or revocations, than
controls.
- ADHD subjects were nearly four times as likely as controls to have been
driving during a crash that resulted in injuries.
- Subjects' own reports and the reports of their parents or other parties
revealed that "the ADHD young adults were rated as using significantly
poorer driving habits, both by their own reports and those of others, than
were members of the control group."
Barkley et al. note that on the test of driving knowledge, subjects with
ADHD performed as well as other subjects. "Knowing what to do, therefore,
does not seem to be the problem with drivers having ADHD," they say. Rather,
they say, "it is in the actual performance of driving and in the exercising
of sound driving habits... that drivers with ADHD seem to have their
difficulties."
In earlier research, Barkley et al. compared the driving histories of adults
with ADHD to those of adults with anxiety or mood disorders. The ADHD group
was more than three times as likely to have been involved in crashes, had
more crashes, and had more speeding tickets than the other subjects. This
finding, the researchers say, suggests that these driving risks "may be more
specific to ADHD."
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"Motor vehicle driving competencies and risks in teens and young adults with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," Russell A. Barkley, Kevin Murphy,
and Denise Kwasnik, Pediatrics, Vol. 98, No. 6, December 1996, pp. 1089-1095.
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