Types of Hazards
Types of Hazards :
A hazard is anything that makes the driver slow down or change direction or stop completely.
There are various types of Hazards which can be broadly classified into :
Fixed Hazards
Developing Hazards
Fixed Hazards :
Light poles,trees,barricades,crash barriers,bridge walls etc, anything that's static and won't move but can cause damage to vehicles or life are fixed hazards.
Action for fixed hazards :
Understand the risks and drive safe and control speed on curves as that's where there's a risk of losing control and crashing against trees,light poles etc. We should know what might happen,in case if we hit them.
Developing Hazards :
These are hazards that are developing and here,our timely observation and anticipation helps to reduce risk. Examples are, a moving truck changed lanes,a car stopping or turning abruptly,stray animals,a truck joining main highway from side road etc.
Developing Hazards require very good observation and anticipation to react on time to reduce the risk. If we approach a hazard faster without anticipation,we may not get enough time to think of options. On high speed roads,space and time are very essential to allow us to think.
For example, here a truck is joining the highway and the driver didn't take any action until he ran out of time.
In the below tweet,I had shared my dash cam clip where I had faced a similar situation.
At a higher speed,we may not be able to spot the other truck in our peripheral vision and we may be surprised by the sudden lane changing by container truck.
I saw a mother holding the hand of a child at a distance and slowed down, anticipating a sudden move by the kid and he did the same. While going through rural areas,be very watchful of unguarded kids. They assume their house is just a few feet away and start running.
For developing Hazards,early observation and anticipation gives us time to save our lives. Traffic is a continuously changing scene on roads and the few seconds of time are very vital for risk free judgement.
Practice developing Hazard perception as it saves our lives.