Brake lights are one of the least understood items of a car's basic equipment. The need to display them has never been more important, but the fact is that with modern braking systems, we can actually brake more rapidly.  It becomes clear that this indicates a reduction in the time that brake lights are on show in a situation where the need to be aware of the braking is greater. The solution is to show brake-lights be­ fore actually applying brakes. Simply resting your foot on the pedal displays the lights, giving other  drivers adequate warning time. This is a sensible way of generating space behind you - something which novice instructors seem either unaware of or unwilling to  teach.

Having taken control of the space behind for braking purposes, what happens when you need to  steer around the hazard instead of simply stopping? This will be almost impossible unless you have planned it from the outset. Consequentially, it is vital that you offer yourself an “escape route" for any hazardous situation. You should continually look for space, monitoring the potential for risk and then imagining where you would steer in a particular situation. Having achieved this you will find that simply knowing of an escape route and looking at safety rather than danger, you will more often be able to achieve it eas­ily.

Where will this escape route be? Well, everywhere from side-roads to peoples driveways, from pave­ments (empty of course) to the opposite carriageway (likewise). In a security situation you may need to take a more extreme escape route to avoid physical danger whereas when under surveillance you will probably be happy to avoid a hazard and then continue your work unscathed after negotiating the prob­lem more carefully. The sight of you accelerating down the wrong side of a carriageway is more than likely to draw the attention of your target, as well as the general public and any local   constabulary.

Other escape routes to consider include the hard-shoulder of a motorway, the grassy central reservation of a Dual-Carriageway, or through a hedge into a soft grass field. All may be preferable to being in­volved in a multi- vehicle collision or endangering other road users. One way of remembering to do this is every time you have to make an adjustment in speed that you weren't expecting, ask yourself why you weren't expecting it and whether you already had an idea of where to go in emergencies. If you did not, then your concentration level is lower than is  necessary for safe driving.

It needs to be pointed out that driving on surveillance or as a Pl is not so dangerous that these extreme measures are always necessary. However, the point is that all drivers should receive such information, but unfortunately are only trained to a level that was considered adequate for the 1930's - with a minor tweak here and there since. In general the standard of driving in the UK has not kept pace with the in­ crease in average speeds or the complexity of the vehicles being driven. How often do you read in your local paper "the car left the road" as if some how the driver had no part in causing the   incident?

The final part of the art of avoiding conflict is in seeing the warnings that others miss. You will be aware of warning signs that you see every day - as per the Highway Code - but probably unaware that they are erected to commemorate an event that has regularly occurred and not simply erected at great expense to prevent accidents from occurring.

The same applies to the erection of Pedestrian Crossings - often in the most ridiculous place you may think, but in reality it is because this is where people are getting killed or injured. The true warning is in the road itself, the speed lim it, the presence of shops and other hazards which all indicate the need for pedestrians to cross. Most obvious of all are skid-marks, clearly indicating the late-braking by drivers caused by a hidden or obscured hazard.

Think of skid-marks as the greatest free road mark ing of all. They occur all over the place, from hidden junctions to bad bends. Often they trace the path of the vehicle that left the road on a bend, which actu­ally indicates a potentially worn road surface. Later you will learn to expect the skid-marks as you begin to recognise the wear and tear on road surfaces, thereby making it easy to reduce speed earl y and avoid the possibility of control loss yourself.

Other warnings exist to provide the same level of information - the fact that street lights usually appear on the outside of bends means that bends can be spotted early and the direction of travel   calculated.

The presence of the same lights in the distance can also indicate junctions or the presence of a 30mph speed limit. If you wait to see the sign to know that these are approaching, then you are becoming re­ active as this information  is  clearly available much earlier with a little effort.

Driving can be a pleasurable experience, with minimal stress or other hassle, provided you know how to decipher the information that is freely available. Here are a few more  examples:-

• If you see vehicles coming towards you with lights on - expect to encounter fog, rain or an­ other  weather hazard.
• If you are travel ling on a busy road and the oncoming traffic is "bunched" into small groups, expect road-works or traffic lights for some other reason to be waiting up ahead.
• If the motorway you are travel ling on has a brown tourist information sign, you could expect a lot of activity sign at the next exit - because over a million visitors a year need to visit   that tourist attraction to warrant a motorway sign.
• If you are approaching a bend on a rural road, but the hedge directly ahead has a hole in it, you can expect a poO[ road surface or an adverse camber - either of which would prevent you from making it around the bend. (Remember, slowing and being wrong is better than not doing so and being right.)