Policy Brief: Autism and Driving

Sheppard, Elizabeth

Abstract

More than one in 100 people in the UK are autistic. Despite the prevalence of autism within society, autistic people face barriers in their everyday lives. One example of this is with learning to drive.

Research shows that autistic people are less likely to hold a driving licence than non-autistic people, and they are more likely to have begun learning to drive and then stopped. However, newly qualified
autistic drivers have a slightly lower overall crash risk than non-autistic drivers so autistic people should be able to learn to drive.

Currently, driving lessons and tests are not sufficiently adapted for autistic people. Also, driving instructors do not know enough about autism to support autistic people when learning to drive. By adapting the driving and test processes, and educating instructors about autism, we can increase the number of autistic people with driving licences. This will improve the quality of life for autistic people.

Citation

Sheppard, E. (2024). Policy Brief: Autism and Driving. University of Nottingham

• Report Type: Policy Document
• Online Publication Date: Jun 17, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 17, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 18, 2024
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36012054