AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF A FUNCTIONAL ENERGY DRINK ON POST-LUNCH AND EARLY EVENING DRIVING PERFORMANCE

This paper reports the results of a pilot study designed to evaluate the effect of an energy drink on mental performance and driving. Twenty-four healthy subjects were tested after consumption of a placebo or an energy drink in a double-blind crossover study. Measures included a laboratory test of Adaptive Tracking (AT) and a simulated drive on a 40 km motorway route in an advanced motion-based simulator. Self-report scales of sleepiness revealed a significant difference between placebo and energy drink. Though both drinks provided an alerting effect, both the level and duration of the effect observed after consumption of the energy drink was greater. Performance on the AT task was significantly improved. This improvement in hand-eye coordination was reflected in better lane-keeping performance in the simulated driving task. There was also a consistent tendency when the driver drank placebo to drive slightly faster in traffic than when drinking the energy drink. These preliminary findings, which demonstrate that consumption of even a relatively small volume (250 ml) of an energy drink can have an effect on sleepiness, lane keeping and speed choice in simulated traffic, could have implications for future highway safety.

• Record URL:
  http://drivingassessment.uiowa.edu/DA2001/12_Parkes_Andrew.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Iowa, Iowa City

  Public Policy Center
  227 South Quadrangle
  Iowa City, IA  United States  52242-1192
• Authors:
  • PARKES, A M
  • SEXTON, B F
  • Burton, S
  • Hu, H L
  • Shaw, J A
  • Daggy, B P
• Conference:
  • Driving Assessment 2001: The First International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design
  • Location: Aspen, Colorado
  • Date: 2001-8-14 to 2001-8-17
• Publication Date: 2001

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 70-75

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic steering control; Driving; Driving simulators; Drowsiness; Highway safety; Human subject testing; Performance; Pilot studies; Speed
• Uncontrolled Terms: Adaptive tracking; Energy drinks; Hand-eye coordination
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00921572
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 21 2002 12:00AM