Ten hazard perception scenarios for car drivers
Each scene below describes what you see from the driver’s seat, the first sign that it is turning into a developing hazard, and the response that keeps you out of trouble.
In the hazard perception part of the car theory test you score by responding when a hazard starts to develop, not when it first appears. These ten scenes train that timing. Read each one, decide when you would have reacted, then compare it with the explanation.
Cyclist hidden beside the car
You are in a slow queue, planning to turn left at the next side road. A cyclist passed you on the inside two cars ago and is no longer in your door mirror. On a three-lane road the same thing happens when a motorcycle sits just behind your right shoulder.
The clue is the rider you saw and then lost. Before turning or moving across, take a shoulder check, let the cyclist go ahead and turn behind them. Turning because “the mirror was clear” is the classic wrong answer.
Pedestrian stepping out from behind a van
- Scene: a city junction in heavy rain, a delivery van stopped on the corner, umbrellas everywhere.
- Clue: feet visible under the van, or a bus pulling away on the other side.
- Response: cover the brake and lower your speed before the gap, ready for someone who runs out with their hood up and their head down.
- Wrong answer: waiting until the person is on the road. By then, wet-road stopping distances leave you no margin, and a driver ahead who stops suddenly to let them cross catches you out too.
Lorry swinging wide to turn left
An articulated lorry ahead at an urban junction signals left but moves right first. It is not a mistake: long vehicles need the whole width to make the turn. The hazard develops when the cab drifts out. Stay well back, do not drive into the space on its left, and wait. In rain, its spray hides the cyclist who is about to be squeezed against the kerb.
Lane closed by roadworks
On a dual carriageway, a sign shows the right lane closing in 800 yards. Traffic thickens and drivers start swapping lanes.
| Too late | In time |
|---|---|
| Racing to the cone taper and forcing your way in | Choosing a gap early, or merging in turn if traffic is moving very slowly |
Respond when brake lights spread across both lanes, and expect workers and plant vehicles close to the cones.
Bend with a greasy surface
Your clue is a chevron sign and a dark, shiny surface beyond it, perhaps diesel near a lay-by. A queue may be hidden beyond the curve. Brake in a straight line before you enter, then drive through on a light, steady throttle. Braking mid-bend or steering harder is what turns a skid into a crash.
Siren behind you at the lights
You are first at a red light with blue lights in your mirror. Do not cross the stop line or mount the kerb to make room: that can endanger pedestrians and is not required. Look for a safe place to let it pass once the light changes. A driver in front who brakes sharply in panic is a second hazard: keep a gap so you are not forced to swerve.
Door opening into your path
Slow traffic beside a row of parked cars. Someone is sitting in the driver’s seat of one, or brake lights have just gone off. That is your early clue. Leave a door’s width if you can, and ease off if you cannot. On a multi-lane road, do not swerve into the next lane without a mirror check.
Low sun and dazzle
Early evening, heading west to a junction. Low sun hides the traffic lights and the pedestrian on the zebra crossing. On a wet road the glare doubles. Lower the visor, slow down early and assume someone is there. Accelerating “because it was green a moment ago” is the wrong reaction; so is assuming that the oncoming driver can see you.
Joining into a gap that is closing
On a busy slip road, the gap you chose in lane one shrinks as a car in front of it slows. Do not stop at the end of the slip road unless you must, but adjust your speed to fit a different gap rather than squeezing in. The hazard develops when the gap starts to close, not when you run out of slip road.
Brake lights rippling through a queue
Several cars ahead brake at once at an urban junction. You cannot see why: a pedestrian, or a driver who has stopped to turn right. The response is to slow early and smoothly, leaving room to stop and space to steer round the car in front. Close following in rain, in particular, turns this into a shunt.
When you can explain each scene without looking back, try a full car mock test. The gaps behind several answers here are covered in the speed, following distance and lane-change guide, and the scoring rules for hazard clips are in how the hazard perception test is scored.