ADI Part 2 - Cross Views

Cross Views

Every time you drive your car, you subconsciously make hundreds of decisions every second. Every variation of pressure on the gas pedal, every change in posture, every glance in the mirror - all based upon decisions you make as the situation ahead of you changes.

Sometimes, we see things early enough to make those decisions in plenty of time, before we reach the hazard. Sometimes, we see things late, resulting in hurried braking, clumsy gear changing and an almost total abandonment of the ms-psl routine.

The answer is to concentrate on looking well ahead for the hazards that are there. See the danger early and you'll have more time to make those all important decisions about what to do. Actively look for the hidden hazards in the road ahead. Look at every situation and ask "what if?". As I've said before, the danger is there . . . find it before it finds you.

So, we know that early sighting of any hazard is a real advantage to us, so lets look at a very simple technique that you can practice each and every time you drive a car, ride a motorcycle, or even sit in the passenger seat on a lesson.

Cross views are an advanced observation method that I'd recommend you practice constantly. The very first time that this technique gives you early information of a hazard ahead, you'll be completely hooked.

Cross views are another of the fundamental techniques that we develop and build upon in our driving instructor training courses.

First, a couple of golden rules, to make the process a little easier. Remember these rules, put them into practice, and you'll soon have it cracked.

The first golden rule is this:

Try to look ahead as far as you can, in the direction that you want to go in

And the second golden rule is:

The direction you want to go in is very rarely a straight line

Lets start with a very simple example. The first diagram here, shows a typical situation as a driver approaches a roundabout intending to turn right.

The driver looks ahead (indicated by the blue shaded area), assesses the roundabout, and makes all those subconscious decisions about approach speed, what gear to be in, where the 'gap' may be.

Our driver see's the van approaching, looks for any other traffic on the roundabout, and makes their decisions.

In this situation, drivers tend to fixate on the road straight ahead and any vehicles that may cause them delay in entering the roundabout.

There is seldom any concern for potential hazards that may present themselves a little further along in the journey.

But there just may be far more information available, if our driver only looked a little further . . .

Out priority for observation clearly has to be those highlighted above - the immediate danger of traffic on the roundabout. But that doesn't mean that we have to stare blindly in one place. In our section on scanning I talk about methods to survey the whole scene ahead, quickly and efficiently. The basic idea is to not allow your eyes to rest on one part of the scene ahead.

By using those methods here, but not just scanning the road straight ahead of us, we can get a lot more information that could be of use.

Have a look at the diagram here. Applying our two golden rules, our driver realises on approach that the direction he wants to go in isn't a straight line. He wants to go all the way round the roundabout and exit to the right. So, the road to the right is the direction we want to go in, and our driver looks into this road as far as possible, even before getting anywhere near to the roundabout.

By scanning to the right, using the available cross view, our driver sees other hazards that may just come into play as he leaves the roundabout, before he even enters it.

Our driver now knows that there's a pedestrian crossing, just on the exit of the roundabout, and he can plan for it. Knowing it's there, he won't be accelerating hard at his chosen exit, because he can anticipate that a pedestrian may just be about to cross.

How do you think this would assist you as an instructor?

Do you think that by having seen the hazard early, you could plan how you'd instruct your learner to deal with it?

Without using this simple cross view technique, many drivers would enter the roundabout without ever having paid the slightest attention to the crossing. They would follow their lane round the roundabout, then start to accelerate away, then 'suddenly' brake harshly to stop for a pedestrian who 'steps out from nowhere'.

Danger very rarely 'just happens'. It is there to be found, so practice looking for it. Give yourself time to react.

In our example, I've used a simple pedestrian crossing as the hazard to look for. But the hazard could be anything . . . a dangerously parked van, road works, a queue of traffic at a standstill. The point is, look for it. If there is no danger there, so much the better. One day it will be, and you'll be very glad indeed that you practiced this technique.

As soon as the SE asks you to turn right or left, or as soon as you decide to turn at a junction in your everyday driving, start to think about potential cross view opportunities. Look for gaps between buildings, gaps between bushes and trees, through mesh fences and gaps in walls.

Our diagram here shows several cross view opportunities, prior to turning right at a junction. The driver has applied the golden rules, and is attempting to look ahead as far as possible, in the direction he wants to go in - across the buildings to the right, and into his intended road.

Try to get into the habit of looking for these cross views several times on the approach to any change in direction. You may find the view completely blocked, but on many occasions you'll be rewarded.

The driver may only catch a fleeting glimpse of the van approaching the junction, the parked car on the far side, or the pedestrian about to step out, but a fleeting glimpse is enough. It gives you the information that you need to make your decisions early.

It allows you to anticipate and think "what might happen?"

Cross views are particularly valuable on country roads, where the speeds of approaching vehicles are likely to be higher. Every time the road ahead of you bends in either direction, look for the gaps in fences and tree lines where you may get a lot of information about what is just ahead of you.

As I've said, your priority is clearly what is just in front of you, but a hazard in the distance will be 'just in front of you' in a few seconds time. Practice cross views using scanning to take in the whole scene. By developing your skills in using cross views, you could one day quite literally save your life.

If you slow down for a sweeping bend that has a broken down lorry just on the exit, because you caught a glimpse of it through the hedgerow, you'll be very grateful for this technique.

Try to look ahead as far as you can, in the direction that you want to go in

The direction you want to go in is very rarely a straight line

ADIT Team