Safe Learning Lab

The research environment

Safe Learning Lab is a research and development environment focusing on simulated driving for blue light operations. The aim is to contribute to a more effective and safe training environment leading to improved future work environment for police officers and other blue light personnel.

The research is funded by a donation from the Crafoord Foundation, which also funds purchases and maintenance of simulators and software development.

Background

The most common cause of death among police officers in the line of duty are traffic accidents; in Sweden 2020, the cost of damage to police vehicles totalled 100 million SEK. Both speeding and high-risk pursuits are also becoming more commonplace as fewer cars stop at police signals.

Traditionally, police driver training has been conducted in an actual police car, but driving in hazardous environments is resource-intensive. Only a small proportion of officers have undergone practical training, and even fewer have had the opportunity to train regularly in hazardous duty activities. Simulators are also used as a pedagogical tool in several other training programmes involving driving skills.

During basic education, driving simulators have been tested in parallel with research to determine whether they can complement the driver training. The results clearly show that it did not matter which way the students were taught, either via a simulator or a police car, as the outcome of the examinations was the same.

The simulators will be used in basic police training, as well as in other subjects where students train in various types of interventions integrated with driving a vehicle and using radio and tactical communication.