We talk about a skill called ‘hazard perception’ quite a lot, and you may be wondering why that’s the case. Well, hazard perception is one of those magical skills which are linked to lots of other things. Crash risk, for example. That means that if we can measure your hazard perception skill level, we can also predict how likely you are going to be to have a crash on the road. You can see why we’re so interested in this! Hazard perception is a skill which is all about spotting hazards and risky situations ahead of time, and judging them accurately so you can do something about them.
Some new research has just been released that confirms the hazard perception-crash risk link even further. Some researchers at the University of Queensland wanted to know whether a hazard perception test could be used as part of a drivers licence test, to predict how likely it was for people sitting the test to be involved in crashes on the road.
Mark Horswil and his colleagues used a video simulation hazard perception test (much like the Fleetcoach video simulations!) because we know they’re as accurate as on-road testing.
What they found was that participants who failed the hazard perception test were actually 25% more likely to go on to be involved in a crash. And they were also 17% more likely to have been involved in a previous crash – meaning that hazard perception skill not only says something about your future driving skill, but also about how it’s been in the past.
If you’re wanting your employees to learn better hazard perception, get in touch with us - Fleetcoach trains exactly this and more! It’s great for new employees before they are out on the road in a company vehicle, or to upskill your current drivers. You might be keen to see how you yourself fare! Just contact us and we’ll sign you up.
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