You are driving past parked cars. You notice a bicycle wheel sticking out between them. What should you do?

Related Information

To identify a hazard, you must be aware of what is happening on around you. The easiest method to accomplish this is to scan ahead, behind, and to either side of your vehicle. This may appear difficult at first, but the idea is to constantly changing your gaze from the area directly in front of you to the middle distance and finally to the far distance. You should accomplish this by shifting your gaze from the windscreen to the mirrors. By approaching driving in this manner, you should be able to detect possible problems and take appropriate action.

Top Tips:

Master scanning for hazards by:

- Practice with gazing up and as far ahead as possible.

- Checking around your vehicle with all of your mirrors, not just your rear-view mirror.

- Examining your 'blind spots' - identify parts that your mirrors do not cover and find safe techniques to check these areas. This might be accomplished by turning around and gazing out the back window, asking a passenger, or using reflections.

Don’t:

- Traveling too rapidly means that you won't have time to process everything and may not be able to reply safely or fast enough.

- Allow yourself to get distracted from the road.

- Focus your attention on a single spot or zone out.

By improving your scanning abilities, you will be able to take in all of the information in a situation and recognise possible threats as well as early warning indications of danger. You may then decide which are most likely to affect you and take appropriate action.