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As part of the Dutch post-license young driver coaching program, Drive Xperience (DX), the level of moral reasoning was explored in relation to self-reported violating driving behaviors. Drawing from literature in the field of juvenile crime, three online assessments were developed to measure: a) social driving behavior; b) moral justification for rule compliance, and: c) cognitive distortions in relation to socially undesirable driving behavior. The assessments were administered between fall 2014 and fall 2016 to1660 participants in the DXprogram. The results show that immature levels of moral reasoning and prevalence of cognitive distortions are strongly associated with self-reported speed choice, space competition and traffic law violations.

Maintaining independent mobility and the ability to drive contributesgreatly to the quality of life of elderly. However, decline of functional abilities,such as cognitive decline, can reduce elderly’s fitness to drive and pose a risk fortraffic safety. The current study aims to compose a test battery of functionalability tests to predict fitness to drive in elderly with subjective cognitive declinein the doctor’s office. Functional ability tests were used as predictors for on-roaddriving assessment outcome. Passing or failing the on-road test was best predictedby a battery of tests addressing visual and motor ability and knowledge factors.This selection of tests can be administered in an office setting within a reasonabletime frame and allows medical professionals to provide patients with well-arguedadvice concerning their fitness to drive. Further research is needed to improvediagnostic accuracy of off-road fitness to drive screenings for elderly drivers.

In line with changed views on driver training and driver instructor preparation a competence-based instructor exam was introduced in the Netherlands. The exam consists of two parts: 1) multimedia theory tests, 2) a performance assessment. An implicit idea behind the innovated exam is that it can have a positive backwash effect on the quality of driver instructor preparation programs. This study aims to evaluate the reliability, validity and fairness of the theoretical tests, which appear in different versions across time. Data of 4741 prospective driving instructors, enrolled during the period between January 2010 and October 2012, were used for analysis. The results of item response theory (IRT)-analyses show that the theory tests yielded reliable and fair decisions, although misclassifications occurred across versions. The predictive validity of the theory tests for the final performance assessment was low. Implications for the design and maintenance of exam programs are discussed. Follow-up studies will focus on the question, whether the improved instructor exam contribute to safer drivers in the end.

In line with European developments, a Dutch second phase coaching program, referred to as the DX- (Driver Xperience) program, was developed for young novice drivers to counteract their high accident risk. More specifically, the aim of the DX-program was to enable young drivers to make responsible decisions and develop positive attitudes regarding four levels of the driving task: combining life style and driving, planning and navigation, participating in different traffic situations and handling the vehicle. In this paper, the design principles of the program are described. The empirical study focused on the entry characteristics of the participating young drivers (n = 3,117) as compared to a reference group of young drivers (n = 345). RESULTS show that the DX-program attracted young drivers that, in some respects, showed a more risky profile than average young drivers in terms of speed violations, anger and the number of fines. In addition, four groups of participants with sharply differing driving styles could be distinguished. Implications for educational design and follow-up research are discussed within the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning. Language: en

A systematic procedure was described by which task scenarios can be derived as a basis for educationally informative and developmentally tailored driving assessments. To this end, Mislevy´s evidence centered design model for assessment was applied to the driving context. Borrowing from recent theories on driving and driving errors, task environment attributes were derived which may complicate the sub processes of driving and thus may result in varying task difficulty. A universe of assessment tasks was defined by combining basic driving tasks and critical task environment attributes. A collection of 55 critical driving task scenarios was selected from 39 video recorded driving lessons, throughout different stages of driving education. Results of a difficulty rating study pertaining to these scenarios including experienced driving instructors show that the scenarios discriminate well between beginning and advanced learner drivers. Successful scenario solution can be predicted by using an IRT function, where solution probability is a function of driver ability and task difficulty. Implications for assessment design activities are discussed.

This paper describes the mindset at the start of a three year project to develop a test on a driving simulator. It reviews the literature, presents background information on driver training simulators and their relation with assessment. It then introduces some of the ideas behind this project, the adaptive cognitive model that will be used, as well as the interoperable assessment module we will develop.

Based on a competence-oriented view of driving a driver performance assessment (DPA) has been developed to inform learner drivers about their progress in acquiring driving proficiency. An initial validation study was carried out to evaluate the adequacy of inferences based on DPA-scores assigned by driving instructors. The results of two pilots are presented. Implications for driving performance assessment within driver training programs are discussed.