Citation

Krishnan A, Samuel S, Yamani Y, Romoser MRE, Fisher DL. Transp. Res. F Traffic Psychol. Behav. 2019; 67: 43-56.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trf.2019.10.004

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The current study evaluates a training program - STRAP (Secondary Task Regulatory & Anticipatory Program) - designed to improve young drivers' strategic hazard anticipation skills by training them to strategically detect the clues (e.g., a crosswalk sign) to the presence of a potential hazard prior to being able to tactically anticipate the latent hazard (e.g., a pedestrian at a crosswalk). Following the completion of either STRAP or placebo training, forty-eight young drivers aged between 18 and 21 years navigated eight scenarios on a driving simulator while performing secondary tasks, with their eye movements recorded. The secondary tasks included those that require drivers to take their eyes off the road (e.g., a coin change task) and those which do not (e.g., a cell phone conversation). The drivers were instructed to voluntarily engage in as many secondary tasks as possible during the drive. STRAP did not explicitly instruct them to either disengage from or not engage in secondary tasks. The results show that STRAP-trained drivers were more likely to detect latent hazards and associated clues to those hazards than placebo-trained drivers. Moreover, the STRAP-trained drivers were more likely to limit the duration of their secondary task engagement in the presence of such hazards than the placebo-trained drivers. Strategic hazard anticipation training programs may promote defensive driving among young drivers by allowing them to anticipate clues to latent road hazards.

Language: en

Keywords

Driver training; Eye movements; In-vehicle distractions; Latent hazard anticipation; Young drivers