ADUK Archive

My daughter had her first test this Tuesday.......and failed

Her serious faults were for RRC being too wide and nudging the barrier when doing the bay park. Sooooo it seems she is taking after me

Her test nearly didnt happen twice.....firstly we turned up at the test centre last thursday, i had taken a cancellation online for her.....when we got to the test centre there was no slot booked for her

I managed to get a cancellation for last Tuesday....which was really quick ...her ADi phoned at 8.30am to tell me a 6 inch crack had appeared in his windscreen ....the examiner said it wasnt in the line of vision so she was able to do the test.

Anyway guys....any advice any of you can give both me and her on reversing would be much appreciated. I dont want her to follow in my foot steps and do numerous tests ....thanks x

Instructors tend to use their own systems for manoeuvring. Such a system will usually work if the candidate actually follows it.

A typical system would involve the use of reference points. As an example, I'll describe a left reverse. The
examiner will stop the candidate before the side road, and will give instructions.

1) Candidate drives past opening and stops. Aim to stop about a drain's width from the kerb. Not too wide.

2) Reverse, slowly, having carried out all round observation, and whilst looking backwards, until the kerb in the side road is visible in the bottom left corner of the rear side window. Take all round observation before turning the wheel. Apply one full turn of the steering wheel, to the left.

3) Continue reversing slowly. It is acceptable to use the nearside door mirror to assess distance from kerb, but not to stare in it. Adjust steering as necessary to maintain an even distance from the kerb.

4) Look through back window for kerb. Before the car is parallel with the kerb, remove steering.

5) Continue reversing, using a reference point of some kind to maintain a constant distance from kerb. The reference point might be some feature of the car, or might be a letter in the sticker that dealers usually put in the back windows of cars.

6) Take all round observation several times during the manoeuvre. Be prepared to give way, if necessary.

This is surprisingly difficult to describe in words. Other posters will probably make a better job of it than me. The system will need to be adjusted for the car in use, especially the turning point reference. Slow speeds make manoeuvres much easier. Observation must be maintained. By observation, I mean looking in the direction of travel, together with all round checks. Do not allow your daughter to stare forwards during the exercise, and do not allow her to stare in the nearside door mirror.

You might like to give this a try, and report back. If it's still not working, I'll try to make some more suggestions. I'll also try to describe a system for reverse parking.

Reversing - if the car will move on clutch only then forget accelerator and hover right foot over brake pedal

thanks Russ....never had it explained like that before....and yes we will both give it a try. Her ADi (he was mine as well)...seems to work on the fact that you 'teach' yourself and the best way to do that is to do it yourself....well for me that deffo has never happened

we are prepared to try anything....just want to get this sorted for her really

There's certainly something to be said for teaching yourself how to execute a particular task.

For example, how many people use would use reference points to carry out a normal left turn?
Hardly anyone. So why should it be so different to do a left turn in reverse? I don't know. The
fact remains that manoeuvring is a major hurdle for lots of drivers, especially learners going
for a test. This type of painting-by-numbers method will usually get the job done.

Let us know how you get on. When you're ready, I'll post a couple of reverse parking methods,
one for parallel parking, and one for the bay park.

Russ_H wrote:Let us know how you get on.

Thanks Russ....hopefully will be going out to practice tomorrow ...so will report back

Best advice: Practice.

Get yourself down an empty carpark/industrial estate and practice maneuvers at a slow speed. Many mistakes I see are people who can't judge how much steering to apply and either apply too much too quickly, or don't apply enough then panic and give the wheel armfuls.

Give yourself enough room when practicing, and practice, practice, practice. You'll be surprised how quickly it will come, provided you have an open mind and don't beat yourself up (too much) because you haven't mastered it after 5 minutes.

For some people, maneuvering is a real bane to their driving - I can't see why as it is piece of piss once you've mastered it. Most people's problems is they don't care enough/never put enough practice in to become good at it.

A general rule of thumb: don't rush. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

slippeddisc wrote:Best advice: Practice.

Get yourself down an empty carpark/industrial estate and practice maneuvers at a slow speed.

Or just go to such a place and keep driving in reverse - use forward as little as possible

slippeddisc wrote:Many mistakes I see are people who can't judge how much steering to apply and either apply too much too quickly, or don't apply enough then panic and give the wheel armfuls.

that is soooo me ....I have been practicing a lot more...actually being more aware of exactly what it is im doing, rather than just doing it and hoping for the best

Apologies for the off topic but are you still taking ROSPA tuition, Sonia?