Development and validation of the Spanish Hazard Perception Test

Area of Science:

• Road Safety
• Traffic Psychology
• Driver Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Effective hazard perception is crucial for safe driving.
• Existing hazard perception tests may not be tailored to the Spanish driving population.
• Understanding driver experience levels (learner, novice, expert) and behavioral patterns (reoffender vs. non-offender) is key to improving road safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a hazard perception test for the Spanish driving population.
• To analyze the impact of hazardous and quasi-hazardous situations on hazard prediction.
• To compare test performance across different driver experience levels and behavioral groups.

Main Methods:

• Development of a video-based hazard perception test using real Spanish driving scenarios.
• Inclusion of both hazardous and quasi-hazardous situation videos.
• Selection of participants including learner, novice, expert, and reoffender drivers.

Main Results:

• The final test consists of 11 hazard and 6 quasi-hazard video clips, achieving a Cronbach's alpha of .77.
• The test demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and validity, differentiating between driver groups.
• Learner, novice, and reoffender drivers showed difficulty distinguishing hazardous from quasi-hazardous situations.

Conclusions:

• The developed hazard perception test is psychometrically sound and effective for differentiating driver experience levels.
• The test can identify deficits in recognizing quasi-hazardous situations, particularly in learner and reoffender drivers.
• This tool can aid in assessing both safe and unsafe drivers, including those with traffic violations.