Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tips to pass hazard perception test

Hazard perception test is an interactive practice session in the driving theory test featuring hazard perception clips to identify the developing potential hazards.

Why the hazard perception test element was introduced?

The government is committed to reducing the numbers killed and seriously injured on Britain's roads by 40 per cent by 2010. The hazard perception element was introduced into the driving test UK in November 2002 as one of the measures that should help achieve this target by encouraging appropriate training in scanning the road, recognizing at the first opportunity from the clues that a potentially dangerous situation might arise and adopting a driving plan to reduce the risk.

During the development of this test, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) worked closely with colleagues from the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) and the road safety division of the Department for Transport, both of whom thought this test suitable for testing the hazard.

When to respond to score in hazard perception test:

As an example, of how to identify and respond to a developing hazard, consider a parked vehicle on the side of the road. When you first see it, it is not doing anything; it is just a parked vehicle. If you were to respond to the vehicle at this point, you would not score any marks, but you would not lose any marks.

However, when you get closer to the vehicle, you notice that the car's right hand indicator starts to flash. The indicator would lead you to believe that the driver of the vehicle has an intention of moving away, therefore the hazard is now developing and a response at this point would score marks. The indicator coming on is a sign that the parked vehicle has changed its status from a potential hazard into a developing hazard. When you get closer to the vehicle, you will probably see the vehicle start to move away from the side of the road; another response should be made at this point. Different clips in the test will have various signs to indicate that the hazard is changing its status and is now starting to develop.

The scoring mechanism in hazard perception test:

Each scoring window is divided into five equal segments and a score of five through to one allocated to each. Those responding in the first segment of the scoring window will score 5 and those in last segment a score of 1. Responses outside the window will score zero.