Motorcycle hazard scenes riders need to read early
From a lorry cutting a rural corner to a door opening while you filter, each scene shows what a rider should notice first and why the obvious reaction is often the wrong one.
On a motorcycle the margin between a developing hazard and a fall is short, so the hazard perception clips reward riders who spot the cause, not the consequence. Each scene below is written from the saddle. Note where your eyes would go first.
Cyclist you overtook, now at the junction
At night you pass a cyclist with a weak rear light, then slow for a left turn. The cyclist is now behind you, on your nearside, and out of your mirror. If you are running late, the temptation is to turn straight away.
Take the lifesaver glance over your left shoulder before you turn. If the cyclist is closing, let them pass first. Turning “because you were ahead” is the mistake.
Child behind the school bus
Scene: a stopped bus with a School Bus sign, children on the pavement, a rural lane with no footway beyond.
Clue: a gap in the group, a ball on the verge, or a parent waving from the other side of the road.
Decision: slow right down and move out only as far as is safe; a child may run round the front of the bus. In a test image, the bus itself is the clue.
Tractor or lorry cutting a corner
A tractor with a trailer is turning right out of a farm gate on a narrow road. Its rear swings across your lane, mud trails behind it and the driver may not see a motorcycle in the mirrors. The hazard develops as the front wheels start to turn. Stop well back with an escape route; do not try to slip past the front or along the side as it turns.
Coned lane at night
Wet tarmac, cones lit by your headlight, the lane narrowing to one. Expect:
- loose chippings and metal plates that are slippery when wet
- a lip at the edge of the new surface that can deflect your front wheel
- drivers who brake late at the merge
Slow down before the taper and keep upright over the joins. Riding the white line between queues to save time is the wrong answer.
Gravel on a blind bend
On a dark country road the limit point comes towards you as you approach a left-hand bend. Your headlight picks out grit spilled from a farm entrance.
Wrong: brake hard once you are leaned over.
Right: brake while upright, choose a line that misses the gravel, then a steady throttle.
Ambulance on a narrow road
Blue lights appear behind you near a bus stop where passengers are crossing. Do not pull onto the kerb or stop abruptly in the bus stop entrance. Look for a safe gap, indicate and pull in where the vehicle can pass, without stopping on a bend or brow. Pedestrians watching the ambulance may step out without looking at you.
Taxi door while you filter
You are filtering slowly past stationary traffic after dark when a taxi’s interior light comes on. Its rear passenger is about to step out into your path. That light is the clue.
Slow to a walking pace or pull back into the queue. Filtering faster because the lights are about to change is how riders get doored.
Low sun at the crest
On a rural road heading into the evening sun, a crest hides a junction. In a still image, look for the long shadows of trees across the road: they tell you the sun is low and in front of you. Drop your speed before the crest, and remember the driver waiting to pull out is also dazzled and even less likely to notice a motorcycle.
Squeezing into a short gap
| Scene | Better choice |
|---|---|
| Joining a busy main road at night, with a gap between a car and a van that is closing | Wait for a gap that does not ask either driver to brake |
| Late for work, tempted to accelerate hard into a gap before the lane ends | Ease off and take the next one; a strong throttle on a wet painted line can spin the rear |
Queue stopping at the school gate
Morning traffic near a school on a busy road. A car ahead stops abruptly to drop a child off, and the cars behind brake in a chain. Because of weight transfer, a rider braking hard in a hurry risks locking the front. Leave enough room to stop on both brakes upright, and keep an escape route clear of the kerb, where children may be getting out.
Work through these again with the clue covered and say it aloud before reading on. Then take a full motorcycle mock test. The braking technique behind several answers is explained in motorcycle controls, braking and swerving, and motorcycle hazard perception: scoring and rider clues explains how the clips are scored.