The "Hazard Express" The Virtual Insanity Experience

Young inexperienced drivers, passengers, and vulnerable road users covering; Driver Safety Powered two-wheelers Pedal cycles Pedestrians Crossing Roads Looking at education using the new Hazard Express as a method of reaffirming messages delivered through a presentation. Depending on the school or college we are attending we will look at any issue they may have (Data led) and then allocate the correct VR-360 film to the Hazard Express to assist in the education of the students. The Hazard Express delivers a new innovative way of learning, using an experiential learning method that aids cognitive development.

Project activities

If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service works as part of the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Road Safety Partnership, whose members are: 1) Leicestershire Police, with who we work closely look at and analysing data so we can target the correct type of road users, and planning new campaigns, this ensures that we are data-led, and we look at the data quarterly. 2) EMAS (East Midlands Ambulance Service) when availability allows will come along and assist at presentations and demonstrations 3) Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Councils for giving us access to schools and colleges, helping us to increase the numbers being reached and educated. 4) The whole partnership as this is where we bid for funding.

Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.

The project's activities that we are carrying out are aimed at schools and colleges targeting new drivers and vulnerable road users, with the ability to alter the target group and activity pending updates from our local and national intelligence, including Police stats 19 road traffic collision data, information from the Fire Service call logs allowing us to easily change our campaigns to target any new issues in road safety. This project started in August 2022 delayed by the COVID pandemic, this is the flagship road safety project for the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Road Safety Partnership. We see the launch of this new innovative project as leading the way forward for the next 6-10 years, with an expectation to improve, add to and continue the use of new technologies to assist in the reduction of the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads (KSIs) Building on the huge success of our first road safety film the VF4-360 which is now being used worldwide to educate road users of all ages, whilst also being used to train paramedics in Australia. We needed to continue our leadership as subject matter experts in the use of bringing new emerging technologies into road safety, in the UK, Europe, and the rest of the World. We put all our road safety attendees through the Hazard Express (numbers between 12,000 - 16,000per year) covering any of the following subjects: 1) VF4-360 Driver Safety 2) VF4-360 Alternative Ending (Using behavioral Change Techniques) 3) Pedestrian Safety 4) Motorbike Safety 5) Push-bike Safety 6) Crossing Roads Safely These numbers will increase as our library of films increases, allowing us to educate more members of the public, keeping them safe. Attending schools/colleges delivering quality road safety education through our Fatal Four presentation, then having the safety messages reaffirmed by the use of the all-new, first of its kind only one of its kind in the world, the "Hazard Express"

List the actions you carried/are carrying out

Date

Monday, 6 June, 2022

Evaluation

What has been the effect of the activities?

The early evaluation shows the students enjoyed the Hazard Express experience, and say they will change the way they drive and act as a passenger, the experiential learning experience aids cognitive development creating memories that will give them a better understanding of the potential for things to go wrong whilst driving. We have started to evaluate all events looking to see if we have effected any behavior change with the use of the new Hazard Express. Our local statistics have shown a slight decrease in the number of road traffic collisions, fatalities, and injuries. The Hazard Express compliments our road safety initiatives by re-enforcing our messages delivered in the road safety presentation., and any of our partners events we attend.

Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.

We have already developed the world's first VR-360 road safety film that is used worldwide and has been remade in America so to make it more realistic as American vehicles. We wanted to move this fantastic innovation forward and take it to the next level, as being looked at as the subject matter expert, everyone was waiting to see how we would continue to use new emerging technologies. The Hazard Express is the next generation of the most engaging road safety innovation available, as one of a kind and only one Worldwide, we have maintained our place as the leading service in the UK's Fire and Rescue Service for innovation in road safety. Taking the VF4-360 totally immersive film and adding movement through the addition of motion platforms, making it more realistic and believable producing a learning experience second to none. The design of the look of the vehicle attracts our target audience, since its launch we have seen a large increase of booking not only from Leicestershire but all over the UK.

How have you shared information about your project and its results?

We have shared all the information on the Hazard Express, and we have carried out demonstrations around the UK on its use and how effective it has been in helping to engage with hard-to-reach groups. We have spoken to and demonstrated the Hazard Express to numerous senior managers and Chief Fire officers, also Police Crime Commissioners around the UK. Also, road safety officers from Councils have seen and are looking at funding opportunities to develop Hazard Express. One fire service has now gained funding because of our visit, to produce a second Hazard Express and we are assisting them in the project, with another service well on its way to gaining funding. We are now in talks with a middle eastern country that has seen the Hazard Express and wants more information about the project and is very keen to copy ours, with us looking at re-filming the road safety VR-360 films in their Country so it has more impact on their students.