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HIGHWAY TO HELL?
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Knowledge of the rules of the road can be a matter of life and death. Robin Meczes checks out some new so:tware designed to make the Highway Code more paletable.
We all like to think we're good drivers. But are we? A recent survey of over 1,000 road users undertaken by Interactive Driving Systems with the support of road safety organisation Brake, the Institute of Advanced Motorists, the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers and the University of Huddersfield suggests that maybe we're not all quite as safe as we think.
Fully 75% of the respondents to this survey were not up to date with the basic rules of the roads. In particular: • Between 50% and 74% of drivers questioned did not have even the most basic knowledge of the current Highway Code; • Only 50% of respondents claimed to have an up-to-date copy of the Highway Code; • More than 20% of respondents had not read the Highway Code for over 10 years; and • 74% of respondents did not know when the Highway Code was last revised so may not be up to date with the current rules of the road.
If you think that this level of ignorance applies only to the general public, and that professional drivers are in a different league, think again: separate research by IDS showed that 49% of fleet drivers assessed recently using its RoadRISK risk management tool (part of the Virtual Fleet Risk Manager suite we reviewed in CM 10 November) also did not fully understand the rules of the road or some of the road signs around them.
So for those whose familiarity with the highway Code could do with a little refreshing. IDS has produced The Interactive Highway Code. a CD-ROM-based version of the standard I lighway Code with a n LIM her of additional k nobs on.
Self-starter
The whole package is completely contained on the CD.so all you need to do to get started is to drop it in your CD-ROM drive.
After a couple of introductory pages you're through to the main screen, from which you can choose between the five core components of the program. The one of most immediate interest is the Highway Code module — and for anyone that's ever read the original, it'll all look fairly familiar.The various rules of the road are broken down into various sub-groups like rules for drivers, breakdowns and accidents and motorway driving, so you can easily find your way to the bits you want or just start at the front and work your way through it.
Each of the rules is numbered and appears on consecutive screens in text format, usually with an image and occasionally with an illustrative video clip.There's also a voiceover that reads out the text unless you turn it off (which we soon did, as it quickly becomes rather irritating).
If you want, you can access between one and four multiple-choice questions via a separate question tab that appears with each rule to test your understanding as you go along. This is a nice idea — but to be honest, we couldn't really see the point in most cases. For example, having just told us that some pedestrian crossings have 'tactile paving (small raised studs to alert blind people that they are near a crossing), the only related question is: what is tactile paving for'? More a test of observation than road knowledge, perhaps.
Strangely, it's exactly the opposite in other cases. Rule 75, for example, informs you that vou must wear a seat belt if fitted, unless exernpt.The four questions with it relate to child seats, rear-seat passengers' seat-belt obligations, minibus seat-belt rules and seatbelt exemptions on medical grounds —most of which is isn't actually explained until you get to the following two rules. Sneaky! Of course. just like the original print version, there's very tittle in the software that relates specifically to commercial vehicles and lots of information that many 1-IGV operators or drivers are unlikely to require — the rules on riding horses on the public highway being one example. But even so, there's plenty of good common-sense advice on things like driving when tired or in had conditions, braking with ABS systems,skidding,the use of mobile phones behind the wheel, accidents and breakdowns, and so on. And there is also some genuine HGV-related guidance on areas such as parking and loading/ unloading restrictions.
We were a bit disappointed to see that the opportunity to provide additional information over and above that provided by the original guide has sometimes been missed. For instance, the description of the seat-belt rules could have included a full list of exemptions, rather than just pointing out that there are some. Having said that, each rule does refer to the precise parts of the law that apply, so you can always look into things in more detail for yourself A handful of the rules are accompanied by video clips — animations, really —such as those on best practice in skidding, stopping distances and overtaking large vehicles. It's a shame there weren't more of these, given the multimedia nature of the product.
Perhaps our biggest problem with the basic Highway Code section of this product, however, was the sound.As we said,the voiceover can prove annoying and you can turn it off —but the toggle switch only takes effect the next time you access a new rule. And if switched off, it renders the few animated videos almost useless.
If the male voice is switched on, on the other hand, the voiceover for the video and voiceover for the text can interrupt each other. And if you call up a rule then immediately go to the related question, the voiceover still carries on reading out the rule, rather than the question. And even when he does read out the question, he won't read out any of the possible answers unless you specifically click on one — in which case he'll read just that one. Frankly, it's not going to be a question of whether or not you'll want to turn the voice off only how long it will take you to get there.
It's around this point that the traditional Highway Code puts its feet up with a nice cup of tea. The Interactive Highway Code, however, has more to offer.
Its Additional Learning module, for instance, highlights some basic rules about four key areas—speed limits, stopping distances, seat-belt requirements and traffic signs — then tests your knowledge with 15 multiple-choice questions about each subject.
This is all good stuff, although the voiceover problems return with a vengeance here because to get a multiple-choice answer read out you only have to pass your mouse pointer over it inadvertently. When you discover this, you will undoubtedly want to whizz your mouse pointer up and down over all four possible answers for a few seconds, which causes the system to produce a very respectable impersonation of stuttering 1980s television cyberhost Max Headroom.
The most useful part of the Additional Learning module is probably the section on traffic signs. because you can scroll through 148 of them. with deb n Mons, to refresh your memory before answering the questions.
When you've completed the questions in any one area. your score out of 15 is loudly Jisplayed with an animated car that rushes to .he front of the screen. either with a double :oot of the horn if you've done well (highly Ilegal in residential areas at certain hours of the day, may we remind you),or squealing tyres and the sound of an impact if you've done miserably.
The software also features a widereaching Quiz module, which offers multiple tests of 10, 20 or 30 questions at a time, drawn randomly from what appears to he a massive pool that covers the entire contents of the Highway Code.The questions here range from the very simple (you do know what a red traffic light means, don't you'?) through to those that might test Alistair Darling (we aren't honestly sure without checking what the braking distance is on a dry road in a well-maintained vehicle at 60mph, for instance — especially when the type of vehicle isn't defined). Games module
lhere's also a Games module, which among some relatively pointless sliding-tile puzzles and solitaire-style 'pair up the road signs' memory tests, incorporates two useful challenges:a series of hazard-perception tests and a 'pin the tail on the donkey'-type road sign challenge.
The hazard perception tests show you a series of road scenarios and invites you to click against the clock on anything you consider to be a danger.You don't get long—just as in real life— and it's hard to identify all the dangers in every picture. In fact, of the 15 scenarios, we didn't get everything right in any of them first time around— a sobering reminder that danger lurks everywhere on the roads.
The sign-placing exercise is similar: against 15 more scenarios you have to drag and drop the right signs into place from a choice of half a dozen to one side. Some are easier than others — but again, it makes you think about your true
understanding of road signs as well as your ability to read the road without them.
As if all this weren't enough for the low cost of the CD, there's also a Green Cross guide to road safety for pedestrians. It's presented in a clear format aimed at children, with animated talking bollards that outline the safest way to cross that road, along with some optional questions designed to test understanding.
Code read
When you get to the end of all this, there's little doubt you'll have taken a very useful and widereaching refresher course on the rules of the road that can only make you a safer, better-informed driver.
The Interactive Highway Code does exactly
what it says on the tin and while we might have liked a bit more in the way of multimedia features, particularly in terms of videos to accompany the various rules,it is without doubt a useful reference work for anyone that gets behind the wheel.
You could, of course, spend less by simply buying a paper copy of the Highway Code, or even access the rules for free online (www.highwaycode.gov.uk if you're interested). But neither option is as much fun and neither will give you the many added extras of this interactive version.
We'd like to think most professional HGV drivers could learn nothing from it... but we suspect we'd be wrong. And given its modest price,it's a polished product that would make a perfect stocking filler for all your drivers.