Responsiveness
What does ‘Responsiveness’ assess?
Responsiveness assesses whether you are responding to what is happening around you and keeping control of your safety and that of other road users.
Safe drivers are aware of their surroundings, they drive actively and continually adjust their driving as they notice situations change. They adjust their driving so that they have enough space to stop if someone else makes a mistake or does not follow the road rules. Safe drivers act this way ‘just in case’ something goes wrong which threatens their safety and that of other road users.
You are driving with responsiveness if you notice hazards to your safety and respond in an appropriate way.
Drivers with responsiveness drive as if they are ‘connected’ to their surroundings. They adjust their driving to even small changes in the driving environment. An observant passenger can see a direct connection between what happens outside their car and what the driver is doing.
Drivers do this by looking and linking. They look for situations that need to be watched. They then link those events to similar situations they have experienced before. The driver ‘replays’ the memory of the previous event to see in advance the possibilities for the current situation.
It takes a long time to learn responsiveness because when you start driving it all seems so strange. You need extensive experience to become fully responsive. This is why it is a good idea to get lots of experience driving under supervision - that way, if you make a mistake there is someone there to help you deal with it. Later you can draw on that experience if the same situation occurs again. As you gain more experience in a wide variety of circumstances and situations you can gradually build up your own internal library of options for dealing with driving events.
When is ‘Responsiveness’ assessed?
Your assessor will mark your responsiveness to the events happening around you as you follow their directions. You will not be scored on responsiveness during the set exercises.
How is 'Responsiveness' scored?
| YES
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NO
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| You drive at a speed that suits your surroundings.
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You drive at a speed that would prevent you from dealing safely with hazards that competent drivers could be expected to encounter
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| You take a path that suits the surroundings and conditions in which you are driving.
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You take a path that goes close to hazards without needing to do so.
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| You adjust the accelerator and steering and apply the brakes as situations change and you show courtesy to other road users.
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You don't alter what you are doing even though situations are changing.
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| You look for hazards that pose immediate threats.
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You keep looking straight ahead as you come close to hazards such as:
- blind intersections (where you cannot see what is happening in the side roads)
- things that block your view to either side of the road; and
- other road users who are approaching immediately from either side.
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| You adjust to a safe speed when you are near threats to your safety.
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You drive at a speed that would prevent you avoiding a collision with somebody who might not be obeying the law or driving safely.
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Examples of ‘Responsiveness’
The following examples of responsiveness are indicative of the aspects of your driving that assessor will be checking when assessing responsiveness. You should read these examples in conjunction with Drive Safe: A Handbook for Western Australian Drivers. In the following diagrams, you are driving the red car.
You look for hazards that pose immediate threats
To respond safely to hazards you must first see them. Responsive drivers scan the whole driving scene looking for things that could threaten their own and other road users’ safety. Your assessor will check to see if you look for hazards that pose an immediate threat.
You adjust to the situation
There are countless potentially hazardous situations to which you will have to respond while you drive. The examples below will give you an idea of what the assessor will be looking for.
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Assessment items