The Driving Evaluation, Education, and Research (D.E.E.R.) Center –
Dr. Rick Backs, Director, and Dr. Nicholas Cassavaugh, Research Scientist – The D.E.E.R. Center is located in the new Health Professions Building. The CMU Center for Driving Evaluation, Education, and Research (D.E.E.R. Center) is a collaboration between the College of Humanities, Social, and Behavioral Sciences and the Herbert H. and Grace A Dow College of Health Professions as a component of the CHP Bridges Center for Healthy Life Transitions in collaboration with the Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education. The mission of the D.E.E.R. Center is to provide clinical services to evaluate cognitive fitness to drive, to provide education to improve older driver safety, and to conduct research on older drivers and drivers with attention disorders. The center has a Drive Safety DS-600 driving simulator for use in research and in evaluation and education. The D.E.E.R. Center will be a place where older adults or persons who have had a stroke or sustained a brain injury can come to have their driving ability evaluated to determine if they are safe to continue, or are ready to resume, driving. The center will also offer driver safety courses for older drivers. Finally, the center is a place where multidisciplinary research on older drivers or drivers with attention disorders can be conducted.
