Applying the MSM routine to Meeting situations

Meeting situations are hazards - can you remember how a hazard is defined?

By now you should be familiar with the need to apply the MSM routine to deal with any hazard safely. We'll look at how to use the MSM routine at meeting situations in the following examples where the road narrowing has been caused by parked cars - but remember meeting situations could be caused by a wide variety of things, such as the road narrowing where an overhead bridge crosses it or a builders skip left at the roadside.

When you approach a meeting situation you need to assess the speed, position and size of any oncoming traffic in relation to the space available, look well ahead and be prepared to act early. Remember that oncoming vehicles will also be trying to work out how to deal with the situation so watch any other vehicles carefully and be ready to drive on if it's safe and another driver gives way to you.

Once you are aware of the situation to your front - apply the MSM routine

Mirrors - As usual you need to know what is going on behind and to the sides - it may affect your decisions.

Signal - Consider a signal - providing you are acting early it may well not be needed.
Position - Take up a safe line to pass the obstruction and give you the best views of what is happening ahead.

Position - Position so you can get a clear view ahead and if it's safe you can then position to pass safely through the gap.

Speed - If there is less than an open car doors width of clearance you will have to slow down to a safe speed.

Look & Assess - Continue looking and anticipating whilst you are waiting and when you move through the gap.

Let's have a look at our first example.

A hazard is anything that might cause us to make a manoeuvre (change speed or direction).

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Here the driver of the green car is approaching - he is still some distance from the meeting situation and is travelling at 30 mph.

He sees the vehicles stopped at the side of the road and recognises that there is a meeting situation ahead. On assessing the situation ahead he sees the oncoming red car and knows that there is enough space for both vehicles to pass safely.

He checks the interior and right hand mirrors to ensure it is safe to adjust postion on the approach - no need to signal - then begins to move into a position that will allow him to pass the 2 parked vehicles safely and begins adjusting his speed.

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Now both vehicles are passing through the gap - there is still a reasonable separation distance between then so 20mph is a safe speed (if the road had been narrower and there was less space the speed would have been slower).

The process of slowing down where space to your sides is restricted is called
"Trading speed for space"
and you will hear me refer to it often when we encounter meeting situations.

The driver will keep looking as he moves through the gap to see if there are any other hazards ahead and then use his mirrors before moving back to the normal driving position when clear of the parked cars.

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Here we have what appears to be a similar situation - but can you see how the road is narrower? The driver of the green car has looked well ahead and realised that there is not enough room for 2 cars to pass each other.

He's applied the MSM routine and adjusted his position to get the best views ahead - but who should pass through the gap first?

The general rule to remember is:
If the obstruction is on your side of the road you should give way to oncoming traffic, and if the obstruction is on the other side of the road then the oncoming driver should give way.
Remember though - don't take anything for granted - even if you have priority watch the oncoming vehicle carefully and if the driver appears to be proceeding then give way yourself to avoid any potential conflict.

So in this case the driver of the green car will give way - keep looking and wait for a safe opportunity to proceed - he is "holding back".
The holdback position is normally about 2 car lengths back from the obstruction and slightly right of the normal driving position so that the driver can get a clear view of the road ahead - the actual position will vary depending of the width of the road because we still have to leave enough room for the oncoming vehicle or vehicles but the nearer to can get to the centre of the road the better opportunity you will have to assess the situation to your front.

If you found yourself in this sort of situation on a hill and you had priority you should consider giving way even if the obstruction is not on your side of the road, be considerate, particularly when the oncoming vehicle may find it difficult to move off again if they have to stop.

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This is a situation that we'll encounter often in our driving lessons - the available space is very limited because of the cars parked on both sides of the road!

Who has priority? The answer is no one. We'll have to approach this type of situation with great care, exercise strict control of our speed so that we will have plenty of time to assess the situation and what we might expect the oncoming driver to do.

We need to be thinking things such as:

"How fast is he going"?
"What size is his vehicle"?
"Is he slowing down"?

Look carefully at the other driver - try to establish eye contact - once you are both looking at each other the situation will often become clearer and you or the other driver can indicate your intentions.

Be wary for the driver who will rush in an attempt to arrive first - let them! If they are prepared to risk conflict we don't want to be anywhere near near them as they charge through a situation like this.

I find if we slow down early enough the other driver will often not have made an early assessment and on recognising the situation their first reaction will be to hold back - they will give us priority - if they do smile and proceed through the gap with caution - keep looking as you go.

But if they insist on taking priority things will be OK, our speed will have been adjusted in plenty of time so when he gets into position to move into the gap we'll still have plenty of time to take up our holdback position.

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You may well find yourself driving down a residential street where there are cars parked at the roadside for the whole length of the road.

The solution in this case is to look for a gap where you can pull in to allow the oncoming vehicle to come through the gap.

If you cannot see a suitable gap on your side of the road there may well be one on the opposite side - if you pull up opposite the gap the oncoming vehicle will hopefully pull in and give way to you.

Let's see what should happen in this situation.

Whatever your decision remember only proceed when you are sure it's safe to do so, show consideration to others and obey the basic rules - you should then have no problem with meeting situations.

That concludes our introduction to meeting - would you like to run through it again?

Meeting other Traffic

Meeting is the term used to describe the situation where drivers have to pass each other where space on the road is restricted. Meeting situations can be created by something as simple as driving along a country lane which is not wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass each other easily, to hazards caused by road planners or engineers and you will have to deal with meeting situations caused by other drivers every time you drive.

Let's look at some common examples of things that can cause meeting situations and then we'll go on and examine how we'll deal them in our driving lessons.

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The key to dealing successfully with meeting situations is the same as for any other hazard - we need to be looking well ahead to recognise the situation early so we'll have plenty of time to deal with it.

When the meeting situation has been created by road planners or engineers we'll generally get early warning from road signs and markings which help us to start our planning early. Let's see some typical examples.