Your driving habits might be silently revealing your mental health status. Groundbreaking research shows that depressed older adults drive differently than their non-depressed counterparts—with more erratic braking, unpredictable routes, and riskier behaviors behind the wheel.
Even more remarkable, these telltale driving patterns can be detected by artificial intelligence with stunning accuracy, correctly identifying depression in 90% of cases.
“Older adults are driving longer, yet we know little about how mental health conditions like major depressive disorder impact real-world driving behavior,” explains Dr. Ganesh M. Babulal, associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the DRIVES Project, who led the research published in npj Digital Medicine.
What makes this discovery so significant is its potential to revolutionize how we screen for depression in older adults—a condition that often goes undiagnosed in seniors.
By analyzing the data already being collected by modern vehicles, healthcare providers could potentially identify at-risk individuals who might otherwise slip through the cracks of traditional screening methods.
Depression’s Hidden Impact on Driving Behavior
The researchers installed small GPS devices in the personal vehicles of 395 adults aged 65 and older.
These unobtrusive trackers continuously monitored driving patterns over time, capturing everything from speed and location to moments of hard braking and sharp cornering.
Among the participants, 85 had been clinically diagnosed with major depressive disorder or scored high on depression questionnaires, while 310 served as a non-depressed control group.
All underwent extensive cognitive testing at the start of the study.
The results painted a clear picture: depressed older drivers exhibited noticeably different—and potentially more dangerous—driving patterns compared to their non-depressed peers:
- More instances of hard braking
- More frequent hard cornering
- Less predictable driving routes
- Wider range of destinations
- Greater tendency for speeding
- More overall time spent driving
Crucially, these differences persisted even after accounting for medications that might affect driving performance, suggesting depression itself was directly influencing behavior behind the wheel.
Why Depressed Drivers Don’t Self-Regulate (And Why That’s Dangerous)
Here’s where conventional wisdom gets turned on its head: we typically assume that older adults naturally compensate for their limitations by driving more cautiously as they age.
But depressed older adults do exactly the opposite.
“Rather than self-regulating their driving, as many older adults do when experiencing cognitive or physical decline, those with MDD continued riskier driving patterns over time,” Babulal explains.
“This suggests that depression may impair awareness of functional changes, which has important safety implications.”
This finding contradicts the common belief that depression primarily manifests as lethargy or reduced activity.
Instead, it reveals that depression can actually lead to increased risk-taking and reduced self-awareness in contexts like driving—a dangerous combination on the road.
The research team found that while non-depressed older adults typically develop more cautious, predictable driving patterns over time, those with depression maintained or even increased their risky behaviors.
This suggests depression may interfere with the natural self-protective instincts that normally help older adults adjust their driving to accommodate age-related changes.
The Depression Detector in Your Dashboard
Building on these discoveries, the researchers conducted a follow-up study to determine whether artificial intelligence could accurately detect depression based solely on driving data.
This second study followed 157 older adults (81 with depression and 76 without) over a two-year period, collecting extensive driving data from GPS devices in their vehicles.
The team trained various machine learning models, including Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and logistic regression, to distinguish between depressed and non-depressed drivers based on their driving patterns.
The results were remarkable:
- The best-performing AI model correctly identified individuals with depression in 90% of cases
- The same model accurately identified those without depression in 82% of cases
- Adding demographic information like age, gender, and education level did not improve accuracy
- The most predictive driving behaviors were rates of hard cornering and hard braking
“Depression in older adults is not just about mood—it can also affect complex daily behaviors like driving,” Babulal noted.
“This highlights the importance of routine depression screening and targeted interventions to promote safer driving habits while supporting older adults’ independence.”
The Future of AI in Mental Health
The implications of this research extend far beyond identifying depressed drivers.
It suggests a fundamental shift in how we might approach mental health screening and monitoring in the future.
Rather than relying solely on self-reported symptoms or infrequent clinical visits, this technology offers the possibility of continuous, passive monitoring through everyday activities like driving.
This approach could detect subtle changes in behavior before they become obvious even to the individuals themselves or their family members.
Imagine a future where your car’s computer system could alert your healthcare provider to concerning changes in your driving patterns that might indicate developing depression or other cognitive issues.
Such early detection could lead to earlier intervention, potentially improving outcomes and maintaining independence longer.
While privacy concerns would need to be carefully addressed, the potential benefits are enormous, particularly for older adults who value their independence but may be reluctant to report mental health symptoms.
Limitations and Next Steps
The researchers acknowledge several limitations to their groundbreaking work:
“While our study provides valuable insights, it does not establish causality—MDD is associated with changes in driving behavior, but we cannot conclude that depression directly causes these changes,” Babulal explained.
He also noted that the study sample was predominantly non-Hispanic White, limiting its generalizability to more diverse populations.
Additionally, the research did not track changes in depression symptoms over time, which could influence driving behaviors.
Future research directions include:
- Studying larger, more diverse groups of participants over longer periods
- Incorporating more detailed health information from electronic health records
- Exploring more advanced artificial intelligence techniques
- Investigating whether interventions like cognitive training can improve driving safety
- Developing clinical and policy recommendations that balance safety with mobility needs
“We aim to refine strategies for identifying older adults at risk for unsafe driving due to mental health conditions like MDD,” Babulal said.
“Future research will explore whether interventions—such as cognitive training, medication management, or driving modifications—can help mitigate these risks.”
Practical Implications for Older Adults and Their Families
For older adults and their families, this research offers several important takeaways:
- Depression affects more than just mood—it can impact complex activities like driving in ways that might not be immediately obvious
- Changes in driving patterns could be an early warning sign of depression or other mental health issues
- Regular screening for depression is important, especially for older adults who continue to drive
- Open conversations about driving safety should include discussions about mental health
- Treating depression may improve driving safety along with overall well-being
“Our findings emphasize the need for a comprehensive approach to older driver safety, including mental health assessment,” Babulal concluded.
“Depression is treatable, and addressing it proactively could improve both driving safety and overall well-being.
We encourage older adults and their families to discuss driving concerns with healthcare providers and explore resources for safer mobility.”
As our population ages and more older adults remain behind the wheel for longer, understanding the complex interplay between mental health and driving safety becomes increasingly important.
This innovative research opens new possibilities for keeping older adults both mobile and safe—preserving their independence while protecting their wellbeing.
