East Kent Group
of Advanced Motorists

The System of Car Control

The system of car control, or planned system of driving, provides a systematic way of dealing with an unpredictable environment, drawing together all other driving skills in a co-ordinated response to road and traffic conditions.
It gives you the time to select the best position, speed and gear to negotiate the hazards safely and efficiently.

There are 3 main types of hazard:

• Static: Physical features such as junctions, roundabouts, bends or hill crests
• Moving: Those arising from the position or movement of other road users
• Environment: Those created by variations in the road surface, weather conditions and visibility

INFORMATION
This is the key phase to the system, and overlaps every other phase. To become an advanced driver, a driver must take, use and give information correctly. Information accounts for about 85% of advanced driving: without it, the system simply will not work.

Taking Information: looking around and behind the vehicle, scanning to the front and sides, using mirrors frequently and checking blind spots, acquiring information in advance to give early warnings of hazards in the far distance - this is especially important on motorways - not just looking at a fixed spot or the car in front all the time!
Using information: grading hazards in terms of risk, anticipation, taking into account what can and can't be seen, plans of action, contingencies, re-running the system if new hazards arise.
Giving Information: alerting other road users to your presence, your intentions, or other hazards using the horn, lights, indicators and/or hand signals. Commentary.

POSITION
Position yourself to pass hazards with maximum safety and smoothly, taking into account other road users and pedestrians.

SPEED
Use of accelerator and brake, (and gears when necessary to avoid skidding), to make your speed appropriate to any hazards. Use of acceleration sense.

GEAR
Use of the correct gear for a particular speed, taking into account any flexibility required for acceleration, deceleration, or speed checking on hills.

ACCELERATION
Choose an appropriate point to accelerate safely and smoothly away from the hazard.