Experiences of Driving in Adults with and without ASD and Their Relationship with Self-Reported Autistic Traits

Background: There is increasing recognition that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may experience some challenges when driving. A number of studies have reported that young adults with ASD may experience difficulties with certain aspects of driving (e.g. Cox et al., 2012; Ross et al., 2015; Sheppard et al., 2010). However only one previous study (Daly et al., 2014) has surveyed adults with ASD about their experiences when driving and that study focused only on those who were regular drivers.

Objectives: This study surveyed a large sample of adults with ASD (both drivers and non-drivers) to understand further the difficulties they face when driving and to determine how they relate to self-rated autistic traits. Individuals without an ASD diagnosis were also surveyed as a comparison group.

Methods: An online survey was created which asked about respondents’ diagnostic status, age, driver status, difficulties they face while driving/ barriers to learning to drive. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) was included as a measure of autistic traits. 170 individuals who reported having a diagnosis of ASD (83 female, mean age 30.4) and 204 individuals with no diagnosis (106 female, mean age 28.7) responded. Respondents were recruited through a range of online autism forums/support groups as well as other research participant recruitment websites, and local and international online communities.

Results:

Respondents with ASD were less likely to hold a driving license and to own a car than comparison individuals, and were more likely to have tried to learn but given up. However drivers with ASD did not report being involved in more accidents over the past year. Current drivers with ASD reported more difficulty than comparison individuals on every aspect of driving surveyed, including multitasking, feeling anxious, judging positions of other vehicles, interpreting other road users’ behaviour, managing unexpected changes and predicting upcoming events. Non-drivers with ASD who had previously learned but given up also reported more difficulties than non-drivers without an ASD diagnosis who had given up.

AQ scores positively correlated with reported driving difficulties both in the group with ASD and the comparison group. In drivers with an ASD diagnosis, high scores on attention switching, attention to detail and communication subscales were associated with difficulties in specific components of driving. In drivers without an ASD diagnosis, high scores on the social, communication and attention switching subscales were associated with having difficulty more broadly, across multiple aspects of driving.

Conclusions: Having an ASD or high levels of sub-clinical autistic traits may be associated with difficulties when driving, both during learning and after having obtained a license. Aspects of driving that an individual finds particularly challenging may relate to their specific profile of autism features.