Understanding Novice Drivers' Hazard Perception Skills

Road safety has always been of great concern. A topic of interest for many years has been the driving behavior of novice drivers. The accident rates of novice drivers, especially newly licensed teens, is much higher when compared to more experienced drivers. An important reason may be that novice drivers are more likely to fail to identify hazardous situations. Hazard perception in driving is the ability to identify potential hazards on roadways. The ability for recognizing hazard scenarios depends on a driver's mental models of various road conditions. Since November 2002, the UK has had a hazard perception element as part of their theory test to obtain a driver's license. Many different hazard perception training programs were developed as possible ways to reduce crash risk during the past decade. The results have been encouraging. However, hazard perception is a cognitive process, which is hard to measure quantitatively. In order to better understand hazard perception ability, researchers recorded drivers' eye search and scan patterns, and drivers' reaction time to potential hazards. This research will investigate the current state and effectiveness of hazard perception research for novice drivers.