Unit 4 - Avoid conflict

Driving conditions will not always be ideal.  In spite of the rules people make mistakes and take chances.  Drivers need to avoid trouble before it starts.

To avoid conflict you do these things:

1. Adjust to the driving environment.

2. Deal with situations in the driving environment.

3. Avoid stressful or difficult driving environments.

4. Make safe decisions in stressful situations.

5. Manage motivations (Controlling yourself).

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As things change around you — the road conditions, the traffic, the weather you should change with them, so that you can deal with the types of things that can go wrong in that environment.  We often call this 'driving to the conditions'.

This element looks at how you perform over a period, rather than just at one time or place.  The driving environment can change quickly; but once it has changed it will usually stay the same for a while.  For example, a narrow city street with cars parked either side is a particular type of environment.  It might change to a different one, by becoming a wide open road on the other side of an intersection, and then stay like that for a number of blocks.  You will be assessed where the environment stays the same.

4.1.1. Adjust your general speed to suit the environment.

Travel at a speed that will allow you to:

• deal with anything that might go wrong in a particular environment
• work in with other road users.  When you change your speed, it must suit the traffic, weather and road surface conditions.

If you're slowing down for an environment, you must do it before you enter it. 

If you decide to go faster, you do it as you enter the environment. 

If you are going to make these speed changes in good time, you will need to look, and think, ahead.

4.1.2. Match your path (the course the vehicle is following) to the environment.

Think about the law, your distance from things that might be dangerous, and what you can see.

• You need to position the vehicle safely for:
  • parked vehicles (Leave at least 1.5m to allow for car doors opening);
  • 'repeating hazards' (e.g.  driveways) on either side of the road; and
  • traffic coming the other way.

On a road where lanes are not marked, your path will usually take you the way most other drivers have gone; on roads with more than one lane, you should be in the left lane whenever you can.

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On the road there will be many hazards that you must deal with.  For example, if another other road user doesn't obey the law, or doesn't drive safely and reasonably, their path might cross yours.

Even if other road users don't do the right thing, You can deal with it by keeping space between your vehicle and the other road user.  This is true defensive driving.

To drive defensively you must try to predict and adjust your driving for what might happen.

When you can't see what could be ahead, for example as you approach a blind corner, try to be ready for another's mistake.  On the blind corner you would slow down and move away from the centre of the road to allow for a driver cutting the corner from the opposite direction.  This is called being 'proactive'.

When you can see other road users but you are not completely sure what they are going to do, you again try to predict what those people might do.  As you come closer you continually adjust your driving based on what you see them doing.  This case is being 'interactive'.

In both situations you are dealing with the situation with a 'just in case' approach.

Where one situation after another arises (for example, in busy streets), you will be a very busy driver.  But if you're doing it well you will not look busy—you will be responding very early to hazards, long before you have to make big wheel movements or do any hard braking.

You will always keep enough space to avoid a crash - even though you may never need the space.

4.2.1. Turn your eyes to things that could become an immediate threat.

'Immediate threats' are situations where other road users' paths may cross yours — in other words, where things could hit you, or you could hit them:

• places like blind intersections and curves;
• pedestrians and cyclists;
• vehicles blocking your view;
• vehicles manoeuvring (coming the other way and turning right, pulling out from the side of the road, waiting at give way signs);
• vehicles closing in from behind; and
• railway crossings.

4.2.2. Position your vehicle so that you can see as well as possible.

If it is safe and legal, you move your vehicle on the road so that you can see more and so that others can see you better. Example's:

• Drop back from a large vehicle (like a bus) to see more of the road ahead.
• When you are coming up to a blind intersection on your left, you move towards the Centre of the road so that you can see further 'round the corner'.

4.2.3. Match your speed to the distance you can see to be safe in front of you and to the sides.

This is particularly important at: 

• blind intersections
• blind curves
• hill crests
• vehicles parked on the side of the road.

When you come up to a blind intersection, brake until you can see it is safe to keep going.  It is safe when you can see down the side road that there are no road users who could enter the intersection at the same time as you. 

Do the same on blind curves and hill crests; you should be able to stop in the distance you can see in the clear space ahead.

4.2.4. Move your vehicle about on the road to keep you away from things that may be dangerous.

This response may be proactive or interactive. 

Examples of proactive responses would be moving to the left when coming up to a hill crest, or moving more towards the centre of the road before a row of parked vehicles.

An interactive response would be moving to get more space between you and another road user - like a pedestrian on the side of the road or a vehicle coming the other way which is hugging the centre line.

4.2.5. Do the right thing in good time when other people do something that may be unsafe.

'In good time' means you would have time to brake, accelerate or move smoothly to another part of the road to avoid a crash.

Here you need to plan ahead.  This means looking at the situation, predicting how it might change and taking action ahead of time.

• Actions you might take include:
• backing off the accelerator
• starting to brake
• smooth, steady braking
• steering away from the hazard to put space between you and it. It some situations the right thing may even be to accelerate (for example, when a vehicle is closing in quickly from behind).

4.2.6. When you make a mistake and you put yourself in an unsafe or illegal situation, correct it immediately

Competent drivers make mistakes, but they fix them before they cause trouble.

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4.3.1. Stop the vehicle until conditions improve.

You might do this in very bad weather, or in very bad road or traffic conditions, if you are finding it impossible to cope.

4.3.2. Go by a different route.

You might do this for any of several reasons:

• to avoid bad weather and road surface conditions;
• to avoid particular environments that you think are difficult or unsafe because of the traffic conditions (for example, a tricky intersection); or
• to avoid environments that you feel you can't 'handle'.

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4.4.1. When you are in a new or complicated driving situation, slow down and make cautious decisions.

'New' situations are ones that are very different to anything you have dealt with before.  (For example, driving in mud, deep pools of water or slippery gravel would be a new experience for a lot of drivers.) Slow down as much as you need to, to be able to take in what's happening and do the right things — and do it early and smoothly, to give yourself more time to deal with the situation.

4.4.2. When you are driving a vehicle that is unfamiliar to you, familiarise yourself with it.

• Practise finding and using controls and switches before you move off.· Keep speed down.· Make cautious decisions.
• Be more careful when overtaking, cornering and picking gaps in traffic.  (The unfamiliar vehicle might be more or less powerful than you think.)

4.4.3. If something inside the vehicle is distracting you, do something about it.

This can include:

• turning the radio/cassette down or off;
• asking passengers to be quiet;
• stopping a conversation;
• pulling over to deal with any problems.

4.4.4. If you are uncertain about a driving situation, make a cautious decision.

Typical things you might be uncertain about are an overtaking manoeuvre or a gap in the traffic.  Cautious decisions are ones that make the risk as small as possible: 

• Hang back instead of overtaking.
• Wait for the next gap in the traffic.

4.4.5. When other road users put you under pressure, do the right thing.

A typical example of this might be a driver behind who seems to want you to go faster.  Responding the wrong way to other road users can cause conflict.

• 'Right things to do':
• Talk to yourself to remind yourself to stay calm.
• Breathe deeply.
• Concentrate on other driving tasks.
• Avoid criticising other road users' behaviour.· Pull over to let the other driver past. 
• Go a different way.

4.4.6. When frustrating things happen in traffic, deal with them appropriately.

Things you can do:

• Go another way.
• Keep safe following distances.
• Do some deep breathing and try to relax your jaw and shoulders.
• Avoid criticising other road users' behaviour.
• Talk to yourself about what's in it for you if you behave cautiously, and what it might cost you to behave in a risky way.

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'Motivation' means the feelings and thoughts inside us that make us do things.  It is something we cannot see; we just know that people act in certain ways for certain reasons.  The reasons why we behave the way we do are part of what makes us 'good' or 'bad' drivers.  You should use the motivations that help you drive well and try to control the motivations that make you drive unsafely.

4.5.1. Drive so that it shows you value life and property.

Safe drivers value life and property.  They want to avoid being harmed and they want to avoid causing harm.

4.5.2. Stop your emotions from interfering with safe driving.

Emotions which might interfere with safe driving could include: 

• aggression 
• depression
• unhappiness (or happiness!)
• frustration
• impatience 
• anxiety from worries.

A useful technique is talking to yourself to work out the situation.  Ask yourself if you are benefiting from letting your emotions affect your driving.  Look at the adverse affect it is having on your safety.

Try deep breathing; pulling over, stopping and making a phone call; or going another way.

4.5.3. Notice yourself taking risks. 

When this happens think about the benefits and costs of both risky driving and cautious driving, and make decisions you can live with.

If you want to be safe, but are a bit short of skill, your 'safety motivation' will make up for the lack of skill.  But it doesn't work so well the other way.  You may be very skilful, but if you have a tendency to take risks you will not be a safe driver.

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