The current theory test has been around in its current format for over 7 years now but there is still a lot of confusion about this part of the test
. The hazard perception part was introduced by the DSA in order to improve the death and accident rate by new drivers who were perceived to be lacking the skill of reading hazards and forward planning. For this reason the hazard perception test in its current form was introduced.
The idea around passing this test is to be able to recognized what is described as a developing hazard against a normal hazard. This is the first basic cornerstone to get to grips with to start with. A hazard is described as anything in the clip that is worth being aware of but one that does not need any action whereas a developing hazard is a hazard that has developed into one that now requires action.
An example of this could be a pedestrian walking along the pavement, this would be classed as a hazard, ie to be aware of the pedestrian and at this point needs no further action. This would then change to a developing hazard if the pedestrian stopped and turned to face the other side of the road and walked across the road infront of the car, this would then require action and you would click on the mouse to confirm that action.
At this point you would then be given a score out of 5 depending on how quickly you noticed the developing hazard. For example you may score 5 for clicking when they first go to step onto the road whereas clicking a second later while they are fully on the road may only score 1 or 2 if anything. The skill then is to practice this and to use a theory test software package that allows you to review you clip and when you clicked to see how close to the start of the hazard you got.
The more you practice this section the better you will get and you will start to recognize certain hazards that will happen in certain scenarios and therefore improve your driving skills. You instructor will be able to help as well with this on your driving lessons but for more info and help with this part of the theory test you can visit various online sites.