Hazard perception test

[Boomy]

Anyone done this at any time?.

I have just been looking at some CD's and tbh i find it annoying and confusing.

Apparently, quite a few people fail this part of the test even though on the road they have proved to be very good drivers with excellent awareness etc.

When it was introduced, my Dad and almost all the other driving instructors he knew at the time said it was rather crap and i am now inclined to agree.

Listening to the advice given on the CD, they tell me that there are 14 video clips, each with 1 scorable hazard.One of the clips has 2 scorable hazards.

You get points by clicking as soon as you see this hazard, the earlier you click, the more you score.

It also points out that you must click each time the situation changes (whatever that means).These are hazards that cause you as the motorist to change direction or speed (apparently)

However, you will also see many non scorable hazards which you can also click.

You can't just keep clicking though because it will know you are trying to cheat and will suggest you clicked too many times.

In the demo movies they show, they show you what you can click.

So, as the movies play, you see them click a guy walking towards a side road which he will probably cross, the brake lights on a coach, a cyclist, a road works sign, a slow down sign, a bend ahead sign etc etc etc.

It then shows you the scorable hazard, which in one was a cyclist for example passing a parked car and it displays the score you would have achieved by clicking quickly or slowly.

I thought that seemed reasonable so had a look at a few more demo clips.

In most of these clips though, they ignored brake lights, ignored a woman with a pram about to cross a side road, ignored signs telling me to slow down, ignored some other warning signs and even ignored a car about to reverse into the road in front of me etc.In fact in one clip they circle a hazard i honestly can't even see.

I was now confused as to exactly what they wanted me to click.Do i click brake lights or not.If i do, do i click them every time they appear or not?.

Do i click all the warning signs or not.....you get the point.

To top it all, in a mock test, some of the hazards they score you on are almost impossible to see until you are closer to them simply because you are watching on a pc monitor or tv.

This means you then score less!.

They also scored you on hazards that your peripheral vision would have picked up long before the digi cam on the cars dashboard does as it turns corners.

It assumes you drive around wearing special blinkered glasses i'm sure.

Overall, i am not impressed.It's crap and confusing.

They should make you take a test during your last driving lesson or on your actual driving test tbh.

I failed the mock test yet passed some of the other sections for example, often with no real idea how or why that was.

Yet, i can drive along a road pointing out every single hazard or potential hazard as well as the makes and models of cars, the colour of peoples curtains and the number of roses in front gardens if i had to.

All of the things they test you on is second nature to drivers, yet you can look as though you have never been behind the wheel with this crap.

A virtual joke if ever i saw one.Drivers now have to learn to pass a video game to get on.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I did this last year out of curiosity on the Driving Standards Agency DVD. If you practise it becomes easier even though you get different scenes at the test centre from those on the DVD.

I am inclined to agree that it isn't good because of the relatively poor definition on a TV screen. At the test centre you get a monitor which is better but it is still not a stereoscopic image and is a poor representation of real life.  However, any attempt to improve the standard and quality of the test is a 'good' thing isn't it?

[Boomy]

However, any attempt to improve the standard and quality of the test is a 'good' thing isn't it?

Agreed, so why not make pupils do exactly the same type of test but behind the wheel and on the road?.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I assume it is to reduce the workload on the DSA and weed out the terminally incompetent. It doesn't do that, of course, because it isn't a good test of hazard perception anyway.  

[Thrustyjust]

The current wife has done hers to become a driving instructor.You think thats bad,you try passing your test with a DSA instructor to driving instruction level.

[chazpowerslide]

Well, I'm pretty crap at ANYTHING that involves computers and I'm really bad at video games ect.

I scraped through with 6 points to spare when I did mine in January for my PSV cat D.

I had two younger guys (computer generation) with me on my training bus that both scored maximum points on their HP tests but in practice they were both pretty poor at picking up on potential hazzards and anticipating how they'd develop.

They were both the "Drive into situation without much thought and then deal with it" type of drivers rather than "ancicipate, prioritise, plan and make progress accordingly" drivers.

Just goes to proove what a load of toss the HP test is.............................

Chaz.

[Boomy]

I scraped through with 6 points to spare when I did mine in January for my PSV cat D.

I get the feeling i would just scrape through aswell.

I scored 1 point for example instead of 5 because a tiny white dot in the distance turned out to be horses, even though it could have simply been a puddle/person/reflection/fence/crisp packet etc etc etc.

I clicked as soon as i could see it was actually a hazard, but even then i couldn't see what it was, just that it appeared to be moving, so i assumed i would score maximum points.

Then, in another clip, i spot a cyclist way in the distance, so i click early and get zero points!.

When you watch back the clip it shows you only need to click it once it becomes a hazard which in this case was when i was almost touching his rear wheel as he passed a parked car.

I just don't get it, really i don't.How can the horse situation be different to the cyclist one?.