I originally posted this back in February 2012. Something I saw recently made me think it was worth bumping it right back to the top. I’ve highlighted the relevant parts below.
It was the fact that people are still finding the blog on the search term “bsm on bbc watchdog” (or similar) that made me write this – harping on and on about a TV show that was shown over two years ago. Since then, BSM has gone bust and been bought up by the AA, and any issues that were reported on Watchdog back then are totally irrelevant now (and they were pretty irrelevant then). Oh, and then there’s the old one about “how much the BSM franchise costs” – that’s another one that is ancient history now that the AA is operating it, yet still gets bandied about as current. And then there are the repetitive comments about the HPT (usually by the same people), which was also introduced a long time ago. So…
There are a fair number of ADIs out there who hate the Hazard Perception Test (HPT) to distraction. There seem to be two main reasons. The first is that they simply couldn’t do it themselves when required to do so a few years back (sour grapes) and have developed an irrational hatred of it. The other is that their pupils can’t do it (or at least the ADI thinks their pupils can’t) for some reason. The first reason fuels the second in certain cases.
One of their main arguments was that it isn’t “real world” and is just a “video game”.
It’s funny, therefore, when you hear the same people trying to argue that because the HPT can penalise you for spotting hazards too early (i.e. guessing), it has therefore taught people to wait until the last minute before reacting to situations out there in the real world! This is absolute crap!
The HPT was never intended to replace the real world. It was never intended to directly reduce accidents. It was intended to introduce people to the kinds of things they needed to look out for as they began their driving careers. It was a foundation. Their driving lessons and subsequent driving experiences with their instructors would then fill in the gaps.
Prior to the HPT there was NOTHING. The ONLY introduction to hazard awareness pupils had was when they got behind the wheel. ALL their experience had to come from practice. They still have that as an absolute minimum.
There is absolutely no way that the HPT makes pupils’ awareness of hazards worse, and it is shocking to hear so-called driving instructors feeding their own personal prejudices by suggesting it does. I’ve even seen some try to suggest that accidents have increased because of it!