Adapting hazard perception testing to the Czech driving context: a comparison of hazard perception paradigms in differentiating driver experience and collision history

Hazard perception (HP) testing is widely regarded as an effective approach for identifying unsafe drivers and mitigating collision risk. The European Transport Safety Council has therefore recommended its adoption within national licensing systems. Evidence indicates that HP assessments must be adapted to local environments to yield comparable safety benefits. Moreover, traditional HP tests depend largely on reaction times, which may introduce post-perceptual biases because responses typically reflect the moment a hazard is judged as threatening. To address this, the present study developed two versions of the HP test tailored to the Czech driving context: a conventional reaction-time-based test and a prediction-based test in which participants were asked to anticipate how a hazardous situation would unfold. Hazardous traffic scenarios were filmed across the Czech Republic and edited into hazard perception and prediction tests. A total of 225 participants were recruited and randomly allocated to either the hazard perception or hazard prediction test. Within each test, participants were grouped according to pre-existing driving experience (novice vs. experienced) and collision history (collision-free vs. collision-involved). The results indicated that experienced drivers outperformed novices on both test versions, showing faster and more accurate hazard detection and superior predictive performance. These findings support the feasibility of incorporating a hybrid HP assessment into the Czech national licensing system. However, significant collision group differences emerged only in the perception task, with collision-involved drivers demonstrating slower hazard response times. This suggests that the key differences may arise from post-perceptual decision-making processes rather than perceptual limitations.