DRIVINGHEALTH® INVENTORY including UFOV®
For public health and personal safety, when screening results indicate serious functional impairment a follow-up visit to an appropriate health professional for diagnostic assessment, and/or driving evaluation is highly recommended.
The DRIVINGHEALTH® INVENTORY including UFOV® is a software tool for driver functional screening, containing measures that have been validated against at-fault crashes in case-control research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Institute on Aging. Under controlled conditions, its standardized procedures provide a quick and reliable indication of whether an individual has no impairment, a mild impairment, or a serious impairment in each of the following functional abilities that underlie safe driving:
- high- and low-contrast visual acuity – to read signs, detect hazards, and guide the vehicle properly under high and low visibility conditions.
- leg strength & stamina – to use the gas and brake pedals effectively for smooth control of vehicle speed, and timely response in emergency situations.
- head/neck flexibility – to rapidly check in both directions for cross-traffic, and to look over the shoulder before backing, merging, or changing lanes.
- short-term and working memory – to remember and apply all rules and regulations for safe driving, sign messages, route directions, and other trip information while simultaneously attending to traffic.
- visualization of missing information – to recognize a whole object when only part is in view, helping a driver anticipate and respond earlier to emerging safety threats.
- visual search with divided attention – to rapidly scan the roadway environment for traffic control information, navigational cues, and conflicts with other vehicles or pedestrians, especially at intersections.
- visual information processing speed – to detect threats at the edge of the ‘useful field of view’ while maintaining concentration on what is happening directly ahead.