Hazard Perception by Inexperienced Motorcyclists Accident Research Centre Hazard Perception by Inexperienced Motorcyclists

The project aimed to investigate how hazard perception and responding is affected by level of experience as a motorcycle rider and to assess the extent to which hazard perception and responding can be improved by specific training. The literature review showed that car drivers with fewer crashes and older or more experienced drivers respond more quickly on hazard perception tasks and that at least some types of training can improve hazard perception abilities for car drivers. However, the nature and likely consequences of hazards for motorcyclists differ and the relationships between novice status, level of experience and age are complicated for motorcycle riders. Thus the findings that hazard perception in car drivers improves with age may not necessarily generalise to motorcycle riders. It may be that hazard behaviour (perception plus responding) is more important for motorcyclists (relative to car drivers). Very few visually-based tests have been used in licensing in other parts of the world. Motorcycle simulation shows promise in the short-term as a research tool for the evaluation of different training programs with respect to hazard perception. In the longer-term, PC-based simulations may be useful for motorcyclist hazard perception training. A limited re-examination of crash data showed that crash risk decreased as a function of years of on-road riding experience but not as a function of a definition of inexperience. Failure to respond appeared to reflect a failure of hazard perception but did not change systematically with experience. In general, younger and less experienced riders were more likely to report behaviours consistent with good hazard perception techniques than older and more experienced riders. However, these findings are clouded by differences in training and uncertain reliability of self-report data. A useful first step in assessing the need for a specific motorcycle hazard perception test would be to examine the relationship between scores on the current Hazard Perception Test and actual hazard perception ability of motorcycle riders. Other issues in relation to the future of hazard perception training and testing for motorcyclists relate to format of presentation, content and structure of the licensing system. The opportunity may also exist to evaluate training and testing methods using a motorcycle simulator located in Sydney.