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Difficulty: MediumLarge Goods Vehicles (LGVs)

You intend to overtake a large goods vehicle travelling on a single-carriageway road. What is the main reason for dropping back to increase your following distance before attempting the manoeuvre?

  1. A
    To encourage the lorry driver to flash their headlights as a signal that the road ahead is clear
  2. B
    To allow you to tuck into the lorry's nearside blind spot before pulling out
  3. To gain a wider view of the road ahead and identify approaching hazardsAnswer
  4. D
    To compensate for the fact that heavy goods vehicles can brake and stop much faster than cars

Answer

To gain a wider view of the road ahead and identify approaching hazards
Large goods vehicles significantly obstruct forward vision. Dropping well back opens up your angle of view along both sides of the vehicle, allowing you to see oncoming vehicles, road bends, and potential hazards well in advance so you can safely plan the overtake.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Assess the forward visibility restriction caused by the size of the large goods vehicle ahead.
Recognise that travelling close behind a large vehicle significantly narrows your forward sightlines.
Large vehicles block the forward view of the road, obscuring bends, dips, oncoming traffic, and road signs.
2
Increase following separation by dropping back smoothly before planning the overtake.
An expanded sightline opens up around both sides of the vehicle ahead.
A greater separation distance allows you to observe approaching hazards, judge overtaking distance accurately, and pull out safely without sudden manoeuvres.

Key Concept

Maintaining adequate following distance behind large goods vehicles to maximise forward visibility before overtaking
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs)

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