Investigating training program interactions that predict hazard anticipation skills for novice teen drivers

Objectives Teenage drivers have high crash risks, and novice teenage drivers i.e., recently licensed drivers, have four times the overall risk of more experienced drivers. This cohort’s crash risk decreases significantly over the first 6–12 months after licensure underscoring the role that learning may play in this safety improvement, i.e., via increased exposure and experience, especially with driving situations that require higher-order skills (as compared to simply vehicle handling skills). However this learning process can be slow and inconsistent, and this offers opportunities to accelerate the development of these skills via training. While there is consistent empirical evidence that such skills can be enhanced through targeted computer-based training, there is a need to (a) understand how changing potential training platforms (e.g., mobile tablets) can affect this learning, and (b) to examine the aspects of the users interaction with the training program that contribute to training effectiveness. The goals of this research were thus to develop an updated computer-based hazard anticipation training program and conduct a driving simulator evaluation to examine the effectiveness of the training and to study the elements of users’ interactions and use of the training programs that are related to overall improvements in hazard anticipation skills.Methods A tablet-based training program was developed, which was then evaluated using a driving simulator experimental paradigm. Driving and eye-tracking data were collected from recently licensed teen drivers who were administered the training program and who completed a series of simulated driving scenarios before and after the training.Results Results indicated that the training program significantly improved drivers’ ability to anticipate hazards, reinforcing the literature that targeted training can accelerate the development of critical safety skills. The results also identified specific behaviors of teens as they underwent training that predicted improved hazard anticipation performance on the simulator.Conclusions Hazard Anticipation training has been shown to be effective in improving teen driver safety behaviors, and this research reinforces that finding with more contemporary platforms and approaches for training deployment. Further, this research identifies driver behaviors and interactions during training that could potentially predict improvements in hazard anticipation behaviors.