The use of machine learning improves the assessment of drug-induced driving behaviour.

Abstract Rationale Car-driving performance is negatively affected by the intake of alcohol, tranquillizers, sedatives and sleep deprivation. Although several studies have shown that the standard deviation of the lateral position on the road (SDLP) is sensitive to drug-induced changes in simulated and real driving performance tests, this parameter alone might not fully assess and quantify deviant or unsafe driving. Objective Using machine learning we investigated if including multiple simulator-derived parameters, rather than the SDLP alone would provide a more accurate assessment of the effect of substances affecting driving performance. We specifically analysed the effects of alcohol and alprazolam. Methods The data used in the present study were collected during a previous study on driving effects of alcohol and alprazolam in 24 healthy subjects (12 M, 12 F, mean age 26 years, range 20–43 years). Various driving features, such as speed and steering variations, were quantified and the influence of administration of alcohol or alprazolam was assessed to assist in designing a predictive model for abnormal driving behaviour. Results Adding additional features besides the SDLP increased the model performance for prediction of drug-induced abnormal driving behaviour (from an accuracy of 65 %–83 % after alprazolam intake and from 50 % to 76 % after alcohol ingestion). Driving behaviour influenced by alcohol and alprazolam was characterised by different feature importance, indicating that the two interventions influenced driving behaviour in a different way. Conclusion Machine learning using multiple driving features in addition to the state-of-the-art SDLP improves the assessment of drug-induced abnormal driving behaviour. The created models may facilitate quantitative description of abnormal driving behaviour in the development and application of psychopharmacological medicines. Our models require further validation using similar and unknown interventions.