Abstract
This work aimed to test the long-lasting effects of learning acquired with a virtual motorcycle-riding trainer as a tool to improve hazard perception. During the simulation, the rider can interact with other road actors and experience the most common potential accident situations in order to learn to modify his or her behavior to anticipate hazards and avoid crashes. We compared performance to the riding simulator of the two groups of participants: the experimental group, which was trained with the same simulator one year prior, and the control group that had not received any type of training with a riding or driving simulator. All of the participants had ridden a moped in the previous 12 months. The experimental group showed greater abilities to avoid accidents and recognize hazards in comparison to their performance observed a year before, whereas the performance of the control group was similar to that of the experimental group 1 year before in the first two sessions, and even better in the third. We interpreted this latter result as a consequence of their prior on-road experience. Also, the fact that the performance of the experimental group at the beginning of the follow-up is better than that recorded at the end of the training—1 year before—is in line with the idea of a transfer from the on-road experience to the simulator. The present data confirm our main expectation that the effectiveness of the riding training simulator on the ability to cope with potentially dangerous situations persists over time and provides additional evidence in favor of the idea that simulators may be considered useful tools for training the ability to detect and react to hazards, leading to an improvement of this higher-order cognitive skill that persists over time. Implications for the reciprocal influence of the training with the simulator and the on-the road experience are discussed as well.
Highlights
Motorcyclists are some of the most vulnerable road users
We randomly selected the participants for the experimental group among the students of two schools who agreed to take part in the follow-up of a simulator riding training program that was previously completed while they were studying to obtain their riding license [the training phase; i.e., the original study of Vidotto et al (2011)]
Three crucial comparisons were used to test this hypothesis: The comparison between Honda Riding Trainer (HRT) performance of the experimental group in the three sessions of the training phase (1 year before with no riding experience) and the HRT performance of the same group at the follow-up 1 year later; the comparison between the HRT performance of the control group at the follow-up with that of the experimental group at the training phase 1 year previously; the comparison between HRT performance of both groups at the follow-up
Summary
Motorcyclists are some of the most vulnerable road users. Crashes involving a motorcycle and at least one other vehicle account for over half of all motorcyclist deaths in the United States (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2008). Motorcycle accident statistics show that in Europe and Australia, motorcyclists are more likely than any other vehicle users to be involved in collisions with a fixed object (European Transport Safety Council, 2007; Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 2008). Research examining the effectiveness of motorcycle-training programs has generally yielded controversial results (Savolainen and Mannering, 2007). This is probably because, traditionally, ridertraining programs have been based on teaching vehicle control skills (Chesham et al, 1993), rather than on the improvement of hazard perception skills, and no standard methods for evaluation exist (Daniello et al, 2009)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
