Driving, Active Travel and Community Mobility: Assessing, Training and Sustaining Safe Participation Across the Lifespan

Driving, active travel and independent community mobility are central to autonomy, social participation and quality of life, yet they are often disrupted by neurodevelopmental conditions, ageing, injury, or chronic disease. Clinicians and researchers face a persistent challenge: how to accurately assess fitness to drive, cycle or walk safely, rehabilitate impaired mobility-related skills, and support safe transitions — whether that is a young autistic novice driver learning to drive for the first time, an older adult adapting to cognitive or physical decline, or a person returning to driving, cycling or walking after neurological or musculoskeletal injury.This Research Topic brings together evidence on assessment, intervention and technology-supported rehabilitation across the driving, active travel and community mobility spectrum. It welcomes contributions spanning driving simulation and virtual reality training, on-road and off-road assessment protocols, self-regulation and behavioural adaptation, rehabilitation program design and evaluation, and the lived experience of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and their families navigating these transitions. Both clinical/applied and methodological papers are welcome, including studies using driving simulators, naturalistic driving data, cognitive-motor dual-task paradigms, and qualitative approaches capturing patient and caregiver perspectives.We particularly encourage submissions addressing:- Assessment and training of driving-related cognitive, perceptual and motor skills across the lifespan- Driving simulation and virtual reality as tools for evaluation and rehabilitation- Driving, active travel and community mobility for autistic people and others with neurodevelopmental differences- Fitness-to-drive evaluation and rehabilitation after injury, illness or age-related decline- Self-regulation, cessation and transition to alternative mobility, including active travel and emerging forms of powered personal mobility (e.g. e-bikes, e-scooters)- Occupational therapy and multidisciplinary approaches to community mobility and participation- Technology-enabled interventions (advanced driver-assistance systems, simulator-based training) supporting safe mobility- Skills, prerequisites and regulatory/training frameworks for safe use of emerging powered personal mobility devices- Patient, caregiver and driving-instructor perspectives on the rehabilitation journeyBy connecting rehabilitation science, traffic safety research and occupational therapy practice, this Research Topic aims to advance evidence-based approaches that keep people safely mobile — supporting independence, participation and wellbeing throughout the life course. Topic editors: Veerle Ross, Kristy Coxon Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86338/driving-active-travel-and-community-mobility-assessing-training-and-sustaining-safe-participation-across-the-lifespan