Understanding driving and everyday substances

About the study

Everyday behaviours, like taking medication, using alcohol or drugs, or even changes in sleep, can affect how alert and focused we are. This study, run by research teams at The University of Queensland (UQ) and The University of Tasmania (UTAS), is exploring how these factors may influence people’s ability to pay attention, react quickly, and complete driving-related tasks.

The findings will provide vital knowledge to improve road safety policies and public health initiatives in Australia. By participating, you’ll be contributing to research that could help prevent crashes and save lives.

This study is not:

testing your driving licence
judging your driving skills
making any medical diagnoses.

We are looking at how everyday habits may affect performance on safe, controlled driving-related tasks.

Participant benefits

Refer to the relevant tab below for the participant benefits related to that group.

How to participate

Before joining, please make sure you meet the general inclusion criteria below.

General eligibility criteria

To take part in this experimental study, you must:

be 18 – 65 years of age
regularly sleep more than 6 or more hours per night
hold a valid driver’s licence (provisional or open)
be willing to provide an oral fluid (saliva) and breath sample to screen for the presence of drugs and alcohol.

Select a group

The study is split into 4 groups:

Drugs Group: for people who regularly use illicit drugs.
Alcohol Group: for people who regularly drink alcohol.
Medications Group: for people who regularly take prescription medications.
Control Group: for people who do not use drugs, alcohol, or prescription medications that may impair driving.

If you meet the general eligibility criteria, select a group from the tabs below that best suits your circumstances. If you meet that group's eligibility criteria and you'd like to participate, follow the links to register.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this study, you must:

be 18 years or older
hold a valid Australian driver’s licence
sleep an average of 6 or more hours per night
consume alcohol regularly (at least once a month for the past 6 months).

What's involved

This experimental study is conducted by UTAS and runs over 3 weeks where you'll be asked to:

attend an induction session
complete a daily sleep diary for 3 days
wear an activity monitoring watch for 3 days
attend 3 x laboratory sessions (at UTAS).

Induction session

The induction session will be in-person at UTAS.

The session will include:

an in-depth overview of the study
gaining your verbal consent
completing some initial questionnaires with you
giving you an activity monitoring watch (actigraph) to wear for 3 days. The actigraph watch tracks when you are moving around and when you are sleeping.
booking in your first lab session.

Daily sleep diary

For the 3 days leading up to your first lab session, you will be emailed a sleep diary to fill out each morning for 3 days.

Laboratory sessions

These sessions will be held at UTAS.

The sessions will each run for approximately 1.5hours, and will include:

a breathalyser and saliva drug test
drug/alcohol and fatigue questionnaires
a computerised cognitive test
a traffic conflict test
a field sobriety test.

At the end of each lab session, you will also be provided with a new actigraph watch to wear for the next week.

Participant benefits

You will receive $600 Gift Pay voucher in total ($200 upon completion of each lab session).

How to participate

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in participating in the alcohol participant group, register now and a member of the research team will contact you.

Resources and documents

Download the alcohol group consent form (PDF, 123.5 KB)Download the alcohol group participant information sheet (PDF, 299.9 KB)

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this study, you must:

be 18 years or older
hold a valid Australian driver’s licence
sleep an average of 6 or more hours per night.

You must also be using one or a combination of the following prescription medications:

prescribed opioid medication
prescribed benzodiazepines
prescribed pharmaceutical stimulants
prescribed antidepressants.

What's involved

This study is conducted by UQ and UTAS and runs over one week where you'll be asked to:

attend an induction session (at UQ or UTAS)
complete a daily sleep diary for 3 days
wear an activity monitoring watch for 3 days
attend a laboratory session (at UQ or UTAS).

Induction session

The induction session will be held in-person at UQ or UTAS, depending on your residential state.

The session will include:

an in-depth overview of the study
gaining your verbal consent
completing some initial questionnaires with you
giving you an activity monitoring watch (actigraph) to wear for 3 days. The actigraph watch tracks when you are moving around and when you are sleeping.
booking in your first lab session.

Daily sleep diary

For 3 days leading up to your lab session, you will be emailed a sleep diary to fill out each morning for 3 days.

Laboratory sessions

The laboratory session will be held at UQ or UTAS, depending on your residential state.

The session will run for approximately 1.5 hours, and will include:

a breathalyser and saliva drug test
drug/alcohol and fatigue questionnaires
a computerised cognitive test
a traffic conflict test
a simulated driving task
a field sobriety test.

Prior to the lab session you will take a dose of your prescribed medication.

We will not provide any substances for you to use.

Participant benefits

Participants will receive a $200 Gift Pay voucher after completing the lab session.

How to participate

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in participating, register now and a member of the research team will contact you.

Resources and documents

Download the medications group consent form (PDF, 159.1 KB)Download the medications group participant information sheet (PDF, 266.9 KB)

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this study, you must:

be 18 years or older
hold a valid Australian driver’s licence
sleep an average of 6 or more hours per night.

What's involved

This study is conducted by UQ and UTAS and runs over one week where you'll be asked to:

attend an induction session (at UQ or UTAS)
complete a daily sleep diary for 3 days
wear an activity monitoring watch for 3 days
attend a laboratory session (at UQ or UTAS).

Induction session

The induction session will be held in-person at UQ or UTAS.

The session will include:

an in-depth overview of the study
gaining your verbal consent
completing some initial questionnaires with you
giving you an activity monitoring watch (actigraph) to wear for 3 days. The actigraph watch tracks when you are moving around and when you are sleeping.
booking in your first lab session.

Daily sleep diary

For the 3 days leading up to your lab session, you will be emailed a sleep diary to fill out each morning for 3 days.

Laboratory sessions

The laboratory session will be held at UQ or UTAS.

The session will run for approximately 1.5 hours, and will include:

a breathalyser and saliva drug test
drug/alcohol and fatigue questionnaires
a computerised cognitive test
a traffic conflict test
a simulated driving task
a field sobriety test.

Participant benefits

Participants will receive a $200 Gift Pay voucher upon completion of each lab session.

How to participate

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in participating, register now and a member of the research team will contact you.

Resources and documents

Download the control group consent form (PDF, 159.6 KB)Download the control group participant information sheet (PDF, 251.1 KB)

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this study, you must:

be 18 years or older
hold a valid Australian driver’s licence
sleep an average of 6 or more hours per night.

What's involved

This study is conducted by UQ and runs over one week where you'll be asked to:

attend an induction session (online)
complete a daily sleep diary for 3 days
attend a laboratory session (at UQ).

If you use the illicit drugs daily, you will be eligible for one test session under the habitual drug dose only. This is because the dose of the drugs is constantly high in your body. If you are not using the illicit drugs daily, you may be eligible for two test sessions (once under your habitual dose and once under n-dose conditions).

Induction session

The induction session will be held online via Zoom or Teams.

The session will include:

an in-depth overview of the study
gaining your verbal consent
completing some initial questionnaires with you
booking in your first lab session.

Daily sleep diary

For the 3 days leading up to each lab session, you will be emailed a sleep diary to fill out each morning for 3 days.

Laboratory sessions

The laboratory session will be held at UQ.

Each test session will run for approximately 1.5 hours, and will include:

a breathalyser and saliva drug test
drug/alcohol and fatigue questionnaires
a computerised cognitive test
a traffic conflict test
a simulated driving task
a field sobriety test.

Participant benefits

Participants will receive a $250 Gift Pay voucher per session upon completion of each lab session ($500 total in Gift Pay vouchers for the 2 sessions). A designated driver service will also be provided to bring you to and from the laboratory for your safety (totalling $100).

How to participate

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in participating, register now and a member of the research team will contact you.

Resources and documents

Download the drug group consent form (PDF, 248.4 KB)

Download the drug group participant information sheet (PDF, 277.8 KB)

Contact

If you have any questions, email Shamsi Shekari Soleimanloo s.shekarisoleimanloo@uq.edu.au.

Ethics, data collection and privacy

All information you provide will be kept strictly confidential and used only for research purposes.

The research is funded by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, supporting our mission to build safer roads and healthier communities.

This study has been approved by The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee [Approval No.2025/HE000945].