Hazard Perception and Emergency Handling
What the exam tests
This domain tests how early you identify hazards and how you respond when something fails: tyre blowout, brake failure, skid, fire or an unexpected obstacle.
Core rules
- Scan far ahead and near, check mirrors regularly and keep space around the vehicle. Identify fixed hazards, moving hazards and developing hazards.
- Plan an escape route and cover the brake when a hazard may develop. Sound the horn only as a warning, not as a substitute for braking.
- Tyre blowout: grip the wheel firmly, ease off the accelerator, keep straight and slow gradually. Do not brake hard or yank the wheel.
- Brake failure: pump the brake if it is a hydraulic system that may recover pressure, use engine braking, and use the handbrake gradually. Look for a safe runoff.
- Skid: ease off the accelerator and steer smoothly in the direction you want the front to go; avoid sudden braking.
- Fire: stop, switch off, evacuate, call 112 and keep clear. Do not open the engine cover fully if the fire is under it.
Worked example
At 100 km/h a front tyre bursts. You hold the wheel with both hands, keep the vehicle straight, lift off the accelerator and let speed fall before steering to the shoulder. Reason: hard braking or sharp steering transfers weight to the damaged tyre and can cause a loss of control or rollover.
Traps
Slamming the brakes after a blowout; steering hard away from the noise; opening a hot engine cover; using water on a fuel or electrical fire; freezing instead of planning an escape route.