ADHD & Teen Drivers

Today is National ADHD Awareness Day, and a new study focuses--no pun intended--on teen drivers with the condition. The study finds how well they performs behind the wheel of a car may be directly influenced by optimizing dosing of medication, especially in the afternoon and evening. The authors of the study say for all teenagers, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death. For adolescents with ADHD, you multiply that by a factor of four, and it becomes a huge problem. So these kids need to be armed with the right medicine and other tools to be a safe driver.

Alison O’Brien now is vigilant when she drives, but that wasn’t always the case. She has been on medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder since she was six years old. But when she was younger, she didn’t always remember to take it--a problem when getting behind the wheel. Alison says, “That day I actually forgot my medicine so I was really unfocused and I couldn’t really drive very well.

As I was coming down I saw another car coming at me and he tried to move into my lane because I was in his lane and we both went head on into each other.” Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt but the car was totaled. Dr. Steven Kurtz, a Clinical Director for ADHD Services at NYU Child Study Center, says, “Those who have ADHD after the first year of driving seem to not to drive as well as their non- add peers, in the order of about three times as many moving violations, about three times as many motor vehicle accidents and about three times the dollar value per accident.”

Certainly taking her medicine would have helped. But now, a new, small study finds the long acting medicine, concerta, significantly improves a teen’s ability to operate a vehicle on driving skills tests compared with short acting three-times-a-day dosing of medication such as ritalin.

“The study was interesting it looked at only nineteen kids so it is a great start. It is not necessarily that we would have them change from medicine A to medicine B or short acting medicine to long acting medicine but we would take a look at their treatment plan and say where as you were in fifth grade you needed to concentrate from 9-3pm and I will help you get through homework, now you are in twelve grade and not only so I need to concentrate in school but I need to be super focused on the road because a car is a potentially dangerous thing,” says Dr. Kurtz.

Alison states, “I definitely knew it was due to the fact that I hadn’t taken my Concerta that day, so had I taken it I would have been probably fine. It has taught me to never forget my medication and if I do forget it to go back home and do anything I can to try and get it.” Dr. Kurtz says most teen drivers actually do well at the start, perhaps what you might consider a honeymoon period, and then the accidents start to happen, more so with the kids who have ADHD. So don’t be fooled by an early record of success; you need to watch the kids more closely after the first few months, and reinforce the safe driving behaviors.