Hazard perception : differences between experienced and novice drivers. Thesis University of Padova.

Hazard perception is an important skill for drivers. In hazard perception tasks experienced drivers typically excel more than novices, most likely reflecting greater hazard perception skills. Experiment 1 aimed at isolating experiential effects on HP. In Experiment 1 novice-, experienced- and motorcyclists engaged in a HP test which presented participants with a wide field of vision including side views and information from behind the vehicle. The results showed that novice drivers were less efficient in scanning the rear view and side mirrors and the lateral locations, and had later responses for peripheral locations. It was therefore concluded that novice drivers have difficulties taking into account peripheral information. Using a motorcycle simulator, Experiment 2 showed that practise can have some positive impact in improving this deficit. Specifically, after a four-sessions practise novices were quicker to scan peripheral locations. While this improvement however was obtained on a narrower field of view, Experiment 3 further explored importance of the available visual field for hazard perception and how different experiential group make use of the additional information which is provided in wide field of vision conditions. Specifically, the performances of novice and experienced drivers were examined in a narrow and in a wide- field of vision condition. Based on Experiment 1 one would expect experienced drivers to be more affected by the enlargement of the field of vision, as have wider scanning patterns. The results of Experiment 3 indeed demonstrated that when a wider field of view is available experienced drivers maintained a lower speed than novice drivers and had a lower speed at closer distance to hazards. Altogether the results suggest that, although even when only a narrow field of view is available training can still be efficient, the width of the visual field is important in determining the hazard perception performance and help to differentiate the abilities of experienced and novice drivers in driving situations. (Author/publisher)