Meeting and Clearance

Understanding Clearance

Clearance is the amount of space you leave between your car and an obstruction, such as a parked vehicle.

The amount of space available should affect your speed. The closer you need to pass an obstruction, the slower you should travel.

A simple rule to remember is: less space = less speed.

Clearance and Speed

Use the amount of clearance available to help you decide how much you need to reduce your speed:

• Less than half a metre: slow down to around 10 mph.
• Around half a metre: travel at around 20 mph.
• Around one metre: you can normally travel at the speed limit, when it is safe and appropriate to do so.

These distances help you understand the relationship between space and speed. You should still respond to the road conditions, pedestrians, cyclists and anything else that could create a hazard.

Use Your Arm to Understand Distance

Judging half a metre or one metre from inside the car can be difficult when you’re learning.

A simple way to start understanding clearance is to think about the length of your arm. Use it as a visual reference to help you understand approximately how much space you’re leaving between your car and a parked vehicle.

With experience, you’ll begin to judge these distances naturally from the driver’s seat.

What Is a Meeting Situation?

A meeting situation is a conflict with approaching traffic.

For example, parked vehicles may narrow the road so there isn’t enough space for you and an approaching vehicle to pass each other safely at the same point.

The important skill is recognising the potential conflict before you reach it.

Look Well Ahead

Don’t wait until you’re alongside the parked vehicles before deciding what to do. Look well ahead for approaching traffic, obstructions and available gaps.

Ask yourself: where am I going to meet the approaching vehicle?

If you can see that there won’t be enough space for both vehicles, reduce your speed early and decide where the safest place will be to wait.

Dealing With Approaching Traffic

When approaching traffic creates a potential conflict, assess the road early rather than continuing towards the obstruction and leaving the decision until the last moment.

If the obstruction is on your side of the road, you will often need to wait and allow approaching traffic to pass before moving around it.

However, don’t make your decision based only on who appears to have priority. Observe the speed and position of the approaching vehicle and make sure you understand what the other driver is actually doing.

The aim is to plan early enough that you avoid creating the conflict in the first place.

Using Gaps Between Parked Vehicles

Look ahead for suitable gaps between parked vehicles that could allow you to wait safely for approaching traffic.

If you can see a conflict developing further ahead, it may be better to wait at an earlier gap rather than continue forward and then find that you have nowhere suitable to stop.

Early planning usually makes meeting situations much easier and gives both drivers more space to deal with each other safely.

Watch for Doors and Pedestrians

Clearance isn’t only about avoiding the parked vehicle itself. Think about what could happen around it.

A door could open, a pedestrian could step into the road or the parked vehicle could begin moving away. Larger vehicles can also hide pedestrians, cyclists and approaching traffic from view.

If your clearance is reduced, lower your speed so you have more time to react if the situation changes.

Common Learner Problems

Meeting situations become much easier when you look well ahead and make your decisions early. Common learner problems include:

• Driving too quickly when passing close to parked vehicles.
• Leaving insufficient clearance from parked vehicles.
• Not looking far enough ahead for approaching traffic.
• Recognising a meeting situation too late.
• Continuing towards an obstruction when there is a suitable place to wait earlier.
• Focusing only on the approaching vehicle and forgetting about pedestrians or cyclists.
• Feeling pressured by a vehicle behind and continuing when it would be safer to wait.
• Assuming another driver will give way instead of observing what they are actually doing.

Remember: Look ahead → Identify the conflict → Assess the clearance → Adjust your speed → Decide early.

Watch the Meeting and Clearance Video

Practise Between Your Driving Lessons

When you’re travelling as a passenger, look at the clearance the driver leaves when passing parked vehicles and notice how their speed changes when the available space becomes smaller.

When approaching traffic appears, ask yourself: where will the two vehicles meet, is there enough space and where would I wait? You can then practise making these decisions during private practice with an appropriate supervising driver between your professional driving lessons.