A Comparative Study of Two Hazard Handling Training Methods for Novice Drivers

Objectives: The effectiveness of two hazard perception training methods, simulation-based error training (SET) and video-based guided error training (VGET), for novice drivers’ hazard handling performance was tested, compared, and analyzed. Methods: Thirty-two novice drivers participated in the hazard perception training. Half of the participants were trained using SET by making errors and/or experiencing accidents while driving with a desktop simulator. The other half were trained using VGET by watching prerecorded video clips of errors and accidents that were made by other people. The two groups had exposure to equal numbers of errors for each training scenario. All the participants were tested and evaluated for hazard handling on a full cockpit driving simulator one week after training. Hazard handling performance and hazard response were measured in this transfer test. Results: Both hazard handling performance scores and hazard response distances were significantly better for the SET group than the VG...