The Utility of Cognitive Testing to Predict Real World Commercial Driving Risk

Background Driving is a complex task which requires numerous cognitive and sensorimotor skills to be performed safely. On-road driver evaluation can identify unsafe drivers but can also be expensive, risky, and time-consuming. Poor performance on off-road measures of cognition and sensorimotor control has been shown to predict on-road performance in privately-licensed light vehicle drivers, but commercial drivers have not yet been studied despite such vehicles generally being larger and heavier, thus increasing risks from unsafe driving. Method Commercially-licensed truck, bus, and light vehicle drivers undertook the tablet-based Vitals cognitive screening tool, which measures reaction time, judgement, memory, and sensorimotor control, and also undertook an on-road driving evaluation using their vehicle. Accuracy and reliability of the Vitals tasks on predicting road test outcomes were investigated using a trichotomous classifier (pass, fail, borderline), and task performance was analyzed depending on vehicle type and road test outcome. Results Performance on the Vitals tasks predicted on-road performance across all vehicle types. Participants who failed their on-road evaluation also demonstrated lower success on the Judgement task, fewer correctly replicated shapes on the Memory task, and less time on-target in the Control task compared to those who passed. Conclusion Performance on cognitive and sensorimotor tasks is a good predictor of future driving performance and driver safety for commercially-licensed drivers. Regardless of vehicle type, stakeholders can use cognitive measures from the Vitals assessment to identify an increased driving risk. Use of the Vitals as a screening tool prior to on-road evaluation can benefit both drivers and evaluators.