the effects of driving experience on responses to a static hazard perception test

novice drivers exhibit deficits in hazard perception that are likely to increase their risk of collisions. we developed a static hazard perception test that presents still images to observers and requires them to indicate the presence of a traffic conflict that would lead to a collision. responses to these scenes were obtained for young adult novice (n = 29) and experienced drivers (n = 27). additionally, participants rated the hazard risk and clutter of each scene. novice drivers rated traffic conflicts as less hazardous and responded more slowly to them. using a subset of 21 scenes, we were able to discriminate novice and experienced young adult drivers with a classification accuracy of 78% and a scale reliability (cronbach's alpha) of .91. the potential applications of this research include the development of standardized hazard perception tests that can be used for driver evaluation, training and licensure.