PRESENTER: Steven Raes, Manager Driving Licence and EAG member, GOCA (Flanders, Belgium)
Hazard perception can be considered as a higher order skill in the GDE matrix for driver education and GOCA is convinced that training these skills would reduce the accident rate of newly licensed drivers. This conclusion is based on the experience GOCA had during the development of the test. There they saw that experienced drivers had better scores on the test than inexperienced drivers.
- Observation: young, inexperienced drivers are less able to perceive hazards, which increases accident involvement.
- Objective: introduce a test that would improve the hazard anticipation rate and lower the accident risk by training (and testing) the candidate in recognition of dangerous situations. They defined different situations that needed to be included in the test, f.e. how to deal with pedestrians and bicycles, children playing, other cars, bus, train and trolley,…based on how they behave in traffic.
- Starting the project: In 2012 GOCA started the “GRPT” (Goca Risk Perception Test) project. Most important milestones were:
- Literature study
- Development of the test + testing
- Validation of the test
- Result analysis and improvement of the test
- Implementation in 06/2017 in the exam, the test is only mandatory for cat.B
4. The test: The test assesses the candidate's ability to detect immediate and potential hazards in traffic situations. Every candidate receives 5 short videos (30 sec) of real traffic situations (no computer-controlled images). The screen also shows a speedometer, the direction indicators and the three rear-view mirrors. At the end of each video, the candidate must choose from 4 response options the risk he/she has seen in the video. The question is always the same: “What did you see?”. Multiple correct answers are possible, min. 1 and max 3. The response time is max 15 seconds. Knowledge of the highway code or the reaction speed are not assessed.
In Flanders, the test is a part of the practical exam (although it is a theoretical test on pc) and it is not necessary to pass the test to succeed the practical exam. The test is always taken just before or after the test on public road.
- 2020: Global evaluation of this test will take place, together with a student of the University of Hasselt (Master in Mobility Management). Does the test measure what we want it to measure, how can we improve it, etc….
FURTHER DETAILS OF INTEREST FOR PARTICIPANTS:
- Time: 3 March 2022, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm CET
- Fee: This members-only event is free-of-charge
- Location: online
- Working language: English
- Registration: The deadline for registrations is 1 March 2022