Project to improve young driver safety through innovative hazard anticipation training

Researchers at the University of Leeds are to develop new innovative training to improve the hazard anticipation skills of young drivers, thanks to funding from The Road Safety Trust.

Poor hazard anticipation, or ineffective visual scanning for potential hazards, is a key contributory factor in the increased crash risk of young drivers. 

The project will adapt and trial a training approach that has been successful at improving the scanning behaviour of young US drivers to make it suitable for the UK driving environment.

The Risk Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT) approach is based on a 3M (mistakes, mediation and mastery) error-training strategy, where the learning materials are used to guide trainees towards an appropriate mediation strategy after they’ve made a mistake while searching for potential hazards on the road. Trainees then master the mediation strategy through searching for the potential hazards once again.

This UK-specific hazard anticipation training programme will use a Head-Mounted Display (HMD). 

The training programme will be evaluated using a multi-method approach, including simulator and on-road driving, and a longitudinal self-report study. 

The findings will be shared with stakeholders, and the validated training programme will be freely available.

Ruth Madigan, University of Leeds, said: “We believe that the proposed training has the potential to provide an innovative and easily accessible training solution for UK drivers.

“We are grateful to The Road Safety Trust for providing an opportunity to develop and evaluate this training solution and hope that together we can help young drivers to improve their risk anticipation skills, leading to safer driving behaviours in this at-risk group.”

The funding has been provided through The Road Safety Trust’s Autumn 2023 funding round.

Ruth Purdie OBE, chief executive of The Road Safety Trust, said: “It is well established that young drivers face an increased crash risk on the road.

“One reason for this is an inability to anticipate hazards. This project will use an innovative approach that has been successful in the US to address the issue, improving safety for young, novice drivers across the country.”

To learn more about the project, visit The Road Safety Trust website.