The assessment of hazard awareness skills among light rail drivers

•This study examined Light Rail (LR) drivers' ability to anticipate different types of hazards.•Participants observed 16 hazard perception (HP) movies and were asked to identify hazards.•Experienced and novice LR drivers were more likely to identify potential hazards compared to the control.•Novice LR drivers were more likely to identify hidden hazards compared to experienced drivers.•There were no significant differences among the groups in terms of fixating on the hazard and the time to first fixation on the hazard. Light rail (LR) is a popular means of public transportation worldwide, in use in more than 380 cities worldwide. LR drivers must have good hazard awareness: the ability to understand the complexity of the traffic environment and anticipate road events. Yet, no study has examined LR drivers' ability to anticipate hazards, and this is the purpose of this study. The experimental group included 28 certified LR drivers from the LR in Jerusalem. The control group included 26 licensed drivers, with no experience in LR driving. Participants observed 18 short video clips of typical LR driving that were filmed from the LR driver's field of view and had to press a response button each time they identified a hazard. Participants' eye movements and button presses were recorded throughout the experiment. In general, LR drivers were better at identifying hazards compared to the control group. Novice LR drivers with less than 1 year of LR driving experience or under training were more likely to respond to hidden hazards and responded much sooner compared to both the experienced LR drivers and Control drivers. The implications are discussed.