Classroom Session

Published on 20th April 2023

We have held a number of classroom sessions since we last reported.

Our March session was a lively affair with a number of trainee observers attending as well. An interesting discussion on the flashing of had lights took place. The Rules 110 and 111 of the Highway Code state “Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.” and “Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.” There are times when a pragmatic use of flashing head lights may be of benefit to warn others of a hazard (not a speed camera van!), such as horses or a traffic collision. On of our trainee observers is a driving instructor, and he commented that if you are in situation where priority is not clear, and you can see the car waiting to come in the other direction is a learner driver, do not flash for them to come through. You may think you are being considerate, however it often takes a learner driver a bit of time to get the car going, and it puts pressure on them thinking you are waiting so they may get panicked and stall the engine etc!

Braking distance was also on the agenda! The kinetic energy of your car (weight of vehicle x speed squared) means that if you double your speed you are quadrupling your braking distance. The average reaction time is between 0.6 and 1.6 seconds, which is made up of seeing the hazard, making the decision to brake, and actually activating the brakes.

With driver training we will make better decisions and improve our reaction time through anticipation. For example, we drive the same route to work each day, and there is a little used side road. One day a car pulls out from this junction into our path. Our subconscious brain will think this is not happening, it has never happened before. It needs to get over the shock that it has happened before we can react. However, as advanced drivers we are anticipating that a vehicle will appear out of the junction, so do not have the time delay of the subconscious thought process before we made a decision and react.