Why the need for the hazard perception test?
Each year 3,600 people are killed on Britain’s roads. Improved hazard perception skills are expected to play an important part in achieving the Government’s challenging casualty reduction targets. Young drivers (17-21) make up only 7% of all licence holders yet they are involved in up to one in seven accidents involving injury. The accident liability of new drivers drops sharply over the first 12 months or so after passing the test and continues to fall as more experience is gained. Young drivers have quicker reactions than older drivers. However, the more experienced driver scans the road better and recognises the clues that show a hazardous situation is developing much earlier and therefore starts to take action before the danger occurs. This is one of the reasons why accident involvement generally reduces as experience is gained. New drivers take much longer (up to two seconds longer) to recognise hazardous situations than more experienced drivers. How will the hazard perception tes
