The Mod 1 Hazard Avoidance Swerve

#The manoeuvre layout

You ride the same curving cornering line as the controlled and emergency stops, accelerate to at least 50 km/h before the speed measurement line, and as you cross the line a notional hazard appears in your path. You swerve to one side or the other (the examiner tells you which before the run) using a marked exit lane defined by two pairs of cones.

The swerve happens after the speed measurement, so the speed gun records your run-up. There is no braking allowed in the manoeuvre. You must maintain throttle, swerve, and only ease off after you are settled in the new line.

#Lane choice

The examiner tells you in advance which side to swerve to. Some MPTCs always go the same direction, others alternate. You commit fully to the side you are told. There is no decision to make on the bike itself, just execution.

The cones marking the exit lane are placed about 1.5 metres from the central line. Your bike has to pass cleanly between them. Clipping or going outside the marked area is a fail. Going through the central area where the hazard would have been is a serious fault even if you eventually drift back to one side.

#Body lean and counter-steering

At 50 km/h, the technique is counter-steering: pushing the bar in the opposite direction of where you want to go to initiate a lean. Push left to lean left, push right to lean right. This feels counterintuitive but it is how every motorcycle steers above about 20 km/h.

Your body lean follows the bike, not leads it. As the bike tips into the swerve, you stay neutral on the seat, knees in, arms relaxed. Aggressive body movement is not needed. A firm bar push is.

#Target fixation

The single biggest pitfall on the hazard avoidance is target fixation: looking at the central hazard area instead of the exit lane. Riders who stare at where the hazard would have been will drift towards it. Riders who lock their eyes on the exit lane will swerve cleanly to it.

The drill is to find your exit point as soon as the examiner signals. Eyes off the centre, onto the gap. Your bike will follow.

#Throttle through the swerve

You maintain a steady throttle through the entire manoeuvre. Rolling off the throttle mid-swerve causes the bike to pitch forward, the suspension to compress, and your line to become unstable. A constant throttle keeps the bike in a steady weight balance.

This is hard psychologically. Your instinct when something appears in the road is to brake. The Mod 1 hazard avoidance is the only manoeuvre on the test where the right answer is to keep accelerating slightly through the swerve. Practise overriding the brake instinct by repetition until it becomes automatic.

#After the swerve

Once you are clear of the hazard area, you can ease off the throttle, recover the bike upright, and ride to the next stage of the test. Do not brake hard immediately after the swerve. Smooth deceleration, settle the bike, then complete the run.

#Common faults

Most failures fall into one of these categories.

• Below 50 km/h at the measurement line: same as the emergency stop, the speed gun is strict
• Braking during the swerve: an automatic fault on this manoeuvre
• Hitting a cone in the exit lane: usually because the rider did not commit to a tight line
• Wide swerve into the wrong area: usually because the rider was looking at the central hazard
• Wobble after the swerve: usually because the rider tensed up on the bars during the lean

#Drills to build hazard avoidance confidence

Practise this in stages on a closed area or training school facility:

• 20 km/h slow swerves: focus on counter-steering technique
• 30 km/h: full lane swerves with steady throttle
• 40 km/h: introduce the cornering run-up so the muscle memory is the same as the test
• 50 km/h: full pace runs with the actual layout if available
• Random side: have a coach call left or right at the last second to mimic the examiner cue

#How it differs from real road avoidance

In real traffic, you would usually brake first, then swerve, or do both together. The Mod 1 manoeuvre is artificial in that it requires no braking. The point is to demonstrate that you can handle the bike at speed without panicking. The transferable skill is the counter-steer technique itself, which is genuinely useful for emergency lane changes on the road.

For the wider context of Mod 1 manoeuvres and how they fit together, the Mod 1 manoeuvres guide and the Mod 1 test day guide walk through the full sequence.

#Confidence on the day

The hazard avoidance is the manoeuvre that catches a lot of nervous candidates because it asks you to commit to a lean at speed. The way to build confidence is reps. A rider who has done thirty 50 km/h swerves in training will not flinch on test day. A rider who has done five will hesitate, and hesitation at 50 km/h is what causes the wobble or the wide line.

Book at least one mock test session that includes the cornering and speed-checked manoeuvres at full pace. The cost is one extra hour of bike hire. The benefit is a calmer head when the examiner gives the signal.