FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) — You might want to steer clear of self-driving vehicles if you have a history of head injuries, a new study warns.

Hockey players who’d suffered repeated concussions were slower to respond when a self-driving car faced a complex traffic situation and needed them to take the wheel, researchers reported recently in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

As a result, they might have a higher risk of auto accidents with a self-driving car, researchers said.

“Our perception is that a conditionally automated vehicle will provide individuals with an opportunity to relax, read, work or perform any number of other non-driving-related tasks,” researcher Vipul Lugade said in a news release.

“Instead, however, the ‘self-driving’ cars are going to create an unusual transition period where you are not quite a passenger and not always a driver either,” Lugade said. He is an associate professor of physical therapy at Binghamton University in New York.

Many self-driving vehicles under development require humans to intervene in certain situations, such as when the car needs to abruptly stop, swerve or respond to unexpected changes in the roadway, researchers said.

“The car can handle routine driving on the highway by itself, but in more complex situations, like construction zones or when pedestrians are present, the driver is expected to take over manual control,” senior researcher Chao Shi said. She’s an assistant professor of systems science and industrial engineering at Binghamton University.

For the study, researchers tested two groups in a driving simulator — 17 ice hockey players with a history of concussions or head impacts, and 17 people around the same age who don’t play high-contact sports.

The research team tracked how well drivers could anticipate upcoming hazards, as well as how they performed when they needed to quickly assume manual control of the vehicle.

“What this study brings into question is whether people will actually be willing, and more importantly, able to resume driving after long periods of disengagement,” Lugade said.

After a one-hour driving session, a clear divide emerged between the two groups.

The athletes didn't perform worse on cognitive tests or feel more mental stress from the simulation, but they were notably slower to take manual control when required.

The hockey players had an 81% takeover success rate, compared to the other group’s 93% success rate, researchers said.

The players also spent less time successfully maintaining manual control, and the study found they also had a more difficult time answering questions after the takeover event occurred.

“They were less likely to expect what would happen in the next few seconds. ‘Will there be more cars on the road?’ ‘Do I need to slow the speed to avoid potential risk?’ And this is actually reflected in their driving performance,” Shi said.

Self-driving vehicles will need better intervention systems that can account for differences in drivers’ responsiveness, researchers said.

Driver training and license tests also could be adapted to make sure that people with different cognitive abilities will be able to take proper responsibility behind the wheel, researchers said.

More information

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has more on risky driving.

SOURCE: Binghamton University, news release, Aug. 18, 2026

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