Psychological tests for greater safety on roads

Did you know that technical improvements do very little to reduce the frequency of accidents on the roads? It is the human factor that is crucial. Traffic safety research shows that 90% of all accidents are attributable to human error (Gelau, Gasser & Seeck, 2012). The driver’s attitude and behavior are thus key factors in accident prevention. This is precisely where traffic psychological assessment comes in. By measuring ability and attitudes relevant to road safety, psychological tests help the assessor make a reliable decision about whether a driver is fit to be allowed on the roads. In addition, digital tests offer fairness by standardizing the examination criteria and also perform economically compared to other methods.

Digital tests in traffic psychology

SCHUHFRIED has been conducting research in the field of traffic psychology for more than six decades. The development and optimization of digital traffic psychological diagnostic instruments goes hand in hand with our efforts to offer tests at the cutting edge of science.

Only validated methods provide the certainty that the tests measure those aspects of performance and personality that are relevant to road safety. Non-validated methods - especially those that have not been traffic-psychologically validated - endanger the quality of the assessment. All our tests are validated. The test sets DRIVESTA and DRIVEPLS are also validated in terms of traffic psychology.

The Vienna Test System TRAFFIC is the version of the Vienna Test System (VTS) tailored to traffic psychology. This holistic product solution offers not only an objective test execution and a sophisticated and graphically well prepared evaluation of all tests, but also a flexible data administration and an intuitive test procedure.

More than 1,863 Vienna Test Systems from SCHUHFRIED are currently in use in driving assessment centers worldwide. The tests in the Vienna Test System have been specifically developed for use in traffic psychology and are thus precisely tailored to this field of use. All the tests have been validated for use in traffic psychology and are suitable for people who have limited computer knowledge or none at all. The structured, standardized and objective process ensures that the same conditions apply to all respondents, so that all have the same chance – regardless of their cultural background or level of education.

Application areas

Fitness to drive on the basis of statutory requirements

Measure fitness to drive with special test sets and a wide range of traffic-psychological ability and personality tests that comply with legal requirements. By validating the tests in a traffic psychology setting, SCHUHFRIED guarantees a high correlation between the test result and practical driving behavior.

>> read more about fitness to drive

Sustain mobility

Traffic-psychological assessment serves not only to identify unsafe drivers: it also provides a basis for devising and recommending specific measures to maintain older people’s fitness to drive.

>> read more about how we sustain mobility

Advantages of the Vienna Test System TRAFFIC

  • Precise and reliable measurement of all traffic-psychology-related issues is ensured by measurement of response time and by the range of peripheral devices that can be controlled by the Vienna Test System.
  • All tests have been validated in a traffic psychology setting.
  • Modern, high-quality and ergonomic in- and output devices, produced in Austria.
  • Fair and scientifically validated assessment is assured as a result of continuous research.
  • Clear and simple instructions ensure that the system can also be used by older people and people with no computer experience.
  • Compilations of specific tests designed to answer an overarching query: fitness to drive (DRIVESTA, DRIVEPLS)
  • Assessing traffic-related personality aspects (IVPE-R, KEKS).
  • Reports describe your respondent’s performance in words and diagrams. Complex test results are broken down succinctly and made easy to understand.

Overview of test dimensions

Attention

Attention describes the ability to concentrate on an activity and to suppress irrelevant signals. It thus forms an essential basis for both simple and more complex tasks and actions, including driving vehicles and participating in traffic.

Attention
Concentration
Sustained attention
Vigilance

Cognitive abilities

The broad concept of cognitive abilities covers all higher performances of the brain, from information processing speed to spatial perception and logical reasoning. They are therefore essential for perceiving, understanding and evaluating road traffic situations and reacting to them correctly and in a timely manner.

Cognitive abilities
Anticipation of movement
Cognitive flexibility
Logical reasoning
Memory
Planning ability
Processing speed
Spatial ability

Reactive behavior & visual funtcions

When demanding situations or dangers arise in road traffic, it is important to react appropriately. Whether crossing an intersection or overtaking: quick and correct action can prevent accidents and avoid potential risk situations before they occur. This requires not only quick perception, but also a good overview and ability to react.
Reactive behavior & visual functions
Ability to react
Eye-hand coordination
Hazard perception
Obtaining an overview - traffic
Perceptual speed
Peripheral perception
Stress tolerance
Visual orientation ability
Visual perception

Driving-related aspects of personality

Personality plays a major role in everyday life, including road traffic. While performance tests help to answer the question of fitness to drive, traffic-related personality tests can provide information on how a person will behave in road traffic.
Driving-related aspects of personality
Aggression
Alcohol dependency
Emotional stability & control
Mental stability
Non-normal behavior
Readiness to take risks in traffic
Reliability
Risk avoidance
Self-control
Sense of responsibility
Social conformity & behavior of others

The perfect team:
Vienna Test System and CogniPlus

The theory-led "Test – Training – Evaluation" concept.

In addition to the Vienna Test System, we are offering you CogniPlus – a training program for attention functions, executive functions, memory, spatial processing and visuomotor functions.

The CogniPlus trainings are based on the same theoretical models as the tests of the Vienna Test System to which they correspond; this provides an efficient and theoretically sound link between assessment/training and the subsequent analysis of effectiveness. The corresponding tests and training programs are based on the same theoretically clearly defined constructs but involve different tasks. This enables a reliable distinction to be made between the material–specific learning effect and the desired training effect.

>> get to know more about CogniPlus and the trainings

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