“For thousands of combat veterans, driving has become an ordeal. Once their problems were viewed mainly as a form of road rage or thrill seeking. But increasingly, erratic driving by returning troops is being identified as a symptom of traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD — and coming under greater scrutiny amid concerns about higher accident rates among veterans.”Additionally, one does not have to suffer from PTSD for a veteran’s war experience to affect driving. “In some cases, returning troops may be reflexively applying driving techniques taught in Iraq during the height of the insurgency — for example, speeding up at intersections to avoid gunfire or scanning the roadside for danger instead of watching the road ahead.”
According to the article, the “…Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs are also supporting several new studies into potential links between deployment and dangerously aggressive or overly defensive driving. The Veterans Affairs health center in Albany last year started a seven-session program to help veterans identify how war experiences might trigger negative reactions during driving.”
It goes to say that “…researchers in Palo Alto are developing therapies — which they hope to translate into iPhone apps — for people with PTSD who are frequently angry or anxious behind the wheel.”
