Kimosabe wrote:I think my observer is exaggerating the frequency of checks but aside from checking when it's obvious to me that I need to anyway, adding a few more in does no harm. But what he's saying is that I need to check all three at the same time every time I see a sign, hazard, change in speed limits... what is it that you do? Do you have a system?
I generally need at least a second to focus on my nearside mirror and to take in what i'm seeing in it. So what I have done is worked out a systematic way to look nearside, back on the road until i'm sure it's okay to look in the rear view, back on the road as before and offside and then back on the road. While i'm doing this, i'm not picking my nose so it's a win-win.
but it does make the whole thing rather busy. It's not the need to check the mirrors, it's the frequency vs the resultant post-check, lack of need feeling I so often get.
I'm going flat out for Gold and i'm getting loads out of running my thoughts by you all but I still need to retain a sense of it's me who is driving and that I need reasons, not just theory or we end up with 'what if a child ran out infront of me from the right while I was looking in my nearside mirror', type of 'reasoning' and that's just fraught with 'should have been more observant' come backs. I call it 'over thinking' but it is the result of disrupting what was working well before, not an inability to drive safely.
I would stop this looking in all 3 mirrors malarkey. It's obviously not doing your concentration any good. The examiner is not going to be interested in whether or not you have looked in all 3 mirrors. The stock phrases about mirror use in the test results say stuff like "always aware of what was happening behind" or "used frequently throughout the test".
Look in the appropriate mirrors at the appropriate times. Because you saw a sign for a double bend, first to the right, does not warrant a look in all 3. Look in the interior one. While you're negotiating the r/h half of the double bend, maybe have a glance in the offside door mirror or the interior one or both. No point checking the nearside one, which, as you point out, takes far longer, for any of this particular hazard. The nearside one is useful when something might be happening on the nearside like:
- stopped in a queue of traffic - monitor for cyclists etc.
- leaving a roundabout - check for motorcyclist
- turning left in town - last minute check for pedestrians / cyclists (although you should be very aware already)
- reversing to the left
- lane changes to the left on multi-lane roads
I'm sure there are others, but driving along a straight bit of country / suburban road and passing any random road sign is not one of them.
Hope this helps. From what I hear you will get Gold without any problems. One thing you need for Gold is a sense of being a complete, confident driver. You need to put the nerves away and drive as if you do this every day. Have confidence. Good luck!