a simulator allows disabled or impaired people to test their ability to drive

Can you continue to drive when you are impaired, after an accident or because of an illness? In France, more than 20,000 people each year need an assessment to determine their ability to drive safely for themselves and others. Researchers have developed a very precise driving simulator which also allows them to benefit from tailor-made fittings in their vehicle.

It looks like the driving simulators found in video game arcades with a large black chair, a steering wheel and three screens, but it’s not a toy. The machine is equipped with high-end software and all the necessary options for the disabled: joystick, steering wheel circle, pedal reversal. It was developed by robotics specialists.

This driving simulator is used in around thirty rehabilitation centers, such as at the Plaisir hospital (Yvelines), where occupational therapist Marie Gawalkiewicz tests the abilities of a patient who suffers from cognitive disorders after a stroke. “You will hear a noise. When you hear this sound, you press the brake pedal very quickly and very hard”, explains the occupational therapist. Test result: the reaction time was a little slow and the patient had difficulty pressing the brake pedal.

Many pathologies concerned

It was the rehabilitation centers that requested a tool to better test the abilities of their patients. After an accident which leaves physical after-effects, but also after a heart attack, a stroke, in the event of diabetes or epilepsy, an assessment is mandatory before being able to drive, it is the law. There is a whole list of pathologies concerned.

Most of the time, licensed doctors examine the patient and possibly order a driving test at a specially equipped driving school. But the results are far from being as precise as with this simulator, developed by the disability mobility resource and innovation center (Ceremh), an association which defends mobility for the disabled. “We will see if you are able to follow a target, hold the steering wheel or press the pedals and a joystick”, explains the president of Ceremh, Eric Monacelli. This professor at the University of Paris-Saclay, specialist in interactive robotics, imagined this machine.

“We will also look at dual tasks: for example, am I able to press the brake when I turn the steering wheel? And there, we start to get into things that are a little more cognitive. So we will define profiles and we will define adaptations. And all of this is found in the vehicle.”

Eric Monacelli, president of Ceremh

at franceinfo

To benefit from these arrangements in their car, people who have difficulty driving often have to fend for themselves. Antoine Vernier teaches driving at Ceremh, and he clearly sees the usefulness of this simulator: “There are people who leave the center who have been evaluated on the simulator but who cannot find suitable driving schools with facilities that suit them. Often they go directly to the equipment manufacturer who will fit out the vehicle and he There is the possibility of regularizing your license with the inspector with your own vehicle.”

Reluctance among some patients

This driving simulator will therefore help people with disabilities, but that is not necessarily how patients understand it. Because it is both a driving aid and a cleaver that defines whether or not you can drive. However, you need to be evaluated in many cases, not just after an accident that leaves you paralyzed. This is also true in the case of Alzheimer’s disease or multiple sclerosis, all degenerative diseases are targeted.

Marie Gawalkiewicz clearly sees that in certain patients, there is a form of denial. “There are patients who are quite happy to have an evaluation on a tool that allows them to performsays the occupational therapist. And then there are patients who are reluctant and who are afraid of what it implies in terms of the financial cost or the change in lifestyle habits that have been there for a long time. We sometimes have people who tell us that they have been driving for 30 years and that they know how to drive. But that is not the question.”

“With medical difficulties or simply age, there are sometimes skills that change at the visual or motor level. This is what we test on the simulator.”

Marie Gawalkiewicz, occupational therapist

at franceinfo

This super simulator will be perfected to capture all the driver’s physiological signals: their cerebral, cardiac or muscular activity. Ultimately, it could be used to test the driving abilities of older people. In France there is no age limit for driving, nor mandatory medical examination. People over 75 can take driving tests without being forced to do so for the moment.