WHAT DO YOU SEE?
OR
(HAZARD AWARENESS)

Most people, even the most severely disabled, can be taught how to make a vehicle move, how to steer it, how to stop it and generally how to operate all the controls with varying degrees of competence.

However, it is what they actually ‘DO’ with the vehicle which causes most of the problems resulting in far too many accidents on our roads.

The mistakes they make generally stem from a lack of awareness which in turn is mainly the result of not using their eyes properly to assess the road ahead, behind and to each side of them. Constant scanning of all areas around the vehicle you are driving, both near and far, is essential for safe driving.

By developing good hazard awareness skills a driver can greatly reduce the potential to be involved in an accident. In fact most accidents are avoidable if only people would use their eyes.

In an ongoing effort to reduce the number of motoring related accidents in the U.K. and make our highways safer for all road users the Driving Standards Agency has introduced a ‘Hazard Awareness’ element to the driving Theory Test.

It has become an integral and established part of the Theory Test and is in addition to the 35 multiple choice questions which have been the main core of the test since it was introduced several years ago.

The candidate is shown several film clips of developing motoring situations and is asked to identify any hazards which may be contained therein. There is a time element built into each clip and you are assessed upon the number of hazards you can identify in the shortest possible time. The pass mark is 44 out of 75.

It should be pointed out that the published film clips are NOT the ones you will be presented with on the actual test. Doing so would dilute the effectiveness of the test assessment, when candidates may have simply spent time practising on the DVDs and learned ’parrot fashion’ where the hazards are.

By the time candidates take the Theory Test they will probably have had a considerable number of practical driving lessons which should enable them to cope adequately with the observation and time elements of the Hazard Awareness test.

However, a learner just starting out on the quest for a full driving licence will not have the experience to spot hazards quickly and easily. It takes time to develop these skills. Time is needed to study any given situation without the pressure of the clock, or the practical problems of controlling the vehicle.

To help novices get started DRIVERS WORLD has developed a section called ‘WHAT DO YOU SEE?’

Here you are offered a series of still pictures, all of which contain potential or actual hazard situations – some may have two or more. You can study each one for as long as you like. Move the image around, use the zoom facility and maybe even change the lighting to see if you can identify the problem areas. In some cases it may even be a case of, ‘What Don’t You See?’

When you think you have identified all the hazards, click on the link below the picture to reveal the answers and a brief description of what you should have been looking for and taking into consideration.

Good luck with your tests.

Drive safely.