Hazard Perception: Facts vs Fiction
Hazard perception research has been around since the 1960s and it is now well established that performance on hazard perception tests is linked to driver collision risk. Following the UK’s pioneering lead, several countries across the world have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, some form of hazard perception test into their national driver licencing procedure.
Professional fleets are also starting to realise the benefits of hazard perception assessment. With online assessment and training for fleet drivers becoming more common, adding hazard perception to your fleet safety toolbox is easier than ever. As the use of hazard tests grows, so does ‘expert’ opinion on its utility. You can find a range of views, for and against, spread across the web. But if you are considering taking the plunge, how do you sort the facts from the fiction?
“Hazard Perception Tests are just for learner drivers.”
Why this belief exists
This is an understandable belief among professional drivers. Many current tests are not designed with professional drivers in mind. Each hazard clip has a scoring period (or ‘window’). If a driver presses during this window, they score points, with earlier presses in the window scoring more points than later button presses.
Scoring windows for the DVSA test are based on the expected responses from learner drivers, which are not necessarily appropriate for professional drivers. Highly experienced drivers see earlier clues to upcoming hazards and may press the button before the scoring window opens (effectively scoring zero points). The online forums for drivers are replete with tales of highly experienced drivers feeling cheated by the DVSA test because they pressed too early.
What the evidence says
Despite this, we know however that hazard perception training can improve the skills of even highly experienced drivers (e.g., Horswill et al., 2013), which suggests that some fleet drivers may not be as safe on the road as they think. Surely hazard perception tests should also be able to identify those highly experienced drivers who have not fully developed their hazard awareness?
What this means for fleets
Instead, each clip in the test just plays up until the point of a developing hazard, and then immediately disappears from the screen. The driver is then asked, ‘What happens next?”, followed by four on-screen options. If the driver has read the road appropriately, they will be able to select the correct answer.
“Hazard Perception Tests do not relate to the job.”
Why this belief exists
The traditional DVSA test, and the various apps that offer training, are primarily designed for car drivers. Despite this, all drivers need to pass the DVSA test regardless of the vehicle they want to drive (bus, HGV, motorcycle, etc.).
But the view from an HGV, bus, or even a van, is very different to that of a car. The driver’s viewpoint is typically higher, affording greater opportunity to spot potential hazards in the distance, though with increased blind spots in the immediate vicinity. Perhaps more importantly, the hazards that drivers face when driving professional vehicles can be very different to those faced by a car driver.
What the evidence says
For instance, HGV drivers may worry less than motorcyclists about being missed by other road users, but there is a greater chance that other road users may misjudge the speed of an HGV (especially an unladen one) and make rash manoeuvres.
What this means for fleets
We have created tests for HGV drivers, bus drivers, van drivers, and even for fire appliance drivers working Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. These tests are created with real footage captured from the same type of vehicles that our clients drive. The viewpoint is more realistic, the hazards are more relevant, and perhaps most importantly, your drivers are more likely to accept a vehicle specific test as a valid method of measuring their skills.
“Hazard Perception Tests are just like a video game.”
Why this belief exists
The implication here is that resemblance to a video game means it has nothing to do with real world performance. The evidence, however, suggests this is not the case. The first research study in this area dates to the 1960s, and while not every study has found positive results in support of hazard perception tests, the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that a good hazard test can help identify drivers at a higher risk of collision.
What the evidence says
These tests do not assess all the skills required for a crash free driving career, but they do capture an essential part of the safe driving task. Does it matter that some people regard this as too similar to a video game? We argue not.
“Online assessment doesn’t add enough value… We only need on-road training.”
Why this belief exists
While we would never suggest that online driver assessment and training should replace on-road training, it can be used as a cost effective supplement. Managing fleet risk is a legal requirement and as a company you have a duty of care to ensure that all drivers are assessed and provided with the correct training. Fleet managers are tasked with ensuring that they are compliant with these legal requirements, which can often be quite onerous, particularly if they are managing many drivers (remember, grey fleets are included in the duty of care requirements!).
What the evidence says
Online assessment offers the ability to roll out assessment to all drivers en masse, allowing many drivers to be assessed in a short period of time. At Esitu Solutions, our online platform, EsituDrive, can deploy assessments and training via each driver’s personalised online dashboard.
Following the completion of an assessment, drivers are provided with a risk rating (low, medium, high), which is fed back to their manager for review. These risk ratings can be viewed at an individual driver level, or as aggregate scores for the whole fleet (or by teams/depots), allowing managers to see where risks lie in the business.
Online assessment can also be used as useful tool in recruitment. The majority of collisions in a company are often caused by just a small number of drivers. If these high risk drivers can be identified prior to hiring, considerable savings can be made.
“Our drivers don’t have enough time.”
Why this belief exists
With current driver shortages, we understand that many companies and their drivers are time poor, with external pressures reducing the time available for any assessment or training.
What this means for fleets
We recognise the need for flexible assessment and training periods. Most of our own online assessments can be completed within 10 to 15 minutes through our bespoke online platform, EsituDrive. This way drivers can be flexible as to when they complete the tests, fitting it around their commitments.
“Hazard perception tests are just yet another driver profiler.”
Why this belief exists
If you start looking for an on line profiler of fleet driver risk, you will find a host of providers, each claiming to offer the best service in the market. It is easy to mistake hazard perception assessment as just another profiler. But what makes a hazard perception test stand out when looking for a driver profiler?
If you have a good idea about the sort of profiler that will work for your company, then you have a head start in whittling down the field. If not, then have a chat with a few providers. The good providers will want to hear about your current challenges in managing fleet risk, and they may be able to offer insights that will help identify the perfect product.
What the evidence says
Secondly, ask the provider if their profiler does the job it is intended to do. The good providers will be able to provide access to research reports or journal articles that demonstrate the effectiveness of their methods. If they provide a self published report, then treat it with caution and read with a critical eye. However, if they provide ‘peer reviewed’ journal articles to support their work, you can rest assured that independent domain experts from around the world have read the article and decided whether it was worthy of publication. This is the gold standard of evidence. Feel free to ask us for copies of the peer reviewed journal articles that underpin Esitu Solutions’ products.
Thirdly, how close are the profiler’s measures to the real world behaviour it purports to predict? The best prediction of future behaviour is past behaviour. If we see a driver misjudge a traffic light and go through on red, it is highly likely that this behaviour will happen again in the future.
However, we don’t want to wait for this risky behaviour to happen in the real world before we decide that additional training is required (in other words, we need to spot these drivers before telematics warn us about their driving!). Instead, we want to predict this behaviour of the basis of a surrogate measure. The closer the surrogate measure is to the real world behaviour, the greater chance we have of predicting future behaviour.
“We already use online assessment and profiling… There is no value in more.”
Why this belief exists
This argument depends on what profiler you currently have, and how it matches with your fleet needs. Most online profilers employ knowledge based questions as a surrogate for driver safety, testing drivers on knowledge of the Highway Code for example.
What the evidence says
Several studies have shown that there is no evidence of an association between knowledge based questions (e.g., road signs, traffic rules) and collision risk (e.g., Wahlberg & Dorn, 2012; Conley & Smiley, 1976; Gebers, 1995). This throws doubt upon the usefulness of traditional profilers’ role in being able to accurately identify driver risk.
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