Developing and testing the effectiveness of a truck driver hazard anticipation training module: a simulator study

Truck–vulnerable road user (VRU) collisions are among the most severe and fatal crashes, yet novice truck drivers receive limited training on hazard anticipation in VRU-related scenarios. This study presents and evaluates the effectiveness of a newly developed video-based VRU-hazard anticipation training module for novice truck drivers. Using a truck driving simulator and eye tracker, we assessed participants’ performance in eight hazardous scenarios before and after training, and compared results with a control group who received placebo training. Measures included glance behaviour towards areas of interest (AOIs) relevant to VRU safety (time to first glance, percent of time looking, average and maximum glance durations), as well as driving metrics (average speed and maximum deceleration). Results indicate that hazard-trained drivers spent a significantly larger proportion of time attending to VRU-relevant AOIs compared to their pre-training performance and placebo-trained participants. Driving behaviour measures showed no statistically significant changes, but hazard-trained drivers had lower speeds and smoother decelerations, descriptively. Additionally, participants’ self-evaluation of how safe of a driver they are was negatively associated with glance metrics, suggesting that drivers who may have overconfidence in their abilities may require further attention. Overall, the findings demonstrate that hazard anticipation training can enhance novice truck drivers’ attention allocation towards VRUs, supporting its potential of enhancing entry-level training. Future research should explore larger samples, long-term retention, the effect of VRU-hazard anticipation training on experienced drivers, and more varied hazard scenarios.