Risk Management 7: Give Space to Danger
This is the 7th, and final, in our series of tips from Stephen Haley, author of ‘Mind Driving - New Skills for Staying Alive on the Road’.
Space and road position should be managed to control risk. Spacing-off a danger will reduce it - and this is exactly what space is for.
This technique requires that dangers are identified, and it is therefore more active than maintaining a general ‘buffer’ of space around the vehicle. When passing between two threats, for example, the chosen line should be balanced on the assessed risks, eg children on the path versus traffic on the other side of the road.
Care Motoring:
In addition, speed and space should always be kept in balance - when space is reduced, as when passing between two threats, speed should be lowered in order to reduce the risk. The balance here is ’space-position-speed’.
