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Dyslexic drivers 'slower to react than drinkers'
CLAIRE SMITH
DYSLEXIA can slow down a driver’s reaction time more than "moderate" drinking, it was claimed yesterday.
A study found that motorists with the reading-and-writing disorder - which affects as many as one in ten of the population - took longer than normal to react to traffic signs.
But campaigners dismissed claims that the findings mean people with dyslexia should face extra tests before being allowed to drive. The new study showed that drivers with dyslexia took 30 per cent longer to react to road signs in a driving simulation, while drivers who are just over the alcohol limit show an increase in reaction times of ten per cent.
"The controversial finding will raise questions about whether people with dyslexia should have extra tests before being allowed behind the wheel," said a report in the New Scientist.
Motor-racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, who is the president of Dyslexia Scotland, said he did not believe dyslexic drivers should face extra tests. But he said the findings did not surprise him.
"One in ten of our population is affected by this and they don’t have to be told. People know their limitations only too well and in many cases like mine, people have been told they are slow and stupid all their lives." Despite a "God-given gift" for driving and lightning-fast reactions on the track, the three-times Formula One champion admitted his severe dyslexia meant he was still confused by roundabouts.
"Even with all the experience I have had with driving, following instructions, I need somebody beside me talking about where I am going. And I wish I had a pound for every roundabout I have been round twice.
"But I have done all right. I cannot remember the alphabet or the Lord’s Prayer but I can remember all 187 corners of the Nurburgring, which is one of the most difficult circuits in the world."
Hermundur Sigmundsson, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology at Trondheim, tested 17 volunteers, six of whom were dyslexic, in a road-simulation exercise. One test involved a four-minute drive along a simulated country road at 30 to 50 miles per hour. In a second, the volunteers drove through a city at lower speeds for 10 minutes.
The simulator flashed up traffic signs and measured how quickly drivers responded by pushing a button or saying "now".
Dyslexic drivers took on average 0.13 seconds longer to react during the rural drive than non-dyslexic drivers. They were 0.19 seconds slower in the city, where the simulated environment was more complex. In both tests, the non-dyslexic volunteers took about 0.6 seconds to respond.
However, Carol Youngs, policy director for the British Dyslexia Association denied a slower reaction to road signs would make people with dyslexia poorer drivers and said the comparison with drunk driving was misleading.
"People with dyslexia currently have to pass a written driving test, which means they have to work much harder than most people."
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=127822005
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