Basic traffic rules

Picture a residential street with parked cars on both sides. The speed-limit sign is visible; a child behind a car may not be. Consider both what you can see and what the parked cars conceal. A gap between them is useful information before anyone steps out.

Always adapt your speed to visibility, road conditions and traffic.

Show consideration for children, older people and vulnerable road users.

You must be able to stop within the distance you can see ahead.

Consideration shows in actions: reduce speed early, leave space and behave predictably. Pressure from a following driver does not change the distance you need to stop. Adapt to the street, not the impatience behind you.

In fog, adapt speed to the visible distance. A permitted speed can still be too high to stop within that distance.

When the obstruction is on your side, stop if needed to let the oncoming vehicle pass. An opening door or someone between parked cars may also require side clearance.

Try reading a street as a sequence of possible events. At the first house, the view is clear. At the next, a van hides the pavement. A little further on, a ball rolls out. The van alone is a reason to prepare; you should not need to wait for the ball to realise that someone could be hidden. This is the difference between reacting to a hazard that has already appeared and planning for a possible one. The basic rules become useful when you turn them into concrete decisions about speed and space. When visibility improves, assess the situation again rather than automatically returning to the highest permitted speed.