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Question

Difficulty: HardChildren

You are driving along a 30 mph road adjacent to an open sports ground where large vans are parked closely along the kerb. Ahead, you see several young children on the pavement gathering between two stationary vans, distracted and looking across the road. What action should you take as you approach?

  1. A
    Maintain your speed and focus your attention entirely across the road to determine what has caught the children's interest.
  2. Reduce your speed, prepare to stop, and scan beneath and between the parked vehicles for sudden movement into the carriageway.Answer
  3. C
    Continue at the speed limit, relying on the line of parked vans to act as a barrier that prevents children from entering the carriageway.
  4. D
    Accelerate past the parked vans promptly without checking the blind spots created between the stationary vehicles.

Answer

Reduce your speed, prepare to stop, and scan beneath and between the parked vehicles for sudden movement into the carriageway.
When driving near areas where children congregate, especially with sightlines blocked by parked vehicles, you must anticipate that children may act unpredictably and step into the road. Reducing speed, covering the brake, and actively scanning through gaps and beneath vehicles ensures you can stop safely if a child runs out.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary and secondary hazards
Recognise that excited or distracted children near the kerb represent a high-risk moving hazard, exacerbated by obscured sightlines from parked vans.
Children often lack mature hazard perception and may impulsively dart into the road without checking for oncoming traffic.
2
Adjust vehicle speed and readiness
Significantly reduce speed and cover the brake pedal to minimise reaction and stopping distances.
Driving slowly allows the vehicle to be stopped safely and smoothly within the visible clear distance ahead.
3
Conduct targeted visual scanning
Look for feet, shadows, or movement beneath and between the parked vehicles while remaining aware of the entire road environment.
Scanning low and through gaps between vehicles provides the earliest possible warning of children stepping off the pavement.

Key Concept

Anticipating unpredictable behaviour from children near parked vehicles and obscured sightlines
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Children

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