Hazard perception handbook - RTA

8
80
• Check for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists that may be hidden by other
vehicles.
• Give yourself plenty of time to detect and cope with hazards and space totake
some action to avoid a crash.
• Slowing down is a good precaution as it gives you both time and space to cope
with a hazard.
• Get lots of driving experience in a variety of traffic conditions so that fewer
situations are new to you.
• If there is something that you feel you don’t cope well with (eg heavy traffic),
get a more experienced driver to help you learn how to deal with it (eg drive as
a passenger with them, watch what they do and ask them questions).
• Be cautious and wary in situations that are new or different (eg roadworks,
crash scenes).
• Make your car easier to see – if it is dull, overcast or raining turn your headlights
on, even during the day.
IdENTIfyING THE MAIN HAzARd
Hazards rarely come one at a time when you’re driving. Often you will have to deal
with a few at once. This means that you have to identify the main hazard and deal
with this first. for example, in the following picture the car marked as B is the main
hazard where you are the driver of the blue car marked z. Car B has already started
to back out of the parking space and may come out in front of you. Its brake and
reversing lights are on. There are other hazards such as the vehicles marked A, C
and d, but B is the one that poses the main and most immediate hazard to you.
Hazard perception handbook
Z
D
A
d
B
C