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Lesson8 min

Vehicle categories and design

You will learn, among other things:

Passenger car in the left lane overtaking a heavy lorry on a motorway.

Different vehicles, different behaviour

The road is shared between vehicles built for different purposes. A passenger car, a heavy lorry, a bus, a motorcycle and a moped each have different acceleration, road-holding, braking distances and blind spots. The same traffic situation therefore demands different space and timing depending on who you meet. Read the vehicle ahead, not just the sign, and adjust speed, distance and position to how that vehicle moves.

Rule

The driver is responsible for the vehicle's condition

A vehicle in traffic must be roadworthy, registered where required and suitable for the task. As a driver you are responsible for ensuring brakes, tyres, lights and steering work before the journey starts. Faults you discover en route must be dealt with as soon as practicable. Heavy vehicles, two-wheelers and vehicles with trailers have their own rules for equipment, weight and speed — if you drive such a vehicle, those rules apply to you.

Scenario

Decision sequence: behind a lorry in slow traffic

You are behind a heavy lorry in slow traffic into a city district. The lorry accelerates sluggishly, blocks the forward view and will turn off shortly. Three options: close the gap so no one cuts in, keep a normal distance and wait for visibility, or try to change lane. The right decision is to keep the normal distance. You will then have time to react when the lorry brakes, and you regain forward view to the side when it turns. Closing in tightly saves no seconds and removes your only safety margin.

Exam trap

Exam trap: not every vehicle drives like your car

A common slip on the test is assuming the same acceleration, braking distance and blind spots as your passenger car. A heavy lorry needs more room to turn, a bus needs more distance to stop, and a motorcycle is hard to see in the side mirror. A combination with a trailer only shortens its braking distance when the trailer has its own brakes. If you assume every vehicle behaves like your own car, you will pick the wrong answer in the test's photo questions.

Checklist

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