Abstract

Hazard perception training has been proposed as a potential strategy for reducing crash risk in drivers. Although previous work has shown that hazard perception is a trainable skill, it also indicates that the effect of hazard perception training often decays over time, sometimes to the point of being negated. In the present study, we evaluate a hazard perception training course specifically designed to minimize the rate of forgetting through the use of evidence-based strategies such as incorporating distributed practice and taking advantage of the contextual interference effect. We report data on a sample of novice drivers, in which we evaluated the effect of the course on a validated measure of hazard perception skill (a verbal-response “hazard prediction test”) in both the short term (M = 9.24 days, or 1.32 weeks) and medium term (M = 9.87 weeks, or 2.27 months), using a randomized control design. At both retention points, trained participants scored significantly and substantially higher than an untrained control group, adjusting for baseline performance. Further, the hazard prediction scores of trained drivers did not significantly decrease between the short- and medium-term assessment points, indicating that there was no evidence of skill decay over this time frame. There was also no evidence that completing the course increased driver confidence at any time point, which is important given that increased confidence could potentially lead to unintended negative effects on crash risk. The results suggest that the training course improves a skill that has been associated with crash risk over a time period that is of practical value, especially as refresher training sessions could be used to further extend the effect into the longer term (i.e., beyond the duration examined in this study) if necessary.

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