-
How to reduce your risk of crashing
Learn what you can do on your Ls now to reduce your risk of crashing on your Ps.
In this topic
How to develop your safe driving behaviours.
Building safe driving behaviours.
Reduce your risk: the four most common crash types.
How to choose a safe car.
How to develop your safe driving behaviours
You’re relatively safe as a learner, as you’ve got your supervising driver with you.
This makes it a great time to gain experience in a wide range of situations and environments.
You'll gradually develop your safe driving behaviors in low-risk through to more challenging situations over time.
Building safe driving behaviours
To build your safe driving behaviours, you can:
- Use the driving stages to plan your drives to match your experience.
- Go on lots of drives in many conditions, starting with simple driving activities through to more challenging situations.
- Get lots of experience to develop key safe driving behaviours, such as keeping safe following distances and choosing safe gaps.
- Gain a minimum 120 hours of driving experience of which at least 20 hours are at night.
- Improve your hazard perception skills with on-road practice in real traffic.
- Take our online hazard perception practice test.
- Talk with your supervising driver about how you’re doing.
Evaluation of the Graduated Licensing System in 2017 showed there had been 42.5% fewer drivers aged 18 to 23 years involved in fatal or serious injury crashes.
-
A rear end collision
Reduce your risk of crashing into the back of a vehicle and:
- Maintain a three-second following distance.
- Slow down.
- Look well ahead for changes in the traffic.
- Drive at a speed suitable for the traffic you're in.
-
Turning right at an intersection
Reduce your risk of crashing as you’re turning right at an intersection and:
- Slow down well before you enter an intersection.
- Choose a safe gap.
- Know the give way rules.
-
A right turning vehicle
Reduce your risk of crashing into a vehicle turning right and:
- Slow down.
- Prepare to stop for vehicles that fail to give way.
- Check for things that may stop the other driver from seeing you.
-
A single vehicle crash
Reduce your risk of a single-vehicle crash, such as running off the road and:
- Drive at a speed suitable for the conditions.
- Slow down before bends or if it’s hard to see.
- Focus on your driving.
How to choose a safe car
The most important thing when you choose a vehicle to drive in is its ability to protect you, your passengers and other road users.
Always choose the safest vehicle you have available to you, as this will help reduce your risk of a crash or injury.
If everyone drove the safest car in its class, road trauma would reduce by about a third. (TAC)