| Vision |
- Visual awareness of a wide variety of situations, traffic conditions and potential risks in front of them (near and far) and beside them (constantly changing vehicle type, length, height, and width)
- Needing good 360-degree spatial awareness of their vehicle in relation to other vehicles and objects, including turning head to look for blind spots not seen in the rear-view mirrors
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| Fine motor skills |
- Use of fine movements of hands and feet, to steer, accelerate, decelerate, brake, use indicators and change gears etc. to keep vehicle safely tracking. Many more fine motor movements are required in high “flow”, high density traffic where speeds are oscillating and empty road space between vehicles are reduced and constantly changing compared to moderate and low “flow” conditions
- Maintain lane position (lateral and headway) in a continually changing mix of traffic, whilst operating at higher speed within a 3.5 m lane where, for example, a truck or bus with a legal width of 2.5 m plus mirrors has only about 250 mm separation to the lane lines. Naturalistic studies show drivers make hundreds of adjustments per minute and this increases markedly in the minutes prior to crashes indicating high workload [@199667]
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| Judgement |
- Understanding the swept paths of vehicles in close proximity especially when changing lanes, merging, or driving round a tight radius curve, particularly for larger vehicles
- Judging actions of other drivers and road users beside and behind them by use of mirrors (whose intentions or actions might change immediately after a mirror glance)
- Estimating the speed and trajectory of all nearby vehicles including ahead or approaching
- Awareness of, and following a wide range of relevant road rules
- Ability to see and comprehend relevant roadside signage (including navigation/wayfinding signs), speed limits, VMS messages and pavement markings, etc.
- Ability to block-out or negotiate other distractions such as passengers’ conversations, distractions on the roadside (e.g., broken-down vehicles, pedestrians), radio (music or talkback) or recent growth in roadside advertising
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