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BACKGROUND: Hazard perception (HP) has been argued to improve with experience, with numerous training programs having been developed in an attempt to fast track the development of this critical safety skill. To date, there has been little synthesis of these methods. OBJECTIVE: The present study sought to synthesise the literature for all road users to capture the breadth of methodologies and intervention types, and quantify their efficacy. DATA SOURCES: A systematic review of both peer reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature was completed. A total of 57 papers were found to have met inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Research into hazard perception has focused primarily on drivers (with 42 studies), with a limited number of studies focusing on vulnerable road users, including motorcyclists (3 studies), cyclists (7 studies) and pedestrians (5 studies). Training was found to have a large significant effect on improving hazard perception skills for drivers (g = 0.78) and cyclists (g = 0.97), a moderate effect for pedestrians (g = 0.64) and small effect for motorcyclists (g = 0.42). There was considerable heterogeneity in the findings, with the efficacy of training varying as a function of the hazard perception skill being measured, the type of training enacted (active, passive or combined) and the number of sessions of training (single or multiple). Active training and single sessions were found to yield more consistent significant improvements in hazard perception. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that HP training improved HP skill across all road user groups with generally moderate to large effects identified. HP training should employ a training method that actively engages the participants in the training task. Preliminary results suggest that a single session of training may be sufficient to improve HP skill however more research is needed into the delivery of these single sessions and long-term retention. Further research is also required to determine whether improvements in early-stage skills translate to improvements in responses on the road, and the long-term retention of the skills developed through training.

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During nighttime driving, the inherent challenges of low-illuminance conditions often lead to an increased crash rate and higher fatalities by impairing drivers' ability to recognize imminent hazards. While the severity of this issue is widely recognized, a significant research void exists with regard to strategies to enhance hazard perception under such circumstances. To address this lacuna, our study examined the potential of an intervention grounded in the knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) framework to bolster nighttime hazard detection among drivers. We engaged a cohort of sixty drivers split randomly into an intervention group (undergoing specialized training) and a control group and employed a holistic assessment that combined eye movement analytics, physiological response monitoring, and driving performance evaluations during simulated scenarios pre- and post-intervention. The data showed that the KAP-centric intervention honed drivers' visual search techniques during nighttime driving, allowing them to confront potential threats with reduced physiological tension and ensuring more adept vehicle handling. These compelling findings support the integration of this methodology in driver training curricula and present an innovative strategy to enhance road safety during nighttime journeys.

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OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on young novice drivers' cognitive neural processing of different hazard types. METHOD: A 2 (sleep deprivation group, control group) × 3 (no hazard, covert hazard, overt hazard) mixed experimental design was used. Twenty-eight young drivers were sleep-deprived (no sleep within the past 24 h), while 28 drivers were in the control group (maintaining a normal schedule throughout the week). Eighty pictures containing a covert hazard (20 pictures), overt hazard (20 pictures) and no hazard (40 pictures) were presented. Participants were asked to press the keyboard quickly if they detected a hazard situation. The reaction time, accuracy, and changes in the N1 (100-150 ms) and N2 (250-350 ms) components of event-related potentials (ERP) measured using electroencephalography (EEG) were obtained. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the response accuracy of sleep-deprived drivers was higher in the cover-hazard situation and their N1 latency was longer in the no-hazard situation. Compared to the no-hazard and overt-hazard situations, the participants' reaction times and N2 amplitudes were significantly greater, and the response accuracy was significantly lower in the covert-hazard situation. CONCLUSION: Hazard perception is compromised when drivers are sleep-deprived, especially when they are confronted with covert hazard situations. The findings help understand the negative effects of sleep deprivation in the early stage of young novice drivers' hazard perception.

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The increased use of motorised mobility scooters (MMSs) presents a road safety challenge as using a MMS has risks for the user, pedestrians, and other road users. In relation to enhancing MMS driving safety, much of the training and available literature focuses on training vehicular control. Equally important is the need to investigate higher-order cognitive skills involved in driving MMSs, particularly hazard perception. Through a large questionnaire study with MMS users, we develop a taxonomy of the types of hazard MMS users encounter when crossing roads and strategies that are used to negotiate these hazards. Whilst MMS experience modulated hazard perception and strategy use, a core set of hazards and strategies were identified that have policy and practice implications for training interventions and the built environment. Exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of MMS use indicated its impact on various wellbeing outcomes as well as some potential barriers to use.

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Novice drivers show poorer performance than experienced drivers in terms of visual skills and hazard perception. This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a digital game-based intervention on hazard perception and visual skills in novice drivers. Forty-six novice drivers (6 men, 40 women) were randomized to the intervention group (n = 23; 20.79 ± 0.81 years) or control (n = 23; 20.65 ± 0.93 years) group. The intervention group received a game-based intervention in addition to a hazard perception training, whereas the control group received only the hazard perception training. Hazard perception and visual skills were assessed in both groups before and after the 14-day interventions. Between-group comparisons revealed significantly greater improvements in visual short time memory, visual closure, visual discrimination, figure-ground and total scores in the game-based group than in the control group (p < 0.05 for all). Our results showed that 14 days of game-based intervention enhanced hazard perception and visual skills in novice drivers. Using game-based interventions in driving rehabilitation is recommended to improve hazard perception and visual skills of novice drivers.

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The present study attempted to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on the visual search patterns and hazard response times of taxi drivers when they encountered different types of hazards. A two (driver groups: sleep deprivation or control) × two (hazard types: covert hazard or overt hazard) mixed experimental design was employed. A total of 60 drivers were recruited, half of whom were in the sleep-deprived group and half of whom were in the control group. A validated video-based hazard perception test that either contained covert hazards (12 video clips) or overt hazards (12 video clips) filmed from the drivers' perspective was presented to participants. Participants were instructed to click the left mouse button quickly once they detected a potentially dangerous situation that could lead to an accident. Participants' response time and eye movements relative to the hazards were recorded. The sleep-deprived group had a significantly longer response time and took a longer time to first fixate on covert hazards than the control group, while they had a shorter response time to overt hazards than the control group. The first fixation duration of sleep-deprived drivers was longer than that of the control group for overt hazards, while the duration of the first fixation of the two driver groups was similar for covert hazards. Sleep deprivation affects the visual search patterns and response times to hazards, and the adverse effects of sleep deprivation were worse in relation to covert hazards. The findings have some implications for classifying and evaluating high-risk taxi drivers whose hazard perception ability might be affected by insufficient sleep.

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BACKGROUND: According to the Global Report on Drowning: Preventing a Leading Killer and Preventing Drowning: An Implementation Guide, two documents released by the World Health Organization in 2014 and 2017, respectively, 372,000 people drown each year globally (approximately 42 per hour), half of whom are below 25 years old. Chinese adolescents aged 18-24 years are the main victim group. Intermediate swimming college students are more susceptible to risk-taking behavior and drowning while swimming. In particular, college students with high-sensation-seeking levels have greater confidence in their swimming ability. Consequently, they tend to overestimate their skills and pursue exciting experiences while underestimating or ignoring the risk factors in the situation. The scores of college students in sensation-seeking show a significant positive correlation with highly risky swimming behavior. However, the correlation with the reaction time to hazards is unclear. In this study, using previous theories, the sensation-seeking scale, and the measurement of the reaction time to hazards, we clearly explain why "college students with higher levels of sensation-seeking have a higher risk of drowning." We examined the reaction time to hazards and eye movement data of intermediate swimming college students with different sensation-seeking levels, while controlling the obviousness of hazards in the videos for the experiment. METHODS: We utilized 16 videos of students swimming as experimental stimuli and employed a mixed experimental design of 2 (sensation-seeking: high, low) × 2 (hazard type: obvious hazard, hidden hazard). Sensation-seeking, the between-subjects variable, was categorized into two levels (high and low). The hazard type, the within-subjects variable, was also divided into two categories (obvious and hidden). We analyzed the disparities in reaction time to hazards and eye-movement data between intermediate swimming college students with high (N = 28) or low (N = 28) levels of sensation-seeking. RESULTS: Intermediate swimming college students with high levels of sensation-seeking exhibited significantly longer reaction times to both obvious (F = 6.251, p = .000 < .001) and hidden (F = 49.438, p = .000 < .001) hazards compared to their low-sensation-seeking counterparts. The first fixation duration of intermediate swimming college students on obvious hazards was shorter than that on hidden hazards (F = 13.596, p = .000 < .001), and the average fixation duration of intermediate swimming college students with high levels of sensation-seeking on hidden hazards proved to be significantly shorter (F = 5.498, p = .000 < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: High-sensation-seeking intermediate swimming college students exhibited longer reaction times to hidden hazards compared to their low-sensation-seeking peers. These findings indicate that a high-sensation-seeking tendency can result in delayed reaction times and a disregard for response measures among intermediate swimming college students.

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INTRODUCTION: Vision standards for driving are typically based on visual acuity, despite evidence that it is a poor predictor of driving safety and performance. However, visual motion perception is potentially relevant for driving, as the vehicle and surroundings are in motion. This study explored whether tests of central and mid-peripheral motion perception better predict performance on a hazard perception test (HPT), which is related to driving performance and crash risk, than visual acuity. Additionally, we explored whether age influences these associations, as healthy ageing impairs performance on some motion sensitivity tests. METHODS: Sixty-five visually healthy drivers (35 younger, mean age: 25.5; SD 4.3 years; 30 older adults, mean age: 71.0; SD 5.4 years) underwent a computer-based HPT, plus four different motion sensitivity tests both centrally and at 15° eccentricity. Motion tests included minimum displacement to identify motion direction (Dmin ), contrast detection threshold for a drifting Gabor (motion contrast), coherence threshold for a translational global motion stimulus and direction discrimination for a biological motion stimulus in the presence of noise. RESULTS: Overall, HPT reaction times were not significantly different between age groups (p = 0.40) nor were maximum HPT reaction times (p = 0.34). HPT response time was associated with motion contrast and Dmin centrally (r = 0.30, p = 0.02 and r = 0.28, p = 0.02, respectively) and with Dmin peripherally (r = 0.34, p = 0.005); these associations were not affected by age group. There was no significant association between binocular visual acuity and HPT response times (r = 0.02, p = 0.29). CONCLUSIONS: Some measures of motion sensitivity in central and mid-peripheral vision were associated with HPT response times, whereas binocular visual acuity was not. Peripheral testing did not show an advantage over central testing for visually healthy older drivers. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that the ability to detect small motion changes may have potential to identify unsafe road users.

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A variety of road hazard perception training programmes have been proposed recently, based on the assumption that these skills contribute to lower crash rates across different countries. However, the long-term effectiveness of suggested programmes has been under-investigated. The main objective of this study is to explore the long-term effectiveness of online hazard perception training for experienced drivers and examine the moderating role of driving self-efficacy. Fifty-six experienced drivers (21 males and 35 females) were assigned to the experimental (n = 31) or the control (n = 25) group. The experimental group received two 45 min session interventions; the control group received no intervention. The effectiveness of the programme was tested by the change in scores of Lithuanian hazard prediction test (HPT) LHP12 that was conducted before training (pre-test), immediately after training (post-test) and six months after training (follow-up). The twelve-item Adelaide Driving Self-Efficacy Scale (ADSES; George et al., 2007) was used to measure self-reported driving self-efficacy at the pre-test. The results revealed a significant increase in hazard prediction scores immediately after training, but the short-term effect of training decayed at follow-up. Experienced drivers with higher self-efficacy developed better hazard prediction skills during training. The results confirmed short-term effectiveness of the programme.

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Dangerous goods marks are the most effective means of alerting individuals to the potential dangers associated with the transport of dangerous goods. In order to gain a better understanding of how dangerous goods marks convey risk information, the cognitive processing of dangerous goods marks was examined by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs). We recruited 23 participants, and their ERP data were recorded. We discovered that the dangerous goods marks elicited a larger P200 amplitude and a smaller N300 amplitude, indicating that, compared to other marks, the dangerous goods marks exhibited stronger warning information and drew more attention from the subjects. Simultaneously, dangerous goods marks elicited insufficient emotional arousal in individuals. Therefore, these findings suggest that the designs of dangerous goods marks need to be improved, such as improving the graphic consistency. Changes in ERP patterns can be used to measure the risk perception level of dangerous goods marks, which can be used as an accurate indicator of the effectiveness of warning sign design. In addition, this study provides a theoretical foundation for the cognitive understanding mechanism of dangerous goods marks.

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Children are vulnerable to traffic injuries due to their low hazard perception. Previous studies have indicated that both parents and children have potential leading roles in safety education within the family. However, the effects of different leading roles (parents or children) on the hazard perception of children have not yet been revealed, and interactive education with children in the leading roles could also be an important means to enhance children's road safety. To fill this gap, based on constructivism theory and the Feynman learning method, this study proposed two methods of enhancing children's hazard perception based on different leading roles in the family regarding child road safety education and investigated the effectiveness of the above intervention methods. Thirty sets of parents and children participated in this experiment and were divided into three groups. The children received one of three different road safety interventions: a constructivism intervention, a parental guidance intervention or a children's Feynman learning intervention. Compared with the constructivism intervention, the hazard perception of children who received road safety educations within the family were significantly improved; these children were more sensitive to potential traffic hazard factors and presented better visual search patterns. A comparative analysis showed that the two educational interventions based on different leading roles in the family regarding child road safety education were not identical with respect to effectiveness. The children's Feynman learning intervention had a more significant effect than the parental guidance intervention. The findings of this study provide insightful information for safety education researchers, governments, educators and families with children.

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In road safety research, few studies have examined driving behaviour in chronic pain cohorts. The aim of this study was to investigate driving behaviour among drivers experiencing chronic pain. We compared individuals with chronic pain with age-gender matched healthy controls. Participants completed: (i) an anonymous online survey that included participant demographics, transport characteristics, self-reported driving behaviour, and pain characteristics (ii) a response-time hazard perception test and a verbal-response hazard prediction test for drivers, and (iii) a driving diary in which participants recorded their driving over two weeks. The results showed that participants with chronic pain were not significantly worse than controls for hazard perception and prediction test scores, self-reported attention-related errors, driving errors, driving violations, and involuntary distraction. Drivers with chronic pain did report significantly more driving lapses but this effect became non-significant when variables confounded with chronic pain, such as fatigue, were adjusted for. We also found that participants who reported particularly high levels of chronic pain performed worse in the hazard prediction test compared to the control group (and this effect could not be accounted for by other variables associated with chronic pain). In addition, participants with chronic pain reported significantly higher driving workload (mental demand, physical demand, effort, and frustration) compared with controls. The findings of this study provide new insights into driving behaviour in individuals with chronic pain and recommendations for future research in terms of driving assessment and self-regulation strategies are provided.

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OBJECTIVE: The current study examined the effects of music on Hazard Perception - a skill that serves as a proxy for safe driving. BACKGROUND: There is contradictory evidence whether or not music engagement leads to decremented driver performance and compromises traffic safety. METHOD: In the study, 36 participants performed a standard Video-Based Hazard Perception Test under three aural conditions: Road and Traffic Sounds (RS); RS + Driver-Preferred Music; RS + Alternative Music. RESULTS: The results show no effect of aural backgrounds (including music) on the situation awareness portion of the driving task. CONCLUSION: Music background might affect later stages of the driving task such as response selection and/or response execution (mitigation). APPLICATION: The investigation of human factors related to vehicular control should include how (where) music might trigger failures in perception and/or behaviour.

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Poor electrical hazard recognition is a widespread issue in the production industry. Hazard perception has impacts workers' hazard recognition, causing them to experience unanticipated hazard exposure and suffer catastrophic injuries. To improve the factors of affecting hazard perception, the current study examined hazard recognition as an everyday visual search task. A comparative test was carried out combining the advantages and disadvantages of the two test methods. It was confirmed that the virtual image test data can replace the real image test data and demonstrate superior flexible settings performance, so the virtual image test method is used. A hazard perception test method based on wearable eye tracking technology was proposed to analyze the eye-tracking data (i.e., fixation, count, search duration, mean fixation duration, eye tracking, and hazard recognition performance feedback) were compared between experts in the field of electrical safety: skilled workers with at least five years of work experience and workers who had been on the job for less than a year. It was found that experts had a better hazard recognition accuracy and missed detection rate than other workers. Experts' hazards research track was more concised and paid less attention time. This advantage is most obvious in complex risk environments. The findings also suggest that workers who have different working years was not obvious visual search patterns other than the search duration. As can be seen the work experience is not an absolute factor in improving hazard perception. The present research will be useful to understand the influence of working years on hazard perception and provide a theoretical basis for corresponding training.

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With the increasingly powerful functions of vehicle-mounted entertainment facilities, people (especially young drivers) like to listen to music while driving to render different atmospheres and emotions. However, emotions are important factors affecting drivers' decisions, behavior and may reduce drivers' hazard perception (HP), even promote dangerous driving behaviors of drivers. The purpose of this study is to explore the young and elderly drivers in assessing the HP difference under different emotional states. We conducted a 3 × 2 mixed experimental design with emotion as a within-participants variable and age as a between-participants factor. A sample of 14 young drivers (mean age = 22.21, SD = 1.05) and 13 elderly drivers (mean age = 54.08, SD = 2.72) completed the HP self-assessment of road traffic warning signs under negative emotion, neutral emotion, and positive emotion, randomly. The results showed that the young had the highest self-assessment HP under the negative emotion arousal condition, while the old had the highest self-assessment HP under the positive emotion arousal condition. In addition, When both groups were in a positive arousal state, the older group perceived more hazards than the young group. The results could help designers create driving emotions suitable for different driver groups, thus improving their perception of hazards and reducing risky driving.

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Black ice is one of the main causes of traffic accidents in winter, and warning signs for black ice are generally ineffective because of the lack of credible information. To overcome this limitation, new warning signs for black ice were developed using materials that change color in response to different temperatures. The performance and effects of the new signs were investigated by conducting driver behavior analysis. To this end, driving simulator experiments were conducted with 37 participants for two different rural highway sections, i.e., a curve and a tangent. The analysis results of the driving behavior and visual behavior experiments showed that the conventional signs had insufficient performance in terms of inducing changes in driving behavior for safety. Meanwhile, the new signs actuated by weather conditions offered a statistically significant performance improvement. Typically, driver showed two times higher speed deceleration when they fixed eyes on the new weather-actuated warning sign (12.80 km/h) compared to the conventional old warning sign (6.84 km/h) in the curve segment. Accordingly, this study concluded that the new weather-actuated warning signs for black ice are more effective than the conventional ones for accident reduction during winters.

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Recent evidence suggests that poor glycemic control among young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has negative cognitive and physical effects, whose extent is gender-dependent. For example, female patients with diabetes present more physical and cognitive limitations than male patients in terms of cognitive adjustment, quality of decision making, and functioning. Studies about traffic safety report that diabetic drivers are at increased risk of being involved in road crashes, especially when driving in a state of hypoglycemia under which their blood glucose level is too low. We have recently demonstrated that acute hyperglycemia (when the blood glucose level is too high) can also lead to poor driving performance among T1DM young adult patients. Against this background, the objective of the present study was to find out whether gender affects the driving performance of young drivers with diabetes. Twenty-six T1DM drivers participated in a counterbalanced crossover experiment. While being monitored by an eye tracker, they drove a driving simulator and twice navigated through the nine hazardous scenarios: once under a normal blood glucose (euglycemia) level and once high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) level. The first main result is that young female drivers are more affected by diabetes than young male drivers, regardless of momentary glycemic changes. The second main result is that poor glycemic control substantially deteriorates hazard perception and driving performance of young males with diabetes. Thus, it is argued that an uncontrolled state of a high blood glucose level may be more hazardous for young males with diabetes since it negatively impacts their driving performance.

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Response time (RT) measures in crash reconstruction are inherently constrained by the need to define a start point (onset). In straight-forward situations where the hazard appears abruptly from behind an obstruction (abrupt onset), hazard onset is typically defined as when the hazard is first visible to the motorist. In contrast, in scenarios where there is no clearly defined point of entry (gradual onset), and the potential hazard gradually transitions to an immediate hazard, the onset point is more ambiguous. In this study, a reasonable hazard onset was proposed for measuring RTs of motorcycle riders to gradual-onset hazards, following which the RTs to abrupt- and gradual-onset hazards were determined and compared. A study on motorcycle rider RTs was conducted in Singapore in which a sample of young male adults (licensed riders with more than one year's effective riding experience, and unlicensed subjects) were equipped with eye tracking glasses and were presented with two pairs of abrupt-/ gradual-onset hazard scenarios on a simple motorcycle simulator. Their RTs were recorded. Initial deviation from the straight path (start of turning manoeuvre) of the intruding hazard vehicle was determined to be a more appropriate onset (start point when measuring RTs) for gradual-onset hazards when compared with referencing the onset against travel lane incursions. Participants generally took longer to respond to gradual-onset hazards than abrupt-onset hazards. Unlicensed subjects tended to underperform relative to licensed riders. The findings from this study contribute to the literature in the relatively novel field of motorcycle RTs and should be of interest to crash reconstructionists as well road safety professionals in designing road operations.

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A good visual search mode is an important prerequisite for a driver to perceive the hazard in the traffic environment timely and accurately. However, hypoxia conditions in the plateau environment might affect drivers' cognitive and judgment ability, posing potential threats to safe driving. This study analyzed the eye movement behaviors of drivers when faced with traffic hazards in the plateau environment, to examine the impact level of altitude on drivers' perception and reaction. Nine typical traffic hazard scenarios were investigated at four locations with four different altitudes, including Linzhi, Lhasa, Naqu, and Yanghu Scenic Area based on UC-WIN / ROAD driving simulation software. Then, drivers' visual search modes were analyzed according to drivers' eye movement data collected by ASL Mobile Eye monocular eye tracker. As the altitude increased, the drivers' first fixation time and the average saccade amplitude decreased, while the fixation duration percentage increased. Drivers with fewer years of driving experience had a larger percentage of fixation duration and a smaller saccade amplitude. In addition, a shorter acclimation period also negatively influenced the percentage of fixation time. The increase of altitude would weaken the drivers' visual sensitivity and cognitive processing ability of hazard information, which would reduce drivers' hazard perception skills, and the increase of driving experience might help alleviate such negative impacts to some extent. Based on the visual characteristics of traffic hazard scenarios obtained in this paper, the training of highly accident-prone drivers can be guided specifically to improve their visual search strategies, thereby improving driving safety.

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While there is a large literature on how individual homeowners perceive location-specific wildfire hazard, there is only one study specific to U.S. family forest owners. Using respondents from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service's National Woodland Owner Survey of family forest ownerships in the United States, we investigate the relationship between landowners' wildfire concerns and biophysical wildfire hazard across the contiguous United States. As a measure of long-term conditions for high intensity wildfire, we use the USDA Forest Service's Wildfire Hazard Potential Index as our key variable of interest. We test six ways of aggregating Wildfire Hazard Potential using 1-, 10-, and 100-mile (1.6, 16, and 160 km) radii buffers with linear and logistic specifications for hazard potential. Results show the log of Wildfire Hazard Potential is the best fit for modeling wildfire hazard concerns. Respondents in the western United States have a higher baseline level of concern but are not necessarily more sensitive to the hazard spectrum compared to respondents in the north. Respondents in the southern United States have a lower sensitivity to the hazard spectrum compared to respondents in the north and west. Using predicted probabilities at the means, we also compute regional prevalence ratios to compare the impact of biophysical wildfire hazard to the relative impact of other important variables. Various property and owner characteristics not related to biophysical hazard potential, such as emotion, receiving information about wildfire, and the presence of a house on the property are determinants of wildfire concern in some, but not all regions of the United States.

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