A test-track pilot will assess in-vehicle detection of cannabis impairment

BACKGROUND: Driving under the influence of cannabis is associated with impaired cognitive and psychomotor performance and an increased risk of traffic accidents. Reliable real-time in-vehicle systems for detecting cannabis-related driving impairment are currently lacking; but hold great potential for improving road safety. METHODS: This protocol describes the REVELIO test-track pilot study: a randomised, controlled, open-label, interventional, single-centre trial. The study assesses the feasibility and methodological requirements for developing and evaluating a multimodal in-vehicle detection approach using vehicle and driver state data. A total of 45 healthy recreational cannabis users will be enrolled and randomly allocated to an intervention or a reference control group. During the main study day, all participants will undergo biological sampling for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related metabolites, as well as pre-driving assessments, followed by a sober baseline driving session on a closed test track using a dual-pedal vehicle with a certified driving instructor onboard. Participants in the intervention group will then receive a single controlled inhalative cannabis dose (target 0.67 mg THC per kg body weight), while the reference group will receive no cannabis. All participants will subsequently complete three additional standardized 50-minute driving sessions at predefined time points up to approximately six hours after administration, following identical schedules to enable within- and between-group comparisons. Between driving sessions, structured breaks will include recovery periods, repeated biological sampling, and traffic-medical, traffic-psychological, and pre-driving performance assessments, to characterise the temporal dynamics of cannabis-related impairment. DISCUSSION: Multimodal data will be collected, including vehicle controller area network (CAN) data, driver monitoring camera (DMC) data, physiological signals using wearables, and biological samples (capillary blood, breath, oral fluid. Machine-learning-based models will be developed and evaluated to distinguish sober from cannabis-influenced driving states under controlled conditions. Secondary analyses will examine changes in driving performance over time and associations between functional measures and biological THC concentrations. As an exploratory pilot study conducted on a secured test track, the protocol aims to generate standardized reference data and quantitative performance metrics to inform both feasibility and system design considerations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07401628).