Hazard Warning Systems to Improve Young Distracted Drivers’ Hazard Perception Skills

Abstract

Texting while driving has been shown to impair driving performance with the greatest probability of leading to an accident. This is a great concern with young and inexperienced drivers, who are reported to be the most prolific users of texting while driving and are disproportionately involved in car crashes as compared to their experienced and older counterparts. Hazard Warning Systems (HWSs) have been researched to reduce distracted driving and improve driving performance. The first purpose of this study is to showcase a game-based, multi-player, online simulated training (GMOST) application with an integrated HWS. The second is to examine whether such an HWS integrated into the GMOST improves young and inexperienced drivers’ hazard perception skills, as measured by hazard reaction time (HRT) and horizontal road scanning (HS). A total of 22 high school students from a private school participated in this study. To determine the effects of HWS, a 2 × 2 ANOVA and a 2 × 2 MANOVA were run. The results of this study suggest that the GMOST with integrated HWS leads to earlier detection and reaction to hazards as well as wider HS by novice drivers. Therefore, this study reports that HWSs improve novice distracted drivers’ hazard perception skills. Accordingly, a wide-spread use of the GMOST-like training applications by novice drivers would be a proactive approach to lower accident rates caused by texting while driving.