One of my friends who is also a driving instructor was telling me once about one of his pupils who was finding it difficult to learn about anticipation and planning skills.

Like many drivers he was able to deal well with situations that he was used to but was inclined to make errors when faced with something unexpected or had to react to something he hadn't encountered previously. No driving instructor can show you how to deal with every possible situation that you might encounter during your driving life; no matter how many lessons you take and how much practice you have you'll come across something new every time you drive. Your instructor will be introducing you to a wide variety of commonly encountered driving scenarios, taking you to locations which will introduce you to a varying hazards and helping you to cope safely with them. But if you visit the same locations the following day you may well find that although the road layout may be the same (but even that can change due to roadworks etc.) the situation that you will find there may be very different to what you encountered the day before.

My friends' pupil was finding it difficult to understand that a good driver with a good understanding of the principles of driving should be able to deal with unexpected situations safely and confidently. Consequently the pupil often found himself unable to deal with a situation which differed in any way to what he had encountered before - my friend said to him "John, I can't tell you what to do if a Martian Spaceship lands on the road in front of you", (didn't you just know we'd get to the Martians eventually)?

When my friend was telling me the story I said "I know exactly how to deal with a Spaceship" and he asked me how. My reply was simple "Mirrors, Signal, Manoeuvre" - we both began laughing because he knew exactly what I meant. The good driver who is applying the MSM routine effectively will be using it to deal with all the potential problems and hazards that he can see as well as anticipating problems that he can't see but might expect to be encountered. By doing so you will always be able to deal safely with an unexpected situation, in the case of the Martian spaceship you'll be checking your mirrors to see what's happening behind and to the sides, there will probably be no need for a signal, consider your position on the road and then start slowing down - if you need to brake hard it should be safe for you to do so because you'll have been checking the clearance to your rear throughout your drive and if following vehicles were too close your speed will already have been adjusted. In this case you might have to stop to avoid colliding with the Spaceship but it might be enough to slow down, buy yourself some time while you assess and decide what to do and it might be possible to steer safely around and past the spaceship.

You might not know anyone who has come across a Martian Spaceship - if so it's because they aren't looking while they drive because I have to deal with every time I venture onto the road. There's something very important to know about Martians - they're very smart and when I come across them they're disguised as all sorts of everyday things like broken down cars stopped just over the brow of a hill, cars parked just around corners where approaching drivers have poor views, children running unexpectedly into the road and drivers behaving inconsiderately to other road users.

But those Martians aren't as smart as me! because by looking well ahead, expecting the unexpected, and using the MSM routine to deal with what I can see and what I can't see they don't catch me (or my pupils out).

And now you know what to do next time a Martian Spaceship lands on the road in front of you!