Parkinson's disease and routine traffic stops: An exploration of patient experiences and perceptions.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder which can impair patients' ability to complete complex motor skills, such as driving. There is currently a lack of research into the effectiveness of police officers discerning PD symptoms from those exhibited by alcohol intoxication during traffic stops. We conducted a survey on 58 PD patients and 52 age-matched controls to investigate experiences with police interactions during traffic stops. PD patients had statistically significant (p = 0.03204) higher perceptions of mistreatment and misclassification of intoxication. We propose the need for additional training and support on PD for law enforcement officers to ensure fair evaluation.