Age and skill differences in classifying hazardous traffic scenes

Background: Poor hazard perception (HP) abilities correlate with young-inexperienced drivers' over-representation in traffic crashes. HP ability can be examined by the degree of perceived hazard associated with a situation (i.e., how drivers rate\classify hazardousness). However, this form of evaluation was neglected in favor of measurement of perception-reaction time to perceived hazards. We argue that classification should be reconsidered. Method: In two similar studies, drivers with different driving experience completed two consecutive tasks: (1) observation of traffic-scene movies while pressing a response button each time they detected a hazard; and (2) observation of the same movies again and classifying them according to similarities in their hazardous situations. Hypothesis: Young-inexperienced drivers classify the scenes according to similarity in actual hazards whereas more experienced drivers consider potentially hazardous situations in their classification criteria. Results: In both studies young-inexperienced drivers tended to classify the movies according to similarity in their actual hazards whereas experienced drivers relied more on traffic-environment characteristics in their classification. Conclusions: With experience, drivers perceive more potential hazards and relate to traffic-environment characteristics. Implications: HP training programs should emphasize the tight link between traffic environment and specific hazards by including these factors when constructing the hazard perception movies database. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.