Alcohol is known as an important factor in road crashes, particularly for young novice drivers. Effects of low and moderate doses of alcohol in car-following task with an additional task were investigated in a driving simulator. The main task was a car -following and the additional task was a parity judgment about a number, which appeared in central or peripheral vision while driving. Two groups of sixteen young drivers [novice and more experienced] were submitted at three different blood alcohol concentration [BAC] levels: 0.00, 0.02, and 0.05. Driving performance was assessed by speed, time to brake, inter-vehicular distance and standard deviation of lateral position. The impact of the additional task was assessed by the interference between simple task of car -following and car-following with the additional task. The hypothesis is that driving performance should be impaired with the increase of BAC, and this impairment should be significant as soon as low doses of alcohol for novice drivers. Statistical analyses are in process. Results of this experiment could improve the knowledge about the impact of alcohol on driving behaviour and guide road safety policies about novice drivers.
Effects of low and moderate doses of alcohol on driving performance and divided-attention abilities