Arts & Social Sciences
Te Kura Kete Aronui

Project index

  Young Drivers & Training

Video-based road commentary training improves hazard perception in novice drivers
2008
Masters Thesis research by Amy Williams

This study used a video-based hazard perception dual task to compare the hazard perception skills of novice drivers with experienced older drivers and to determine if these skills can be improved with video-based road commentary training. The primary task required the participants to detect and identify immediate hazards on video-based traffic scenarios while concurrently performing a secondary tracking task, simulating the steering of real driving.

The results showed that the novice drivers perceived fewer immediate hazards (mean=75.2%, n=24, 19 females) than the experienced drivers (mean=87.5%, n=8, all females), and had longer hazard perception times, but performed better in the secondary tracking task. After the road commentary training, the mean percentage of hazards detected and identified by the novice drivers improved to the level of the experienced drivers and was significantly higher than that of an age and driving experience matched control group.