Relax your mind to focus on driving by wearing special glasses that detect the driver's driving behavior. This is the core of the Research of the team of the Research Unit in Social and Emotional Neuroscience (Department of Psychology) of the Catholic University, directed by the psychologist Michela Balconi, in collaboration with Cattolica Assicurazioni.
A systematic review – renamed DriveFit – demonstrated how the use of special technological glasses determines a decrease in violations equal to -8% and aggressive driving attitudes, equal to -12%, and a corresponding increased ability to manage attention and control environmental interference, reducing reaction times by 10% and improving psychophysiological activation (+10%).
The analysis started from the data emerging from the report of the European Transport Safety Council, which explained how during 2017 in Italy there was an increase in the number of road fatalities compared to 2016 equal to 2.9%, with costs estimated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport equal to 19,3 billion euros. According to what emerges from the report, driver distraction is the first cause of accidents, with a percentage of incidence equal to 16% of cases.
Since the intellectual functions and personality of the driver play a fundamental role among the main factors influencing driving performance, recent developments in research have rediscovered the potential of stress control techniques for enhancing attention, inhibition of distractions and managing dysfunctional stress responses. DriveFit aims to develop this experimental evidence in the field of accident prevention and intervention on driving behaviour. The project involved a sample of 50 people from Northern Italy subjected to simulated driving tests.
Following the cognitive test, the drivers carried out a road test inside cars equipped with the Active Box self-installing telematic device, an Active Auto solution proposed by Cattolica Assicurazioni which monitors the driver's behaviour. In both driving tests carried out following the neuropsychological training phase, the drivers showed improved performance behind the wheel, also associated with a relative decrease in the time spent above the speed limits.
