Safe Driving Practices and Hazard Awareness
Safe driving is mostly about seeing hazards early and leaving yourself room to react. Scanning, spacing and speed choice do more for your safety than any single rule.
Scanning and observation
Look well ahead, not just at the vehicle in front. Check mirrors regularly, and always check blind spots before changing lanes. On PNG roads, hazards arrive from the side as much as the front: pedestrians, children, livestock, potholes, unmarked vehicles and roadside stalls.
The hazard-perception habit
The systematic approach is: see it, predict it, decide, act. When you spot a hazard, ask what could happen next - a child at the kerb may step out; a parked vehicle may pull out; a bend may hide a stopped truck. Then adjust speed and position before you must react.
Managing distance and conditions
Use the two-second gap in good weather, and double it in rain, on gravel, or at night. Wet roads and loose gravel reduce grip and lengthen stopping distance. At night, dip your headlights for oncoming traffic and never overdrive your lights. Fatigue is a serious hazard: plan breaks, share driving on long trips, and stop if you feel drowsy - fresh air and loud music do not cure fatigue.
Trap to watch: questions about stopping distance often add speed, wet roads and load together. Remember that stopping distance rises sharply with speed and is longer on slippery or gravel surfaces.
Rule of thumb: if you cannot see far enough ahead to stop within the distance you can see, you are going too fast.