Organisation
Nottingham Trent University
Amount awarded
£49,745
Completed
2025
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre
25 February 2025
A new virtual reality (VR) hazard perception test has been developed to address the training gap for tractor drivers, aiming to reduce road incidents involving agricultural vehicles.
Farming is one of the most dangerous jobs in the UK according statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), yet agricultural-related fatalities would increase by more than 50% if on-road fatalities with agricultural vehicles were included in the statistics.
This can be part attributed to limited regulation whereby anyone can drive a tractor on public roads after passing only a basic car test, while 16-year-olds are also able to take a cursory test using their provisional licence which allows them to drive a tractor – including to and from the test site unaccompanied.
To fill this training gap, psychologists at Nottingham Trent University have been supported by The Road Safety Trust, Esitu Solutions, and the Farm Safety Foundation to design and produce a tractor-specific hazard test which assesses agricultural drivers’ ability to identify and avoid hazards in the road ahead.
The researchers first conducted a survey with 158 farmers who reported facing frequent hazards such as other-driver risk taking, including inappropriate overtaking; concerns over vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians; problems with the environment, including overgrown foliage and potholes; and tractor-specific hazards related to the design of tractors and their stopping distances and turning arcs.
The second part of the study used the survey results to create and evaluate a VR hazard assessment using clips of 360-degree footage from real road situations – captured using front, side and rear-view cameras attached to the bonnet and mirrors of a tractor.
It was trialled with 109 tractor drivers and 38 car drivers, measuring awareness across three aspects; hazard perception, requiring participants to press a button as soon as they see a developing hazard; hazard prediction, as a hazard begins to develop participants are asked “What happens next?”; and hazard avoidance, the clip stops at a critical decision point and participants are asked “What should you do next?”.
The trials showed particularly low levels of hazard perception compared to hazard prediction, while tractor drivers who reported being involved in previous collisions performed worse on the hazard prediction element. Car drivers also outperformed tractor drivers on this metric.
Following feedback from agricultural colleges and young farmer clubs, the next stage of the study hopes to develop the test into a teaching resource for young tractor drivers to prevent habitual bad practices and risky attitudes to driving in general.
Read the full report via The Road Safety Trust website:
https://www.roadsafetytrust.org.uk/small-grants-awarded/nottingham-trent-university