Overtaking

You need to be looking regularly into your far distance to identify early enough that an overtaking manoeuvre is necessary. Your forward planning skills are of foremost importance here. You need to realise that you are going to overtake a vehicle early enough that you can do the mirrors, signal, wait for a gap and if there isn't one, still have enough space left to reduce speed to match that of the vehicle in front and still maintain a two-second gap! The farther ahead that you see slower vehicles the better.

An overtaking manoeuvre is basically two lane changes. One to move safely into the overtaking lane and one to move back into the first driving lane once you have passed the slower (or stationary) vehicle.

When moving out to overtake, a signal is always necessary for the vehicle that you are going to overtake, whereas when you are past it and move back in, an indication is only necessary if there is a vehicle in the overtaking lane behind you(if you are on a dual carriageway), or of you feel that a vehicle in front would benefit from the signal. It is not necessary for the vehicle that you have overtaken because they are expecting you to move back in to the left once you have gone past them.

If there is a sign for a right turn ahead of you always make sure that you check the other cars indicators before and as you start to move out. They sometimes don't indicate until they see you begin to move out. If you don't check then a near miss situation is on the cards.

Once you are past a slower vehicle you need to know how far to go before moving back in again. As a good guide for safety it is recommended that you do not consider returning to the inside lane until you can see the full width of the overtaken vehicle in your central mirror. This will give you a safe gap without cutting in across their bonnet.

Remember:- A good driver is basically one who makes well informed decisions

ADEQUATE CLEARANCE

While you are driving you should at all times maintain safe separation distances between yourself, hazards and any other road users. Below are a few rules that will help you to know what distance you should be looking for in each circumstance.

Tyres and tarmac.

When it is necessary to pull up behind a stationary vehicle in traffic, for example at traffic lights, you should make sure that when you stop you can see where the tyres of the vehicle in front touch the road and a little tarmac behind them.

There are at least two good reasons for this.

1. If you stop behind another vehicle on a hill and the driver of the vehicle ahead does not take a suitable biting point then they could easily role back into you.
2. If the car ahead of you does not move off for any reason and the vehicle behind is really close, as they usually are, it is comforting to know that you can move off without having to wait for others to reverse foryou.
You need to remember that the tyres and tarmac gap is an absolute minimum and therefore not something to be aimed at. You should aim to pull up before the point of tyres and tarmac.

Door width.

When passing a stationary vehicle you need to maintain a safe distance from that vehicle. An accident that may occur is that the driver/passenger opens a door right there in front of you without looking and gets it ripped off, Ouch. Make sure that as you pass stationary vehicles that this will not happen.

Middle of the available gap.

If you are on a road that has stationary vehicles on both sides then you may be thinking that leaving a door opening width from the vehicle on the left is a good idea. It is as long as this gap does not leave you any closer to the vehicles on the right than those on the left. If this would be the case then go through the middle of the available gap. Remember to slow down. With that many vehicles parked there are innumerable places that unseen pedestrians may come from.

Pedestrian Crossings

Pelican Crossings

Pelican crossings are traffic light controlled and will only change if someone presses the button, which is located on the side of the traffic light pole. Where as normal traffic lights will change on an automatic sequence when the button is pressed, the Pelican crossing traffic lights will change to allow Pedestrians to cross safely. The name derives from PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled with the o changed to an a in reference to the bird.

Sequence of Lights for a Pelican Crossing.

The sequence of lights for a pelican crossing would be as follows: Red, Flashing Amber Green. Steady Amber Red. All of the different coloured lights appear on their own.The flashing amber light keeps the traffic flowing. If the crossing is clear you may proceed. However, if there are pedestrians still on the crossing, you must still give way to them. Unlike a traffic light, which would have the following sequence. Normal Traffic Light Sequence is; Red, Red and Steady Amber, Green, Steady Amber, Red .


Approaching a Pelican Crossing

Let's imagine we're approaching a pelican crossing and the lights go through their sequence from Green up to Red. Green, Steady amber, Red.
Use your MSM routine in good time and slow down to let the pedestrians cross safely to the other side of the road. Remembering not to "rev" your engine while you wait for them to cross, as this could cause the pedestrians to hurry across the road. The crossing is clear and the flashing amber light appears, you may proceed. However, ensure that the pedestrian doesn't change their mind and double back across the crossing! When approaching a pelican crossing and the Pelican has just changed from Red to the flashing amber, keep checking to see that the crossing is clear before committing your self to driving through the crossing. Pedestrians such as the young, elderly or the infirm may take longer to cross the road and may still be on the crossing even when the lights have changed to Green. Like the Zebra Crossing, the Pelican Crossing has two variations:

The Straight Crossing.
The Staggered Crossing.

The Straight Crossing

As we can see in the diagram, the crossing goes straight across the road and has no central island. This type of crossing should be seen as one crossing. Unlike a Zebra Crossing, which would be classed as two separate crossings when it has a central island.

The Staggered Crossing

This type of Pelican crossing incorporates a central island, but either side of the crossing are not in line. This type of Pelican Crossing would be classed as being two separate crossings. As the lights on either side of the road will work independently of each other.

Pelican crossings will only change if someone has pressed the button. However, be careful when approaching a Pelican crossing as there maybe no one around as you approach the crossing but someone may have pressed the button and crossed before the lights have changed. Never trust a Green light, as they have a habit of changing colour when you least expect it! Always approach Green traffic lights with caution and never try to beat the lights by accelerating towards them.

Puffin Crossings

The Puffin crossing is another variation on the Toucan crossing in that it incorporates an electronic scanner to monitor the crossing.

Puffin stands for Pedestrian User Friendly Intelligent crossing.

The electronic scanner scans the crossing to see if anyone is standing next to or is already on the crossing. This facility helps to keep the flow of traffic moving by keeping the lights on Green, if someone presses the button and either walks away or crosses the road before the lights have changed to Red. On the other hand if the pedestrians cross the road fairly quickly, the lights will change to Green and again this should minimize the disruption to the flow of traffic. Whereas a Pelican crossing has a set Red light sequence.

By the same token, the scanner will keep the lights on Red as long as someone is still crossing the road. This is a useful facility for certain types of pedestrians such as the elderly, the young and the infirm, who may need more time to cross the road. Because the Puffin has this functionality, there is no flashing amber in the sequence of lights.

Zig Zag Lines Zig zag lines are placed before and after the crossing to protect the crossing. See the Zebra crossing tutorial for the rules about Zig Zag lines.
Zig zag lines are used on the following crossings:

Pelican Crossing

 Toucan-Pelican-Puffin.

It's also a good idea not to park just before or just after the crossing, as this could obscure the view of both drivers and pedestrians. The important point to remember when approaching any pedestrian crossing is to approach caution and scan either side of the crossing for pedestrians who are either walking up to or are waiting at the side of the road to use the crossing. Your speed on the approach to the crossing should be such that you can pull up safely and under full control.

Never "rev" your engine when pedestrians are on the crossing, as this could frighten them and cause the pedestrians to hurry across the road.

Toucan Crossings

The Toucan crossing is a crossing that allows pedestrians and cyclists to use the crossing at the same time.

If a cyclist wishes to use any other type of crossing, for example, Zebra, Pelican or Puffin, they should dismount from their bicycle and then use the crossing. However, on a Toucan crossing, a cyclist can ride across the crossing as pedestrians are walking to the other side of the road. "Tou-can cross" is one way of remembering what a Toucan crossing is for. Pedestrians and cyclists can use the crossing together.

As with the other crossings, the Toucan crossing incorporates zig zag lines to protect the crossing.

As with all of the traffic light controlled crossings, the lights are controlled by the push buttons on the side of the traffic light pole. However, for this type of crossing there is no flashing amber light.






Let's suppose someone presses the button and then walks away without using the crossing, the scanner would detect that no one is standing next to the crossing and therefore will keep the traffic lights on Green and this helps to keep the traffic flowing.

Another advantage of using the electronic scanner is that unlike a Pelican crossing, the Toucan crossing will keep the lights on Red if someone is still on the crossing, which gives the pedestrian plenty of time to cross the road without the worry of the lights suddenly changing. This is especially useful to the elderly, the young and the infirm. Whereas a pelican crossing has a set time for the lights to stay on Red. Once the time limit is up the traffic lights will work their way down to Green.

Steven...