Citation

Bowers AR, Mandel AJ, Goldstein RB, Peli E. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2010; 51(12): 6605-6613.

Affiliation

Harvard Medical School, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology)

DOI

10.1167/iovs.10-5310

PMID

20671269

PMCID

PMC3055772

Abstract

Purpose: Using a simulator we tested the hypothesis that drivers with homonymous hemianopia (HH) would take a lane position that increased the safety margin on their blind side. Methods: Twelve participants with HH (6 right and 6 left; 9 male; mean age 50 years (range 31 - 72)), and 12 matched current drivers with normal vision (NV) each completed about 120 minutes of simulator driving. Lane position and steering stability were evaluated for specific road segment types (straights, curves and turns) in city and rural undivided highway driving. Results: Drivers with right HH held a lane position significantly (p = 0.001) to the left of NV drivers on straight road segments and to a lesser extent on curves. Drivers with left HH had a similar lane position to NV drivers on straights and curves, but followed a significantly (p = 0.005) more rightward path on left turns. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that drivers with HH take a lane position that increases the safety margin on their blind side; however, absolute lane position varies as the steering maneuver and location of the risk from oncoming traffic change with road segment type.

Language: en