The Complete Hazard Perception Test New Edition

I have 2 different discs for the hazard perception. I have used this first, then I went onto the 3 in one Driving test complete disc, which has solid reviews from PC Advisor and Auto Express Magazine. It's the new 2015 edition, not 2014/2015. There was a difference.For this disc, the 5 point windows are all over the place, some may think that where to click to get the points isn't rocket science, but you at least need to know how close or far away from types of hazards in a catagory the 5 point window opens (e.g a pedestrian using a zebra crossing, or the appearance of a cyclist on the road) those windows open at different times on the discs. For one video on this one, you had to make sure you just about managed to notice a cyclist coming from the distance to get the 5 points, in another video on Driving Test Complete, you had to time it as you got closer, even though it was same thing, the cyclist is only going forwards, no cars around, you only have to drive past him, it was really confusing. Why would the timing be a few seconds difference for both when the hazard and circumstances were the same?Another was a hedge trimming vehicle on similar roads, on this disc you had to click as soon as you barely managed to see the flashing amber light in the far distance for it, for the Driving Test complete disc, the same sort of clip was on the new CGI format, but you had to time it as you got closer, it was on a slight bend in the road but you still had time to see it ahead in the distance but you still had to be closer before clicking.This leaves the question as to how things would go in the actual test, because, apparently, depending on which disc you buy to learn from, some similar hazards or clips that are almost identical will have different timings for a few windows which makes no sense.There is also one clip on this disc where a car is moving forwards really quickly but stops in time to let you past. When you notice a vehicle moving fairly fast onto the road you click, but with that clip you have to click after the car has been moving a second, otherwise you click before the window opens. But to me that's a bit silly because it should allow you to get the point as soon as you see it becoming a hazard. But even that makes no sense because the car stops to let you past, surely if it were a hazard it would have continued regardless and not stopped at all. I guess that is where the 2 click in case you miss it rule comes in.It's things like that which made this disc harder and more frustrating to use than the Driving Test complete disc. I will try more with the clips on this disc, but the 5 point windows for All in One, Drivers Test Complete disc are far better placed, if your going to learn, you need to at least be able to learn where the windows start opening with similar hazards or the same ones just on different roads, otherwise like with this disc, your more likely to be clicking all over the place. The more you think you are getting to grips with this disc, generally the more you aren't. My scores didn't start going up on the whole by at least 10 points (so I started getting at least 55 points) until I got Driving Test complete. I would suggest you do the same.

Three main problems:1. Video quality of the clips is very low - 480p or even 360p. The practice clips in the product are real life clips, recorded on a roof-mounted cam of very low quality (not even a dashcam! must have been early 2000s). The low video quality makes developing hazards very difficult to suss out - the hazards will be represented by pixels the size of Scottish isles.2. Clicking tolerance - the actual test will tolerate about 6-7 clicks before disqualifying the clip and scoring you zero; while the practice clips in the product will allow about two dozen clips. This is an example of the product not being fit for purpose.3. Hazard inconsistency - a hazard in one clip will not be a hazard in another. Like the test, the clips will have either one or two hazards in them. However, an event designated as a hazard in one given clip will not be a hazard in another clip. For example, clip A will feature an event of a car pulling out from the left at a roundabout, forcing you to slow down - this is the hazard you're scored on in clip A. Then moving on to clip B, a car pulling out from the left at a roundabout forcing you to slow will NOT count as a hazard - the hazard will be another event. This is a consequence of the clips being recorded from actual driving - the clips aren't tailored to represent only one hazard or two (that's just not how real life is). Recurring examples are parked cars forcing a lane change, cars pulling out from the left at roundabouts, cars nosing out from the left at intersections. This inconsistency trains you to click hesitantly - in other words, late, reducing your score; or even worse, trains you to click for every little thing - which in the actual test will disqualify you and net you zero points.

I got 40 only on the Hazard on my first attempt at the Theory, as I clicked before the scoring window opened for 5 of the hazards so got 0 for these. I scored 5 for 5 hazards, 4 for 2 hazards, 3 for 1 hazard, 2 for 2 hazards... and I knew I had spotted every single one of them, and only a couple of them late (the ones where I got 3 and 2). My instructor also thought I must have clicked too early, and not enough. I bought this DVD, trained for 2 weeks (a couple of hours) and got 62 when I retook the test! 2 weeks later I took the theory again (this time for car, earlier one was for motorbike) and I got 65!Advice: on the real test you can click on every single hazard without being eliminated, and several times on the developing hazard, to maximise the chances of getting a 5. Don't be afraid to click too much. I managed about 10 clicks on both the tests I passed, without getting eliminated. Even if you did get eliminated for one clip, the 5s you would score on the other clips would more than make up for it.

I found this guide very useful in the aspects of multiple choice and hazard perception, it has proved a worth-while purchase. However, the small database of hazard perception clips were disappointing, the software also won't penalize you as much for doing things like repeated clicks; something which i found to be a little unrealistic compared to the real test.The only thing that redeems the software is the multiple choice aspects of it which are incredibly useful.

Bought this after I exhausted all the tests on the Driving Test Success All Tests cd. Although there is only 14 clips which are CGi. Its still a good practice disc to have. All the clips when you sit your actual DVSA tests are CGi. This disc and the aforementioned All Tests disc however allow more 'clicks' per clip than the offical test on the day. So be careful with that... I still managed to attain a score of 65 on the day and I beleive it was due to the practive I done with these discs. Highly recommend.

This was a great help preparing me for my PVC, which requires a higher pass rate of 85 (44 for car). The clips run much faster than in the real test so when you actually do the real test it feels so much easier. If you can pass the tests on this DVD you are just about guaranteed to pass the real one.