Hazard Perception Training

One issue that has been researched with regard to HP is the ability to train and improve HP performance. Other driving skills such as vehicle control are trainable and provide the ability to give people driving lessons in order to prepare them to drive safely on the roads. If HP is a trainable skill, it will be possible to train and improve driver’s HP skills. This in turn may improve the driving of newly qualified drivers and the safety on public roads.

McKenna and Crick (1994) observed that police officers who had gone through advanced driving training courses had lower response latencies compared to experienced drivers who had not gone through such training programmes. As a result of this they decided to directly test if driver training could improve HP performance. Drivers who had taken The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) advanced driving course were compared with a control group who had not taken the course. The participants were matched to have similar ages and levels of driving experience. The ROSPA driving course consists of a series of lectures as well as on-road training with a driving instructor. The ROSPA course is not specifically designed to improve HP skills; rather it is aimed at improving a wide range of driving skills. HP was tested using a video-based test, in which the participants had to respond to hazards shown in driving scenarios through a response button. The participants underwent testing twice, once before and once after training. The results revealed that the drivers who went through the ROSPA driving course showed a reduction in HP response latencies

Mills et al. (1998) investigated whether or not it was possible to improve HP performance and what methods could achieve this. They tested 144 drivers who were between the ages of 17 and 25. Each of the participants was selected on

the basis that they had recently passed their driving test (maximum of 3 months previously). The participants were then divided into four groups that underwent different HP training methods but the same testing methods. One of the groups was a control group (Group 1). The second groups received a classroom based HP training course that consisted of watching a video in the presence of a driving instructor, who provided them with information on scanning the scene and anticipating any developing hazards (Group 2). The third group received the same training as the second group as well as receiving a two-hour on-road training course from a driving instructor, who gave them training on how to identify hazards while driving (Group 3). They were also given feedback on areas that they needed to improve on. The fourth group received the on-road training course only (Group 4).

Before the training took place the participants completed a questionnaire that assessed driving attitudes and behaviours. They also completed a 14-mile long HP driving route during which they had to verbally identify any hazardous situations that arose. They were accompanied by a driving instructor, who observed them and recorded how quickly they identified the hazards and then responded to them. The instructor noted any errors and the location of these errors along the driving route, as well as providing an overall assessment in terms of safety, anticipation, observation and HP skill. The participants were also assessed via a video-based HP test that was based upon previous designs such as those of McKenna and Crick (1994). The video was taken from the perspective of a driver’s view of the road. It lasted 15 minutes and contained 23 hazards. The participants had to respond to via a response button when they identified a hazard.

These assessments were carried out before and after the participants had gone through their training programmes.

The results of the study revealed that the three training groups improved their HP scores on the video-based HP test, with the best improvements from group 3, followed by group 4 and then group 2. Group 3 was also found to have improved on the 14-mile HP driving route by increasing the proportion of hazards that they identified early and responded to correctly. The observing driving instructors noted that groups 3 and 4 performed best on their second attempt at the 14-mile driving route. There was also a positive correlation between performance on the video-based and driving-based HP tests (which the authors stated was a

validation of the video-based HP test). The authors concluded that training was capable of improving HP performance, with a combination of on-road and video-based training resulting in the best improvements to HP performance.

Chapman, Underwood and Roberts (2002) examined the effects of training on the eye movements of two groups of novice drivers over their first year of qualified driving. The driver’s eye movements were monitored while driving a specified route on public roads, as well as during a video HP test. One of the groups received training while the other did not. The training involved informing the drivers about how they visually searched driving scenes and then instructing and training them in the importance of scanning the visual scene in multiple locations in order to detect sources of potential danger. The training also involved HP videos that were stopped at critical moments and the participants were tasked with anticipating what happened next or answer a question regarding what had just happened. The training resulted in significant changes in the way the trained drivers scanned the visual scene during both on road driving and the video based hazard task. The trained participants reduced their fixation durations and increased their horizontal scanning of the visual scene, which is similar to the pattern displayed by older and more experienced drivers.

A large amount of work regarding HP testing has been carried out by research groups at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The research has focused on PC-based training programmes to improve HP. Pollatsek et al. (2006) used a PC-based training programme to see if they could improve the perception and awareness of inexperienced drivers to hazardous situations. The training programme involved providing the drivers with a top down views of hazardous scenarios that helped the drivers identify where potential risks were and what areas needed to be attended to. Learner drivers who had taken the training were compared to leaners that had not received any training. Their eye movements were recorded as they drove through 16 simulated scenarios (consisting of scenarios that were used in the training others that were not) in a driving simulator. The results revealed that the trained learner drivers were 22% more likely to look at areas containing information that had the potential to reduce the likelihood of a crash.

This is supported by research from Pradhan, Pollatsek, Knodler and Fisher (2009) who used a similar but further developed PC-based training course. The training consisted of presenting snapshots of driving scenarios in which the

participants had to identify areas they would need to pay attention to if they were driving. The participants were also shown top down views of those same driving scenarios, which contained explanations of the hazardous elements of those scenarios. The purpose of this training was again to help drivers identify where potential risks were and what areas needed to be attended to. A further difference is that they did not test the effects of training in a simulator but in driving on public roads. A 16-mile route with 10 driving scenarios was selected for testing.

Half of the scenarios were similar in concept to those used in training or had been photographed for the training session. The other half was different from the scenarios seen during training. They tested 18 to 21 year old drivers who had held a driving licence for at least 1 year. Their results showed that the drivers who underwent training looked at areas that contained information that could reduce the risk of a crash 64% of the time, compared to 37% of the time for the untrained drivers. These effects were also present for road situations that were significantly different from those shown in training.

McKenna and Crick (1994) noted that highly trained police officers displayed superior HP performance to experienced drivers. One major aspect of police driver training involves commentary driving. Commentary driving consists of a driver providing a verbal commentary that covers what they can see and what they are thinking. The police have long viewed commentary driving as a way to improve HP skills. Crundall, Andrews, van Loon and Chapman (2010) this with the use of a driving simulator. Leaner drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 were initially assessed as they drove through a simulated route containing 9 hazards.

The participants were split into two groups, with one receiving commentary training and the other receiving no training. The commentary training consisted of a classroom based lesson and an on-road segment in which a driver instructor taught them how to provide a commentary. The participants then drove through the same simulated driving route as before. The drivers who had received commentary training were found to crash less, reduce speed sooner when approaching hazards and were quicker to apply brake pressure than the untrained drivers.