Hazards and their perception

The most important part of learning to drive is learning how to perceive and then deal with any of the hazards or potential hazards that you meet during your journey.

By a hazard, we mean any actual or potential source of danger that you may encounter. A hazard then, is anything that causes you to change your speed or direction, or anything that makes you think that you might have to change your speed or direction - it may turn out that you don't have to take any action, but at least you are prepared to do so.

A hazard could be a junction, a pedestrian crossing, any of the other vehicles that you are sharing the road with, it could be the act of moving off from being parked at the side of the road, it could be bringing your car to a safe stop. It could be that the road is wet or icy, a pedestrian standing at the side of the road.

Remember also, the biggest hazard you will ever come across when you are driving is one of your nearest and dearest, - YOU. You may simply be a new driver lacking the extra judgment and experience that we all need to gain to become a good driver. You may not be feeling well, with a simple cold, you could be a little tired, or in a bad mood, you could be distracted because of problems at home or work.

I will repeat, a hazard is anything that you encounter on your drive that you have to act upon, or have to be prepared to act upon.

Learning how to perceive and deal with hazards will be taught to you as part of our 1stPass training course.

The driving standards agency have produced a DVD or Video and accompanying workbook, called "ROADSENSE" which will also help you to develop your hazard perception skills. It is available from most book shops.