stu675:
Noremac:
I haven’t looked. Driving a truck is not a game, full-stop. Pixels on a screen is not the real-world and those who have never driven a truck should not feel they can assess the assessment.
So how should new drivers be tested? give them the keys to a truck, or try some simulator first? What do pilots do?
My issue is that this hurdle effectively is learning how to beat a game and satisfy some arbitrary line drawn in the sand. Inevitably people can train to beat the game, but it is still the same person that will immediately revert to the way he/she was before. Therefore, it is the actual driving when out on the road as opposed to sitting in front of a computer that matters.
As alluded to already above, the test pass mark is based on the fact that a certain number of people need to fail to validate the existence of the test in the first place. There I rest my case.
This is not learning how to drive by the way, this is noticing arbitrary things that someone else has decided you should react to at certain intervals. Just my feeling on it. There isn’t a need to solve every problem with technology. I will refrain from commenting further as I realise this will just be seen as negativity, which I suppose it is. At the end of the day, though, the end result is that extra hurdles are being put up that cost time and money, so the negativity is constructive.
drover:
I’ll give it a go when i get a day off
Thanks for the assistance. All help is appreciated.
Franglais:
By adjusting for wrong questions asked by the testers, and averaging out the scores, I calculate my score at 109.90%.
I must have had an off day.
If we only had a prize…! Thanks for taking part.
Conor:
David Crundall:
I do feel that some of the answers though the hazard was so far away as to not be one in real life given the speeds being travelled, especially a couple where the only thing was a vehicle pulling out from a side road so far ahead that given the speed you were doing they’d have completed the manouvre without you having to even lift off the throttle.
Another good point. DVSA program their clips so the way that hazards occur is completely dependent on how they think hazards develop. We prefer to use naturalistic occurring events on the road.
True some of them will appear less dangerous than DVSA hazards, which is why we ask ‘what happens next?’ rather than ‘what is the next hazard?’. Our published research suggests clips like these can work with car drivers, but it’s an empirical question as to whether it will work with HGVs. With your help we hope to get a little closer to the answer.
Noremac:
I haven’t looked. Driving a truck is not a game, full-stop. Pixels on a screen is not the real-world and those who have never driven a truck should not feel they can assess the assessment.
Thanks for the feedback. True, I have not driven a truck (excepting the Race Truck simulator at Nurburgring) but I have spent 25 years as a traffic psychologist (it’s a real thing, honest) and have done several studies with HGV drivers and operators over the years. The key is to surround myself with the advice and expertise of those who DO drive HGVs.
On the point of driving not being a game, I completely agree. I don’t see hazard tests as a game though, but rather - when done right- as a psychologically validated tool that can help road safety. The car-based hazard test has come in for this criticism in the past, but research suggests it has made a significant impact on road safety in the uk.
stu675:
Why do you not give a score for the traffic light one? surely you must have already decided what are the correct answers
Unfortunately that is a part of the test that we’re still working on and your data will help us. With the hazard test it’s easier to give a correct answer because something actually does happen. (Though you don’t get to see it in full). Thanks for taking the time to help.
