Hazard perception and anticipation
Domain 5 tests anticipation: spotting what could happen before it does, and choosing the response that leaves you the most room to react.
Scan wide and far
Look 12 to 15 seconds ahead rather than at the bonnet of the car in front, and sweep the mirrors every 5 to 8 seconds before any change of speed or position. Cover the brake when a hazard might develop: a ball rolling into the road, a delivery van blocking sight lines, a parked car with a silhouette in the driver's seat.
Vulnerable road users
Children and cyclists behave unpredictably. Treat a cyclist passing parked cars as a door about to open and leave 1.5 m of space. At a bus or tram stop expect pedestrians to step out from behind the vehicle. Elderly pedestrians and drivers need more time, and eye contact never proves that someone has seen you.
Conditions
Rain, fog, low sun, ice and wet leaves all lengthen stopping distances and shorten sight lines. Use dipped headlights in rain and fog, and fog lights only when visibility is under about 50 m. Expect ice first on bridges, in shade and on viaducts. At a level crossing never stop on the rails, even when traffic queues ahead of you.
Worked example
A ball bounces into the road ahead. The correct response is to brake firmly and check the mirror, expecting a child to follow the ball. Swerving into the oncoming lane trades a small collision for a head-on one, and braking distance grows with every extra km/h, so reduce speed immediately rather than waiting to identify the child.
Traps that cost marks
- Fixating on the car in front instead of scanning far ahead.
- Accelerating through amber instead of preparing to stop.
- Assuming a cyclist will hold a straight line past parked cars.
- Taking the first gap at a junction without checking for a second road user behind it.