Social and Non-social Hazard Response in Drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Driving is a complex task that relies on manual, cognitive, visual and social skill. The social demands of driving may be challenging for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) due to known social impairments. This study investigated how drivers with ASD respond to social (e.g., pedestrians) and non-social (e.g., vehicles) hazards in a driving simulator compared to typically developing drivers. Overall, participants responded faster to social hazards than non-social hazards. It was also found that drivers with typical development reacted faster to social hazards, while drivers with ASD showed no difference in reaction time to social versus non-social hazards. Future work should further investigate how social impairments in ASD may affect driving safety.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Developmental disabilities; Driving; Hazard perception.

Figure 1. STISIM driving simulator

Figure 2. Social and Non-social driving hazard examples

Example A depicts one of the non-social hazards participants encountered (i.e., a vehicle approaching head on), while example B depicts one of the four social hazards encountered in the driving scenario (i.e., a pedestrian crossing the street outside of a crosswalk).

Figure 3. Interaction of diagnostic group and hazard type on reaction time

The group by hazard interaction for reaction time emerged as marginally significant (F(1) = 3.84, p = .06), control drivers reacted significantly more quickly to social as compared non non-social hazards. This difference was not found in the ASD group.

Figure 4. Interaction of diagnostic group and hazard type on average driving speed

No significant group by hazard interaction was found for average driving speed.

Figure 5. Interaction of diagnostic group and hazard type for Motor Vehicle Collisions (MVCs)

No significant group by hazard interaction was found for MVCs.

Figure 6. Interaction of diagnostic group and hazard type on speed exceedances

Although typically developing drivers had a greater number of speed exceedances approaching no-social hazards compared to social hazards, this interaction was not significant (p= .465).