Each time you drive, you will need to safely navigate different hazards on the road. 

A hazard is anything that could cause you to change speed, position or direction.

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Some hazards are there all the time.  If you know the area, you might know about these hazards before you can see them, these hazards would be junctions, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, bends in the road etc. 

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There are other hazards which won't be there all the time.  These could be parked cars, cyclists, broken down vehicles, road works etc.  These types of hazard might not be as clear.

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It is important to deal with each of these hazards safely.  To do this we use The Hazard Routine, this is a system used to approach a hazard safely.

The Hazard Routine is Mirrors, Signal, Position, Speed, Gear and Look.

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Mirrors - you should check your mirrors in pairs, check the main or interior mirror first, then check the relevant door mirror if you are moving or turning left, check the left hand door mirror, if you are moving or turning right, check the right hand door mirror.

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Signal - you should use the correct signal, this should be used early enough to let other road users see it and react to it, your signal should not be confusing to other road users.

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Position - decide where you need to position your car early.

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Speed - change your speed gradually and in plenty of time.

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Gear - your gear will depend on the speed of your car, for example if you are travelling at 30mph and you slow your car to 15mph, you will need to change from third to second gear, if you are travelling at 30mph and you slow down to 25mph, you should be able to continue in third gear.

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Look - you should keep looking and assessing if there are any changes to the hazard.  Although this is the last part of the routine, you should be looking and assessing all the time that you are driving.