Manoeuvres in the Driving Test
Many learner drivers are petrified of manoeuvres which have to conduct during the driving test. If you are one of these people then fear not, the following is a list of tips and hints to help you perform perfectly in the test.
All tests will include at least one manoeuvres from reverse bay parking, pulling over on the right-hand side of the road, parallel parking and forward bay parking You will not know which one as the examiner will choose. Therefore, you must be proficient in all of the above to maximise the chances of you passing your driving test.
To carry them out successfully, you must drive slowly and with caution, have good accuracy, control and observations. As a general rule, you will have around 4 minutes to conduct the manoeuvre the examiner picks. This is a surprisingly large amount of time and most learner will not use all of it, nevertheless, you should use as much time as you can. Keeping the car as slow as possible will higher your chance of being accurate. There is plenty of time to make all around observations and this is often marked highly by the examiner.
Prepare, Observe and Move
This is an essential routine with all manoeuvres and should be undertaken before any reversing or moving forward. Prepare- to prepare the car. E.g. correct gears, release the handbrake etc. Observe- all around 360° observations should be undertaken before moving off, this is to ensure the road around you is clear and safe to move. Move – begin the manoeuvre. The POM routine should be carried out everytime the car changes direction or after every stop.
Pulling up on the Right Manoeuvre
The new driving test will include this manoeuvre which involves; pulling up on the right and reversing two car lengths. You will have to go against the flow of traffic and therefore could be potentially dangerous if not performed with due caution.
The examiner will ask you to pull up on the right when it is safe to do so. You’ll in a location that the examiner has specifically chosen that should be suitable. Therefore, if the road is busy, there will be plenty of room to park safely on the right side. There will also be no parking restrictions such as double yellow lines and the examiner will not ask you to pull up on the left before conducting this manoeuvre.
Parallel Parking Manoeuvre
In this manoeuvre, the examiner will be looking for accuracy, control and observations. To successfully pass the manoeuvre you must park behind another vehicle by finishing not too far away from the vehicle in front, and not too far from the kerb. Be aware that touching the kerb at any point will result in failing the manoeuvre. You must also keep the cars speed under control via clutch control and the use of effective steering. Observations are also a vital aspect, all around observations must be maintained throughout the whole process.
Reverse Bay Parking Manoeuvre
This is a manoeuvre may learners struggle with, fortunately, it’s also one of the least likely as many test centres do not have parking bays available. However, the examiner does have the option of driving to a nearby test centre to use their bay parking facilities. Therefore, the lack of parking facilities at your test centre should not be used as an excuse not to practice this manoeuvre. There are no explicit rules for this manoeuvre, the examiner will, however, be looking for control, observations, and accuracy. Similar to the parallel park exercise. Furthermore, reference points or ‘markers’ are a valuable aid in completing this manoeuvre successfully.
Forward Parking into a Bay Manoeuvre
This is another new manoeuvre recently introduced. One of the more significant aspects of this exercise is that it most likely to be conducted in public areas such as hotel or supermarket car parks.
Therefore the driver’s observation skills are highly tested here. This increases the difficulty of it because many pedestrians have little regard for reversing vehicles and simply assume they can be seen as they walk behind your vehicle. Children may also be running erratically around the car. Furthermore, stray shopping trollies are another hazard you should be aware of, as well as other vehicles reversing out of their bay.
If you are required to perform this manoeuvre, you will hopefully be taken to a more quieter section of the car park. Nevertheless, large amounts of practice and preparation should be taken for this exercise to ensure your observation skills are up to the levels required. Reference points could also be used to make this manoeuvre easier to conduct as they offer signs of where your car is in reference to the bay.
In conclusion, these are the four different manoeuvres which the examiner could ask you to perform during your driving test. You should be proficient in all of these and understand how to conduct each one safely.
