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		Unit 3		Keep people and vehicles safe
			Element 3		Responds to hazards
						PC (c)	Recognises how hazards could threaten safety		Resource
						notes:	This criterion requires the driver to use the information they have identified, combined with the required knowledge of how crashes happen, to forecast how an approaching hazard could threaten their safety. Safety will be threatened wherever there is a physical chance of harm - a reasonable possibility that another road-user's path could enter the space the driver needs to avoid crashing. Where this occurs the driver is exposed to an actual risk.
							Once learned, this process will generally occur at a subconscious level. Because it is a mental process it is not an observable behaviour. Normally the process is inferred when a driver demonstrates the next criterion, Makes early adjustments in response to hazards.
							The criterion has been introduced into the standard because it is a critical component of low-risk driving. The process needs to be specified for personnel to be trained and assessed in it. Experience alone will not teach a driver this criterion. In fact, the theory of habituation tells us that driving experience can extinguish cautious behaviour - familiarity causes drivers not to recognise threats to their safety.
							The driver giving a commentary or being asked questions after they have passed a hazard can produce evidence of this criterion.

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