Personally, I blame Mario Kart. You had to aim for the hazards to get the points. 😂

I’ve recently found your channel. I have been driving for 38 years since I was 17, when I was taken out on a skid pan many times to learn defensive driving skills. I became disabled due to an accident which was not my fault. I now drive an adapted car and chose to have driving lessons to help me gain confidence with hand controls. I am now taking advanced lessons and find your videos so informative. I learnt to talk through my route, what I see, risks use of mirrors etc. I have found my focus has increased so much by doing this and led me to not get annoyed at other people’s mistakes but to focus on how I can adjust my driving to ensure their and my safety. After all I drive a normal car which I own with thousands of pounds of equipment which no one else is aware of...unless of course they rear end me. Happened once and my claim was so vast due to the lift, wheelchair etc. and use of adapted curstesy car and police attendance. Warning to anyone do not tailgate a car.

Well presented, but worth emphasising that avoiding “locking on” makes best use of the human eye and it’s limitations. Our angular view of maximum detail is quite narrow, so ‘scanning around’ always gives us the maximum detail of what’s around. Often taught as such in aviation, and so it should be on the road.

Ashley, I totally agree with you about the hazard perception. I’ve been an instructor for 36 years and I got fed up with pupils that were good with hazard perception in the real world failing the Hazard perception test. I asked my daughter who had not taken her hazard perception test to do one of the clips and she got zero points. I asked her to explain what she saw in the clip and why she clicked. she explained she saw the situation building up and predicted or anticipated what would happen so she wouldn’t need to brake in the real world. I then complained through their app to the DVLA and they sent me a letter back and the response was unbelievable so I never bothered to carry on my complaint because I knew I was wasting my time. Their response was more people fail the theory test that the hazard perception so why are you worried. I have a lad who took his theory test in the first week of lessons and we were talking a few lessons in about anticipation and he said that the theory test had influenced him into just looking for the point to hit the brakes.

It's interesting on the hazard perception test that they say you will not be able to pass the cyclist safely if there is oncoming traffic, then five seconds later they pass the cyclist, which they must deem is safe to do, when there is oncoming traffic.

When I was training up to be an ADI, one of my instructor trainers said she saw Hazard Perception more as a computer game where you have to click at the right time.

I was wondering what you were going to point the finger at.... remember my missus doing her auto to manual test. I helped her with the haz perception CD-ROM ( ooh such a while ago!!) As a biker and car driver of 30 yrs experience ( then) I was pretty scathing of it, filmed though a wet windscreen on a wet day in the back streets of Swansea, you had to click when you identified a hazard. But you couldn’t just randomly click or it thought you were guessing. I recall one bit. I failed because I was clicking on Wet roads shops people emerging/ crossing. Parked cars , doors opening, stay 3 foot out , kids and a dog on the pavement , roundabout, give waylines on wet roads diesel spill and oil more slippery just where you’re wanting to stop. All in in five seconds. Then round the roundabout comes a fucking artic. Apparently that’s the hazard I’m spoked to identify and react to. FFS! The whole thing was a joke, riding a bike gives you a very good perspective of what to look for. Largely everything!

My instructor was good as she would in the odd lesson deliberately say to go somewhere that I should notice I can’t. If I didn’t notice she would then tell me to pull over where safe and go through in detail what I missed. She even tested me on a no entry like this one and luckily I noticed it and told her I would have to carry on as it was no entry.

Hi Ashley, just passed my test 1st time today with 2 minors. Wanted to say that your videos really helped me prepare for the test and know what to expect. Thanks for making them

I love all your videos Ashley but this one in particular stands out to me. I was out practising today with my partner as the supervising driver. Throughout the whole drive I was apprehensive about one particular junction. About 800m away from the junction I started fixating on it and couldn't think about anything else and nearly sailed through an immediate upcoming red light as a result. thankfully my partner shouted just in time to stop me from running the red light, but it was a lesson well-learned. I should have focused on the immediate hazard (i.e: the red light) and only dealt with the junction when it was the appropriate time to do so. Slightly different from the hazard perception in this clip but the same logic applies. Thanks Ashley.

Totally agree with the point about hazard perception. However, I don't think it's the test that is the problem, but rather the way that the DVSA explains it. The instructions tell you that you should click when you see a potential hazard. The problem is, *anything* could be a potential hazard, so you can end up clicking so often that the software thinks you're cheating. What you are supposed to do is click only when you see a developing hazard. So, for example, I would not have clicked at all for the pedestrian, because he is on the pavement and his body language shows no signs that he is going to turn in to a developing hazard. If he started moving toward the road, then I would have clicked. It is obvious that the cyclist is a developing hazard, because he is approaching your path, and is not slowing down. That's when you click to show that you can see him approaching. A previous instructor of mine told me that every click on the hazard perception test should correspond to a mirror check. I think this is wrong. Every click is the point where you would start to let off the accelerator in order to start slowing down. Mirror checks should happen constantly, regardless of hazard.

When I was on my HGV test (Class 2, 18 ton) the examiner told me to take the second exit at a roundabout but that road had a 7.5t weight limit so I took the 3rd exit, he then said he wanted to see what I'd do, I was really annoyed, it felt like he was trying to trick me into failing, luckily I was concentrating like a mofo that day and I passed!

As I watch this video I'm reminded of Hyacinth Bucket (It's Bouquet!) in the car with Richard, reminding him to "Watch out for the , Richard!", where is usually some object that poses no threat, like a horse in a field, or a lorry on the other side of the road!

Great advice given there Ash. Many many years ago when I was a HGV learner my brilliant instructor always used the term ( Read the road ) never focus on one thing. I never forgot his advice and I can say it has saved my bacon many times over the years.

11:20 wow this is exactly how I failed my practical driving tests in a different country when I was young. I was immediately tunnel vision focused as soon as I heard that command from the examiner!

Really interesting, got my test tomorrow.. glad I watched this.

I think this is my favourite video yet :) Great video Ashley!

As always, brilliantly explained. The DVSA theory test problem is spot on.

Great video as always, I've recently passed my part 3 and still feel like I learn so much watching your videos. I take a lot from them and feel like a better instructor myself just from watching!

Totally agree with you. When I taught my daughter to drive last year I would constantly be on at her to assess the situation (e.g. check oncoming drivers have seen you - have they looked at you) and react accordingly. One year on she is a good safe driver, still learning, still doing all the good safe practices (shoulder checks, mirrors, blind spots, etc.) which, unfortunately most people start to forget and regress once they have passed their test. In the hazard perception test (which I never had to do) I would have not overtaken the bicycle once it had popped out of the junction, with the oncoming cars the risk of passing someone who has little regard for others the risk is high. I have also used assessment to judge when to use acceleration - to get in front of the accident and not be involved in it. I was always taught to look as far ahead as possible and by good mirror use maintain good spatial awareness around me, and up until now it has worked rather well - never stop learning! Well done, good video, thanks.

Great video Ashley! I'm so grateful for all the tips and tricks 👍❤️

Hi Ashley, thank you so much for this vid, it has reinforced my view that the "hazard perception" test is poorly thought out and a waste of time in most cases .I am doing my ADI training and have part one in Jan 2021..(such is the waiting list issues) and are having difficulty getting the test over the required pass % rate. There are some quite outrageous practise clips that give you 5/5 when you should not be looking at that point yet, so you end up clicking too often at the wrong thing which defeats the object. I know there's very little to be done about it, unless enough Instructors get together and approach the D.V.S.A directly. Anyway thanks for all you vids they are most helpful and love you style of delivery to make things easier to understand. I have been driving for 46yrs and about to try for my Instructor's badge. Keep them coming as they are enormously valuable for learner and advanced alike and I will keep watching them even if I pass. By the way, what does D.V.S.A stand for???????? thanks again Bill in Southampton.

Another really interesting video. One of the things I am struggling to get over on the bike is when there are a combination of hazards in one place. If there's a car waiting to turn right as I'm going through a set of lights I'll be watching their tires to make sure they don't start moving towards me (as i've found that you can't count on the fact that people are looking at you as they tend to look right through bikers), but by doing that, I've missed the car up ahead who has just pulled out into my path, causing me to brake hard. It's really difficult, especially as a biker, to focus further ahead despite a potential hazard being directly in front. It's something that I keep trying to work on.

When my parents were living down south before I was born, there was one time that my dad was driving along a 30 limit road, and saw a child looking to cross the road from his right. By keeping an eye on the child on his right, he didn't notice the child's sister run out onto the road in front of him from his left, causing him to emergency brake. Also, I have done some "hazard perception practice" through an app, and there was one where I noticed the hazard (pedestrians crossing the road, with their view blocked by a lorry) earlier than the app said it was a developing hazard. I saw them before they went out of view behind the lorry, and noticed they weren't looking at the road. It threw me off a bit and made me realise that the hazard perception test is a bit redundant as in real life it's not just about how early you see a hazard, but how you react to it.

Thanks good advice Ashley !! Great Channel

Great video, as usual. Thank you!

I first had an AA hazard perception book (circa 2014, previous generation of CGI but with the same system) with a DVD which (arguably correctly for safety on the road) advised to click every time your eyes see something that you've noted as a risk. Duly I went into the theory test, aced the questions, and got accused of clicking too often and disqualified from the hazard perception. I then went back, found some more material which told me only to click at the moment the risk became a danger. It's not a hazard perception test. It's a very (VERY) basic test of whether you have the reactions to brake hard when something actually happens in front of you. Which is directly contrary to the Eco Safe driving I was subsequently introduced to by my instructor right before the test, and later my two Applied Driving Techniques van driver instructors. It almost appears that the revision for the DSA test is false learning which the instructor must then teach the learner to put out of their mind. Side note, that CGI clip, the overtake on the cyclist was shocking. That's exactly how drivers in central Cardiff would do it and expect me to do it in 20 zones, where I am content to follow the cyclist at a steady 15-20mph until the speed limit rises. These type of things are just adding to road rage and danger for VRU's. The driver in the CGI clip would possibly have forced the cyclist into an intevitably sunken drain resulting in a potential KSI.

i am in my late 50s and i took to playing x box first i was all over the place walking in to walls and getting shot a lot of the time all because of having to look down at the controller all the time to press the buttons now i completely enjoy the games i am now looking at the screen seeing more of the game. driving is like this you practise till your feet and left arm have there own brains leaving the one in your head to look around some times your feet and arms do there thing without you knowing and the way to do this is to chill and relax

You are the best,so helpful, thanks

Fantastic video and advice!

Agree totally about the hazard perception test, I've been put off adding new categories to my license, I simply refuse to learn to play a computer game that has little if anything to do with actually driving.

oh,i passed the hazard perception test before starting driving,i just did 2 houers :))) looking forward for next week,i will take your advice,thanks

I see a lot of people failing this, at the eastern end of Europe. The type, where you want to anticipate the other one, as you can see by their inaction that they have no plans on what to do next, but as soon as you start acting, they complicate things as they are in distress. This is getting more and more important with the amount of vehicles on the road rising, yet I reckon, it is generally accepted that we ride the fears we instinctively have, and not train to overcome them based on all of our sensors and mind. Better yet, have all the fancy electronics sort it all out, a machine does not make mistakes. Thank you, Ashley, for pointing this out and reminding me/us, that the driver has to be able to measure the risks at any given moment. Even I'll be working on this aspect myself, to get ready to realize risks earlier, solve them precise or even cooperate to not cause more.

Yesterday I spend some time going through all those hpt videos and the one with the lorry on the dual carriageway turning (cgi one), I hit a milli second before I was supposed to so didn't get marked at all for it lmao. I just saw the lorry starting to turn into the middle and immediately worked out what the hazard there is, the lorry possibly pulling out meaning you need to go into the second lane. It's hilarious as when the same scenario non cgi one comes up, I'm a tiny bit later than with the CGI one and I am apparantly too slow because I should of seen the lorry before it starts turning lmao.

11:13 In my experience it is more likely the examiner would say "At the end of the road turn left and then take the next AVAILABLE road on the right". Most pupils would not hear and take notice of the vital word as it would not be stressed. There is a reason for saying different precautionary words of command, and how to give them, e.g. it would be inappropriate to say "turn left at the end of the road".

Thank you so much you made my day.you are the absolute best😉❤👍

Moving past a long lorry on a dual carriage way. Accelerate past after you’ve hung back a bit to let the vehicle in front move enough for you to drive past the hazard. I never fancy driving alongside those big old wheels for any length of time. Even more so if it’s wet or windy.

Love your lessons.very good teacher!

Thank you so much.

I'm so glad you said about the 30 limit and doing a little bit less because of risk (double parked cars, humps, houses etc). Just because you can, doesn't mean you should is good advice - drive to the conditions.

Dutch hazard perception test is different. Student driver is shown a static image (might be an animation, in case a blinking/strobing light must be shown), for which within 8 seconds he must choose one of three options: let go of gas, brake, or do nothing. At the theory exam stage, 13 out of 25 hazard perception scenarios must be answered correctly. You'd be damned if you haven't seen the famous "ball on the driveway" picture at least 50 different times while practicing theory. During driving lessons, hazard perception is further discussed and practiced with an instructor. Here, pupils learn that scan flows and hazards go hand in hand. A car is changing lanes on a motorway to position in front of you? Release gas, then check your mirrors and confirm you have appropriate speed and space, once you have it, get back on the gas or resume cruise. And so every lesson, until the instructor no longer feels the need to be even close to dual controls and crosses arms to show confidence in pupil. Just recognizing the hazard is insufficient, nor is reacting to it appropriately. Even after emergency stop, you must immediately check your mirrors to know whether you have space to go anywhere, and then reassess whether there is any danger or you can go.

Very helpful video

At the end there you were assessing a situation and decided to use power to clear a risk....this is a good reason to have a car with some performance as a small car like the hidiously unsafe looking Smart car (Doesn't bear thinking about this in a motorway collision, there's no crumple zone at all) probably couldn't accelerate enough to get out of trouble in the same way.

Great jobb keep helping 👌👌👍

Thanks a lot I am watching your videos they are really helpful. I am trying to become a driving instructor. I want to become a good and safe driving instructor.

This video sums me up

Ashley, would you agree this video highlights the fact that, just like the newly qualified driver basically knows how to make the car go forward, what you're trying to teach is what hopefully comes with experience. The experienced driver will not focus on changing gear or depressing the clutch, this frees them to focus on the road more. Once again though, although my experience is 40 years plus, I enjoy your instructive videos and makes me think about my driving.

I passed my driving test in 2005. Hazard perception was part of my theory test then.. In 2016 I passed my Category C driving test. Hazard perception was a part of the test then, however it wasn't from a lorry drivers point of view. It was the same as that of a car.

Glad we haven't got that Hazard test thing here. Would have been too slow on the pedestrian because I was looking way down the road at that apparent sweetspot moment.

Tbh the hazard perception has no place and only makes drivers more of a danger, having sat it my self I saw hazards before the click window even started, should be done in person as part of the final exam or as a separate entity where you sit with an examiner and you point out the hazards to them on a television

That’s a terrible clip from the hazard perception test, the driver of the car didn’t even follow the Highway Code, rule 163 give vulnerable road users as much room as a car, it’s very example is a cyclist, the video shows that the car overtook the cyclist when other cars was passing on the right. Great video as always Ashley.

I see lock on way too often..... I even see it in my oldest niece on the road..... Where it's most noticable is on the freeway near on ramps..... She typically is asking me as soon as she sees the car in the vicinity of the on ramp what she needs to do..... Having been driving for almost 20 years I can usually assess from the passenger side of the vehicle what needs to be done.... I automatically look where the car is in relation to my nieces vehicle and then look for escape routes, if we can move over I'll let her know she needs to move over but sometimes the only thing we can do is speed up and get ahead of the merging vehicle and allow them to tuck in behind us, or get off the gas and tuck in behind them....... I rarely get the chance to teach others how to drive, but typically my way of looking at hazards on the road is identify hazard, assess risk, look for escape routes if necessary and then react as necessary....... Sometimes finding the escape route ties right into assessing the risk in the situation.... And ofcourse one should always identify hazards well in advance to allow time to react to the hazard if necessary

i would say the examiner who told your pupil was out of order for giving a misleading direction if he had said take the next available road on the right then your pupil then could have assessed the situation better this was a direction which was just to catch him or her out and done deliberately

It’s ridiculous the amount of drivers who: 1.drive straight on to roundabouts without even a glance and haven’t even thought of giving way. 2. Change lanes on motorways/dual carriage ways in to 70/80mph + traffic without even looking or indicating. What are they even thinking??

If you click too early on the hazard perception test you fail it... The earlier you see a hazard in real life, the safer, yet to pass a test you're expected to see a hazard at the precise moment a computer wants you to see it, no later, no sooner... So passing hazard perception basically proves nothing. If anything, failing it suggests you would make a safer driver (if you click too early like me and others). I'm not a very good driver but I'm hyper-aware of all the faults I do make at least, luckily only minor ones.

I rear ended someone because I was anticipating a gap in roundabout traffic that would be clear when I got there but not for the driver in front who had to stop. Thankfully it was at jogging pace and I didn't even damage the bumper so no insurance information needed to be exchanged. Another thing. I've been overtaken when about to turn right off an A road so check for morons in the driver side mirror.

9:59 Isn't that an illegal overtake now?

10:40 I'm going to be honest and admit I missed this on the first viewing. Very good example of how you can be blinded when you're focusing too hard on one aspect of driving.

The problem is that people are not good at observing. If you see a hazard which could develop you need to scan around for other problems then back to the original hazard then scan around again. If you spot a second hazard to monitor then its hazard one, hazard two then scan etc. A very poor observational technique when emerging would be look to the right until no cars are coming, then look left and then when no cars are coming look to the right.

Risk managment (check test) a must to cover fully

I think you're spot on. It is sometimes as if the driver is awaiting an instruction what to do by someone else. Although....cheeky at the end proceeding on amber in pedestrian crossing. Meaning green man has started to flash on pedestrian instruction. Should not proceed in car until green.

Ashley Neal how's that the pupil's fault it's the examiners for confusing the pupil by telling them to turn right when clearly that road was a no entry whereas this could have been avoided if the examiner never confused the pupil in the first place don't you think?

Are all the hazard perception tests from Bedford?

Fortunately I dont lock on as severely as my friends to. I'll keep tabs of the hazards. But also stay aware of what's going on. This is probably because over spent so many hours on the roads on a bike that hazards are easily ignored 😂😂😂😂

They should scrap the hazard perception as it is. Hazard perception is assessed on the practical test anyway.

The one thing I remember on my hazard perception test was how frustrating I found it that when turning, especially out of junctions, as the camera remained fixed and you didn't get enough information. It was almost like turning without looking every time, and I found that most uncomfortable. Has it evolved or is this still the case? It definitely ignored a significant area of risk as the speed of approaching traffic can be so varied, with some to many drivers zooming directly into the reckless category. Wonder how you'd change hazard perception to better reflect the experience of driving a vehicle, perhaps it would have to be more of a simulator than a video?

Ash you say slow down on approach to a green traffic light...anticipate the light changing which I totally understand but Would you gently press brake on a green or simply come of the gas pedal?

My first test was an absolute farce, i failed before i even got out of the test centre carpark because i didnt look left at a building on a grass verge before turning right, my instructor wanted to punch the examiner for being so pathetic.

Right at the end when you stopped talking because of the increased risk....your rear facing dash cam was showing a Vauxhall car, after the lights, trying to overtake you on a road which didn't look like 2 cars wide...risk climbing....

You're like an English Ramsey Dewey but instead of being a martial arts guru, you an ADI.

I recently did my theory test and I got so annoyed at the perspective driver, for example an 18 wheeler is turning round on a dual carriage way, the perspective car breaks 2m from the 18 wheeler, its so annoying

The rabbit thinks it is surrounded by big black walls and don´t run away.

you have a really nice beard mate

Quick question: Are you allowed to drive if you have frequent panic attacks? I have 3-5 may more everyday, so I'm worried i wouldn't be able to drive, i'm also dyslexic so I don't know if this effects it or not? Thank you :)

The car during the hazard perception test clip passed way too close to the bike also, why would they use that as an example to new drivers. They had a clear road after the 4 on coming cars passed and could of passed the bike then, nice and wide. Instead it passed as soon as they passed the island, maybe even crossing the hatched area, what does that teach new potential drivers.

9:00 The test is computer-animated, isn't it? I really thought it was a video recording, wow!

I clicked that cyclist as soon as i saw his sleeve and it give me a 5, punished for being too sharp

@6:00 "what's risk like, right now? It's quite low" - as a car jutts out of the side street at a pretty quick speed while an oncoming vehicle had blocked vision to it.....I would say risk was quite high on that regard. Had that driver gotten scared, he may have nudged the wheel into your lane, or perhaps the car just said "fuck it" and smashed into the oncoming vehicle, pushing it right into yours. Surprising you didn't say a word about it, did you see it? lol

You intimidate me Ashley

are you allowed to eat cookies while driving? I get a bit peckish sometimes

Unbelievable ! 11:25+ It's the examiner who should be failed, that blue van was 200 yrds down the road, the learner had plenty of time to go through the 'Hazard' This is an example of the system making money and failing drivers for profit.

Your head is alway smoving, I see people in cars around me, their heads are not moving.

Shouldn’t the cyclist have given way at the junction and not swung straight onto the road especially with a traffic island within feet of the junction!

Ashley, I think your videos are superb but I must take issue with what you say here. You are dead right that in an unconstrained system such as unrestricted speed, say on a track, that increased risk will lead to reduced speed. But in a restricted system where our speed is already limited then an increase in risk probably won’t lead to a reduction in speed but and increase in awareness. It might just be that we cover the break without slowing down (this is on a slight downhill where ‘off gas’ doesn’t slow us). By giving the impression that we must adjust speed whenever risk varies you are encouraging unpredictable driving behaviour.