Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the merits of promoting virtual reality road safety awareness films as an educational tool for drivers.

The Department has used the ‘Innovation Challenge Fund’ to assess how new technologies such as virtual reality can help learner drivers to develop their hazard perception skills prior to taking their tests.

Virtual reality road safety awareness films are likely to be helpful in driver education. They promise to bring an added spatial dimension to the experience and can be very engaging when used well. It is important that they should always be based on the kinds of established behavioural change techniques used by the THINK! Campaign, the best local authority driver education, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.