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Accident an undesirable or unfortunate event occurring by chance. In common usage it implies that the event could not have been easily predicted or avoided. Ambulance Officers includes student ambulance officers, community ambulance officers, paramedics and MICA paramedics. (Outside Victoria ambulance officers include volunteer ambulance officers and operational ambulance officers.) Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) a vehicle braking system designed to compensate for bad driving. It senses when the brakes are about to lock and releases them momentarily. The lock and release sequence happens several times per second and provides the driver with some steering control. Assessment the purposeful process of collecting evidence, interpreting the evidence and making judgements on a candidate's progress towards meeting a standard. Behaviour adaptation the process in which behaviour changes and adjusts to new circumstances and conditions. For example, a driver accepts shorter following distances as a result of buying a car that has anti-lock brakes. Blind spot the area around the car that can't be seen or seen easily (it's blind) because parts of the car get in the way. Block out a physical obstruction outside the car preventing the driver from seeing some part of the driving environment. Calibrated a driver is well calibrated when his or her perceived driving ability is the same as his or her actual driving ability. Often drivers are not well calibrated - they perceive themselves to be better drivers than they actually are. This can contribute to optimism bias. Competence the quality of being competent. A person is competent when there is proof of them working, over a period of time, to the required standard. Competency standard a document that specifies in a structured format how people should perform a job or part of a work role. It should include both technical and human elements. Content validity (in assessment) a clear match can be seen between the content of the assessment and the content of the competency standard. Construct the meaning that is formed when pieces of information are 'constructed' to form a concept. In driver assessment, examples of concepts are safe driving and hazard perception. Construct validity when analysed by technical experts, the assessment demonstrates that it is assessing the construct it claims to assess. Constructs need to be clearly defined before judgements can be made about an assessment's validity. Crash an event in which a vehicle hits something and causes harm. Crash avoidance space the space in front of the vehicle (when driving forwards) that the driver can safely move into to avoid a crash. It also includes the space the vehicle occupies at any given time. Defensive driving a term commonly applied to a style of driving where the driver responds cautiously, possibly by following a set procedure, to hazards. Dimensions of competence the concept of competence encompasses several dimensions. The driver: is skilful, can transfer learning, can deal with problems and does it in the real world. Driver inputs a driver uses one or more controls that affect the movement or path of the vehicle, for example, braking, steering or accelerating. Driving standards program a coordinated range of activities that aims to help people get to the driving standard, remain at the standard and return to the standard when they have deviated. The program helps the organisation progress towards its vision. Duty of care responsible and accountable for someone's well-being. The level of care is commensurate with the responsible person's qualifications and skill. Externalising a style of thinking in which the driver believes factors outside his or her control caused an undesirable driving incident. The driver with this thinking style tends to nominate factors such as bad luck, driving conditions or other road users as causing the event. The driver is less likely to consider factors such as his or her own poor observation or poor anticipation. Face validity (of assessment) to those affected by the assessment, a sense that what they believe should be assessed at a particular stage is being assessed. Formative assessment assessment that occurs during training. It helps people form their learning by providing objective and timely feedback on their performance compared to the standard. Habit an action that is learned and repeated without conscious thought. Thoughts and feelings can also become habits. Habituation becoming accustomed to a situation through frequent or continuous exposure. Events in that situation are then noticed less, creating an expectation that events will unfold consistent with previous experience. A driver will become habituated to his or her surroundings. Hazard a situation in the driving environment that could, in the near future, affect a road user's safety. Something that warrants caution. Hazard perception the mental process of recognising a hazard. In the model of low-risk driving presented in this standard, the process precedes risk perception (See risk perception). Head-check moving the head and eyes to compensate for a blind spot. This most often involves looking over the shoulder or conducting a wide scan of the side mirrors to check the blind spots to the side. Holistic assessment assessment of whole performance. The assessment covers multiple units or elements of competence and all the dimensions of competence. Internalising a style of thinking in which the driver considers how weakness in his or her own performance may have contributed, in part or totally, to an undesirable driving incident. The driver with this thinking style tends to nominate factors such as poor observation or poor anticipation on their part as causing the event. This driver is less likely to nominate factors such as bad luck or poor driving conditions. Low-risk driving a style of driving that aims to make the chances of being involved in an avoidable crash as small as reasonably possible. In low-risk driving the driver perceives situations in which other road users might move into the space he or she needs to avoid crashing. When this happens they protect this space. Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) A set of principles and practices aimed at providing and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment for employees and anyone entering upon workplace premises or environment with connection to an organisation's business operations. Successful policies and practices create working environments that minimise incidents of risk or personal injury, ill health or damage to property. Optimism bias the tendency to view negative events, such as a motor vehicle crash, as unlikely to happen to oneself and positive events as more likely to happen. Reasonable risk a risk that a person highly motivated to avoid harm and skilled in the techniques of low-risk driving will accept on the basis of statistics, physical evidence, and their experience. In their view, a crash would involve another road-user purposefully doing something stupid or suicidal. Also known as a calculated risk or a justifiable risk. Reliability (of assessment) regardless of where or when a candidate is assessed or by whom they are assessed (within reason), the result will always be similar. The assessment gives a true picture of the candidate's performance. Risk a physical chance of harm. There is a physical possibility of something entering the space that the driver needs to avoid crashing. If the driver does not have this space, and full control over it, he or she is taking a risk. Risk perception a complex human process that results in the driver recognising the presence of a risk (as they construct it). Most risk perception happens at a subconscious level and is influenced by the driver's experience, thoughts and feelings. Low-risk drivers perceive a risk when they recognise their crash avoidance space could be threatened. Risk-taking choosing to take a risk for some benefit. Risk threshold the degree of risk an individual is prepared to tolerate at a given time. Risk/utility trade-off any trade-off that results from having weighed up the costs and benefits of taking a risk. This is different from unknowingly taking a risk. Roadcraft a form of defensive driving credited to the British police. A term used to describe the craft of defensive driving. Skid occurs when one ore more tyres slip to a point where the driver no longer has complete and immediate control over the vehicle's speed or direction. Stable platform attending crew have a stable platform on which to treat patients. The outcome of very smooth driving. Summative assessment an assessment at the end of training. It aims to summarise what the trainee has learned during training. The assessment does not necessarily provide evidence of what the trainee can and will do in the workplace. System of car control a method of driving first designed and taught by British police in 1934. The system requires a driver to consider a range of actions in sequence at the approach to every hazard. The system was revised in 1995. It is now divided into five 'phases': information phase followed by position, speed, gear and acceleration. Traction control a general term for the many electronic vehicle systems designed to control excessive wheel slip caused by harsh steering or throttle input for the particular driving conditions. Tyre grip the grip a tyre has on the road. Tyre grip is not perfect; there must be some slip to allow the tyre to rotate. Tyre slip the differences in speed and direction between the tyre's contact patch and the wheel. Tyre slip can be normal (or inherent) or excessive. Excessive tyre slip is called a skid. Unreasonable risk a risk that a person highly motivated to avoid harm and skilled in the techniques of low-risk driving would reject on the basis that there is a reasonable physical chance of harm and they do not have control over the outcome. Also known as an unjustified risk. World view the way a person 'sees' the world. Their view is constructed from the meaning they have derived from their experiences.

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