Glossary

Coming from the left or right, across your path

The yellow colour used for traffic lights

Getting closer to, from any direction

A main road that carries a lot of traffic between suburbs or within cities or towns

Bar on which wheels rotate

Angle and brightness of lights – (low or high)

A place or length of road with a high rate of crashes

Area that is not seen in mirrors or areas where your vision to the front, side or rear is blocked when driving

Central vision and/or where your vision is blocked

The proportion or percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream (eg the BAC limit for full licence holders in NSW is 0.05 which means 0.05 per cent alcohol or .05 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood i.e. 0.05g/100ml).

Long pole used to block the road as at a railway crossing

Positioning your vehicle to create maximum space around you, away from hazards

In relation to a length of road, means an area in which there are buildings on land next to the road, or there is street lighting, at intervals not over 100m for a distance of at least 500m or, if the road is shorter than 500m, for the whole road

Person present but not involved in an event

You can no longer use your licence; that is, you can no longer drive

A three-wheeled vehicle primarily constructed from car components

Specific seatbelts, seats or capsules that children under a certain age are required to use/wear (e.g. baby restraints, child seats, child safety harnesses)

Crashing into

A training and development technique of talking when you are driving to indicate where you are looking, what hazards you are seeing and what action you might take

The plate that identifies a vehicle as being manufactured to safety standards applicable to the time of manufacture

Necessary, required, must do

Chemical that eats away, like acid, for example

Where your right foot is off the accelerator and over the brake pedal without activating the brake, see also ‘setting up the brake’

The space a driver needs to manage, in order to prevent a potential crash

The speed limit where there are no speed limit signs. The urban limit is 50 km/h

Explained

There are different points limits for different types of licences (learner, provisional etc). Demerit points are recorded against your licence for a range of traffic offences (e.g. speeding). If you get too many demerit points your licence may be cancelled or suspended

A piece of equipment

Disease which affects the body’s use of sugar

Physical condition that may affect your driving

You are not allowed to hold or obtain a licence in NSW. You can no longer drive

A series of triangular road markings to increase school zone visibility

A combination of an advanced Hazard Perception Test, a further test of the road rules and safe driving practice. The test must be passed to progress from P2 stage to full licence status

A person who instructs learners or provisionals (for money or reward) how to drive

Electronic toll lanes

A style of driving to reduce fuel consumption and help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Line marked along the road at or near the far left or right

A statement placed on a document (e.g. a licence or registration papers)

Engine size usually stated in litres or cubic centimetres (cc) 1 litre =1000 cc

Disease that can cause fits

Go beyond – as with speed, to exceed the speed limit is to go faster than the speed limit.

If you are exempt, a particular requirement does not apply to you (e.g. tests or fees)

The date on the licence is no longer current and the licence is therefore no longer valid

Something that is dangerous as it may blow up

See motorway

Something that results in death

The experience of feeling ‘sleepy’, ‘tired’ or ‘exhausted’. Fatigue affects both your body and your ability to drive safely

What you can see without moving your eyes or head

Easily set on fire

To switch the headlights from low beam to high beam and back

The distance between your vehicle and the vehicle travelling ahead of you in the same direction. Following distance is also called ‘headway’

Pedestrian crossing

Vehicle designed to lift and move loads. Usually used to load trucks.

See motorway

Licence issued to P2 drivers who have held that licence for at least 24 months, have passed the Driver Qualification Test (DQT).

The three licence stages required in order to gain a full licence

The maximum laden mass of a motor vehicle plus the laden weight of any trailer(s)

The maximum laden mass of the vehicle.

Any possible danger that might lead to a crash

Flashing orange warning lights found on most vehicles

Ability to recognise and respond to potentially dangerous situations and react appropriately.

A touch-screen computer test which measures your ability to recognise and respond to potentially dangerous situations and react appropriately when driving. Provisional drivers must pass this test to progress from the P1 to P2 licence stage

Looking over your shoulder to the left or right to make sure that there’s nothing in your blind spot. Also known as ‘shoulder check’

Roads & Maritime publication that explains road rules that apply to heavy vehicles (buses and trucks)

Periods of time during the week when alcohol related crashes mostly occur – mostly weeknights and weekends. About 30% of fatal crashes are alcohol related during these hours.

Independent Commission Against Corruption

A permit issued in accordance with the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic, Geneva 1949, for use in conjunction with a current driver licence

A person who understands more than one language and reads the English test questions and then asks the applicant the same questions in another language

Where two or more roads meet or join

Travel between States, NSW to WA for example

Concrete edge of a road

The Driver Knowledge Test

An area of road marked by continuous or broken lines, designed for use by a signal line of vehicles

Rules set out by the government that must be followed

Point where a road crosses a railway track

There are different licences required for driving different vehicles of different sizes (e.g. motorcycle, car etc)

Things that affect a licence (e.g. must wear spectacles)

Kind of licence, such as learner, provisional, full

Items carried on a vehicle from one place to another

Periods of time during the week when alcohol-related crashes least occur – mostly daylight hours, on weekdays and portions of Saturday and Sundays. Less than 10% of fatal crashes are alcohol related during these hours.

A section that divides lanes in a two way street

Brief, unintended periods of loss of attention associated with events such as blank stare, head snapping, prolonged eye closure, etc, which may occur when a person is fatigued but trying to stay awake to perform a monotonous task like driving a car or watching a computer screen.

Least, smallest

A training course undertaken in order to obtain a learner rider licence

A training course undertaken in order to obtain a provisional rider licence

Roads & Maritime publication that explains road rules that apply to motorcycles and riders.

A three or four wheeled mobility aid that cannot travel faster than 10 km/hour. A user is defined as a pedestrian

Large road (usually more than 2 lanes in each direction) designed to move a lot of traffic quickly. Usually with a 100 or 110km/h speed limit

A road with more than one lane in each direction. These roads sometimes have a median strip dividing traffic travelling in each direction

A mandatory requirement.

A vehicle approaching you from the front

Person who wishes to donate their organs (liver, kidney, lungs etc) for transplant after they have died

Having more occupants in a vehicle than available seats

A vehicle carrying a load that is too big or heavy for the vehicle to carry it safely or legally

Outside Australia

To pass a vehicle travelling in the same direction as you

Provisional licence - Stage 1. This is the first provisional licence issued to new solo drivers in NSW after 1 July 2000. It must be held for a minimum of 12 months before one becomes eligible to progress to Stage 2. P1 drivers must display a red P sign (red P on a white background).

Provisional licence - Stage 2. This is the second licence issued to new solo drivers in NSW after 1 July 2000. It is issued for 30 months to drivers who have held a P1 licence for at least 12 months and have passed the Hazard Perception test (HPT). A P2 licence must be held for a minimum of 24 months. P2 drivers must display a green P sign (green P on a white background). A P2 licence has fewer restrictions than a P1 licence.

Parking with the whole length of the vehicle next to the kerb

A person who travels by foot (walker, runner for example). Also includes people in motorised and non-motorised wheelchairs and people using wheeled recreational devices or toys

Punished by way of demerit points, fines, prison, vehicle confiscation etc for breaking a law

Roads & Maritime issued driver licence

See demerit points

A professional driver is a motor vehicle driver whose primary work is to transports goods or, a bus, taxi or hire car driver who is accredited under the Passenger Transport Act 1990. Drivers will not quality if the driving of a motor vehicle is incidental to their primary work (eg a sales person or a tow truck driver)

Laws (see law)

To replace a licence that is no longer current

To increase engine speed

Engine speed (measured in revolutions per minute, RPM)

An area used by the public for the purpose of driving or riding motor vehicles

A range of anti-social or aggressive behaviour by road users

Includes an area that divides a road, a footpath, nature strip, cycleway and parking areas

Roads & Maritime personnel authorised to conduct vehicle inspections

Way from one place to another

A gap in traffic that enables you to turn, overtake or cross an intersection without being involved in a collision or endangering other road users. This means that no other road users should need to take evasive action to avoid your vehicle

Chains that catch a trailer in an emergency, if the tow connection breaks for example

Constantly moving your eyes and/or your head when driving so that you can detect hazards that may arise ahead, to the sides and behind your vehicle. Scanning means taking in the whole scene 360° around your car

A ‘one-stop shop’ providing access to various government services and a single point of contact

Where your right foot is off the accelerator and applying light pressure to the brake pedal

A recommendation, advice

Strip of land that runs down the side on an un-kerbed road

See head check

A road with one lane running in each direction

The difference between the hours of sleep a person needs and the actual hours of sleep they get

A separate lane for a vehicle turning left

A ‘buffer zone’ around your vehicle (to the front, sides and rear) between you and other vehicles and road users that gives you time to spot and react to hazards that may arise.

Eye glasses or contact lenses

The legal speed for any particular stretch of road, licence or vehicle

Excessive or inappropriate speed, including not adjusting your speed to suit the conditions or speed limit

Not moving

A person who holds a full Australian licence for the appropriate class of the vehicle and sits beside the learner driver

You can no longer use your licence; that is, you can no longer drive

A vehicle that is designed to tow another vehicle

Attaching and then pulling a trailer or vehicle behind a vehicle

Actions that break the traffic law (see law)

Vehicles that do not have an engine and that are towed behind motor vehicles

A person who understands more than one language and who rewrites a written document such as a driver’s licence in English from another language (see interpreter)

A complete change of direction, approximately a 180° turn

A child left with no immediate, supervising, responsible adult

Not loaded (see load)

Vehicles joined together. An articulated vehicle can be a vehicle combination of a car and caravan for example

Yellow diamond shaped signs that warn you of hazards ahead (e.g. animals or an intersection)

Flashing orange lights on the rear of buses

An area of road, bridge or road reserve that includes the work area(s) and any additional length of road or bridge required for traffic control such as signs and barriers