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Hawkwell Driving School Hockley Essex. 01702 204674 |
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Top Driving Tips Emerging through a queue - stop at the centre line and look for overtaking motorbikes. Don’t look at cars as they overtake you - it might cause you to swerve towards them Always have the clutch down before turning the ignition key Use mirror, signal, position, speed, gear, accelerate. Use handbrake, neutral, cancel, indicator Go onto the gas before lifting the clutch, when pulling away At junctions always look left (as well as right) before crossing the give way line. If you’re in the wrong lane go with it, unless you can change lanes in plenty of time Someone flashing their lights may be flashing to their mate Do manoeuvres slowly and stop and start, use one of our methods. Keep two seconds away from the car in front. Three seconds when above 40 mph Drive over mini-roundabouts when it is impractical to go around them. When overtaking parked vehicles be parallel to them before you get near them. |
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Driving Test Secrets Examiners are trained to watch you until you look in the mirror after giving a direction Your examiner has probably already made an assessment of your ability before you pull away by looking at the way you do the pre-start checks Examiners don't like surprises - keep your driving smooth, gentle and predictable Taking the wrong direction and going off route is not a fail All of the reversing manoeuvres now have an equal chance of being done on test You will only ever be asked to reverse into a parking bay at the driving test centre. If a test centre does not have its own car park then you will not do the bay park manoeuvre People who fail on emerging usually do so because they haven't looked left sufficiently before crossing the line The emergency stop is only performed on one in three tests - most people fail on the emergency stop because either they don't brake hard enough or they don't react quickly enough If you get stuck in a traffic jam you will still drive the whole test route - you will just have a longer test. |
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More Top Driving Tips Emergency stops with ABS - just brake hard Bay parking - do it at 90 degrees, look down a line and it will go into the 3rd space back. Emergency stops without ABS - release brake and re-apply if the car skids When reversing look out of the back window over your left shoulder at least half of the time Look 5 cars ahead Have a plan A and plan B You can overtake through a roundabout in the right-hand lane. Give Way doesn’t mean “wait for” it means “don’t get in the way of” If someone pulls up next to the kerb in front of you - they will either pull away or open the door Steer the way you want the back of the car to go when reversing - to the kerb steer to the kerb Your car will drive itself along for miles without you touching the gas pedal in first or second gear Only use the right hand lane to overtake or turn right Indicate to tell people what you are going to do next - give them time to react. Always approach a green traffic light as if it is a possible red light Indicate to do the unpredictable - not the predictable Don’t accelerate at what you’re trying to avoid When manoeuvring you can always shunt forwards if you are unhappy with it. All roads are two way unless there are one way signs. Always point your wheels where you want to go before you accelerate Braking, steering and accelerating should always be smooth Always take a right turn into a side road as though a bus is pulling out of it Concentrate on your overall objective - where you are going, worry about the detail later You can overtake a cyclist on the zig zags of a pedestrian crossing Meeting other traffic - only push through after you have seen them react to you Parallel parking - one turn left, full-lock right, stop with your wheels turned. Two way streets have different road markings each side, one way both sides are the same. At STOP junctions it is illegal not to stop completely. Never be the third car into a traffic light junction when you are turning right When manoeuvring stop before the other driver is close enough to have to react to you Slip roads - use the whole length and check your blind spot. Approaching traffic? First reaction is to slow down, before changing position Children come in pairs, the child you can’t see is the dangerous one. React to any HINT of danger - slow down Indicate for 4 flashes before changing lanes on a dual carriageway. Never drive in another vehicle's blind spot on a dual-carriageway Never approach a roundabout with another vehicle next to you on your right-hand side, it will block your view. A lane change should take about 5 seconds to complete - very gradually. Accelerate in your lane to stay ahead of the vehicle behind before you move out - when changing lanes. Do not pull out if another vehicle is moving fast enough or is close enough to hit you - they may not go where you think. Approach a roundabout slowly enough to work out what’s going on before you get there. Never pull out alongside another vehicle unless you can see clearly – it will not protect you. The closer a car is behind you the further you need to be from the car in front, so that you don't have to brake suddenly Double check everything - one look is never enough If you can’t see both ways at a junction before emerging for at least 100 metres - STOP Once you begin to pull away push the clutch down a bit If the engine feels rough- push the clutch down You can bring the clutch up whilst braking if you are doing more than 15mph Bringing the clutch up quickly doesn’t make you pull away faster - you just jump up and down a lot To pull away fast use loads of gas and stay in the first gear as long as possible Use a 2-stage method of pulling out of junctions and mini roundabouts - one lane at a time. Keep your backdoor closed - don’t open a gap to your side if you’re going to close it again At blind junctions use staggered stops. Edge out, Stop, edge out, stop, edge out, stop. Timing is everything - avoid reaching a mini-roundabout at the same time as an approaching car so that you can see what they are doing. Use the racing adage “slow in fast out” for bends Use the same gear on a downhill as you would going up the same hill If you expect something to happen you will react twice as quickly Enough room to pass ? - use their and your distance from the white line as a reference Look across bends Seeing a reflection (or lights) tells you something is coming, but not seeing a reflection (or lights) doesn’t mean that there is nothing coming Know all the car controls and switches so that you are able to use them without thinking about it |
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More Driving Test Secrets Getting both maintenance questions wrong will not fail you - you will just get one minor fault. It is very difficult to fail on a manoeuvre if you have the confidence to stop, take your time and shunt forwards if necessary. Technically if you commit a dangerous fault the driving test should be terminated at that point, although it is seldom done except when the examiners are working to rule because of an industrial dispute. Stalling the car on test is usually only a minor fault unless it is somewhere dangerous. You can be on the lines on a bay park manoeuvre and still pass. Hitting the kerb lightly on a turn-in-the-road will not fail you, and the turn doesn't have to be done in 3 movements When reversing around a corner you can stop as often as you like. When a driving test is terminated the examiner will get out, tell you to stay with the vehicle, and he will walk back to the test centre. If you reach the end of a one way street and are supposed to turn right, and you suddenly realise you are in the left lane: You can salvage your test by changing your indicator to left, and turning left. This should only give you a minor fault for timing of indicator Four minor faults within the same category will normally fail you If you do not agree with the way your test was conducted you can make an appeal against the result. However if you win the appeal the result will not be changed, you will just get a retest. Examiners like confident drivers - show him/her that you know what you are doing You can fail for not using the windscreen wipers if they are needed The examiner's union is pressing for the banning of non dual-controlled cars on test Certain cars such as mini convertables are not allowed to be used on test. Mounting the kerb with your back wheel when turning left is usually only a minor fault If a manoeuvre is going wrong, or you don't like the way it is going, you can shunt forwards at least twice to alter it. Many examiners have never been instructors. They take a one month training course to qualify as an examiner. Test examiners have many more accidents than instructors - an examiners job is not to keep you safe but to examine. You can have a friend accompany you to sit in the back on your driving test. Your examiner will tell you which lane to get into at a roundabout by the direction he gives - “take the third exit right” means get in the right lane and indicate right If your examiner mentions a direction (left or right) then usually you should indicate that way Newly trained examiners should allow you to cross your hands on the steering wheel. You can change from 3rd gear directly to 5th gear when accelerating You can fail for not driving up to the speed limit (eg.driving at 45mph in a 60mph limit) You can use your own car on the driving test Cars without dual controls tend to get easier test routes Driving test routes are published on the DSA website All the driving examiners at a test centre are required to have a test pass rate within 10% of each other. It is alleged that on Thursday night they decide how many they need to pass on the Friday. If the Highway Code enables you to use an unsafe method on a particular road layout then this will be taken off the test route. Driving examiners often don’t make up their mind as to which test route you are going on until after your test has started. In a potential accident situation the examiner will not intervene until the last possible moment, and that may be too late. This is because he is afraid of being accused of intervening unnecessarily Your instructor is assessed by the standard and ability of his pupils that he takes to the test centre. If a number of examiners have had near misses or accidents at a particular location on a test route, the route will be changed.
The information listed is provided in good faith and is correct to the best of our considerable knowledge, however the driving test is marked by a driving examiner, who like everyone else has personal preferences and opinions. Examiners are given considerable discretion when marking a test and are told to consider the overall drive when deciding whether or not a particular fault will cause a failure. Therefore something that fails one person in one situation may not fail someone else in a different situation. As always common sense should prevail. |