Brett Cowell & Mark Lashell – National Policing Institute

Hazard perception—the ability to successfully detect and respond to hazards in the driving environment—is the only specific driving skill that research has shown to lower the risk of a motor vehicle crash, yet law enforcement driver training largely fails to teach it. Moreover, the way law enforcement driver training is typically conducted may actually increase the likelihood that an officer will be involved in a crash. Law enforcement driver training and standards must incorporate the development of officers’ hazard perception skills to improve officer and community safety. This can be accomplished by teaching officers a research-based training methodology called commentary driving, which has been proven to improve hazard perception and decrease the likelihood of a crash.