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Left corner reverse. You may be instructed to drive past a road on the left, stop and reverse round the corner,

into the road, keeping reasonably close to the kerb

To begin with, carry out a clockwise all round observation, including your right blind spot,

before moving off.

As you drive past the road, look at the shape of the corner, this determines how you steer,

and also the gradient of the road, this determines your pedal control. Also check to see if

the exercise is feasible; e.g. a car parked close to the junction means that there won’t be

enough space for you to carry out the manoeuvre.

Just as you pass the road, check the rear view mirror, the left wing mirror and indicate left

if necessary before you stop on the left, at about 1 foot or half a metre away from the kerb.

Apply the handbrake and select reverse immediately. Adjust yourself in the seat to make it

easier to look over your left shoulder, observe all round anticlockwise, beginning with your

right blind spot and if there are no vehicles approaching within 15 to 20 metres of the car,

start reversing slowly, i.e. set the gas to a constant level if necessary and control the

movement with the clutch, while looking back over your left shoulder mainly, and in other

directions frequently. Avoid looking in any direction for longer than 4 seconds else you

may miss changes procuring in other directions. Do your possible best to maintain about

the same distance from the kerb.

Your point of turn is shortly after where the gap between your nearside rear wheel and the

kerb begins to widen. This can be determined by either looking in the near side wing mirror

or by looking for the kerb to line to with the half way point along the bottom of the little

triangular window behind the back seat. Shorter drivers can see it in the bottom corner of

the nearside back door.

Observe all round anticlockwise again as you did before you began to reverse and if there

is nothing at all approaching from either direction, creep backwards slowly, but turn the

wheel briskly in the anticlockwise direction. How much you turn to begin with, depend on

the shape of the corner, i.e. for sharp corners, turn briskly to full lock, for moderate corners,

start by turning one revolution, for long sweeping corners, start with ¾ of a turn. Either

turn towards or away from the kerb depending on what you see whenever you glance in the

nearside wing mirror. Ideally, this should be between 1 foot and 1 metre. Each time before

you turn the wheel, pause to decide which direction to turn and by how many 1/4s. From

the point of turn to the point at which the front wheels cross the double dotted give way

line, look in both directions of the road, i.e. left and right from which you are reversing, at

least twice.

After turning the corner, try to position the car within half a meter away from the kerb and

parallel to it as early as possible while frequently looking in all directions.

Reverse for about 3 or 4 car lengths, or until the point where you are instructed by the

examiner to stop reversing.

Stop the car while looking back over your left shoulder, and then wait for further

instructions.

When moving off after reversing, remember to carry out all the necessary observations

required when moving off.

http://www.2pass.co.uk/reverse.htm

Turn in the road You may be instructed to stop on the left and turn the car to face the opposite direction by

going forwards and backwards without touching the kerb on either side.

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Before you begin, look at the width of the road because this determines how you steer and

also the camber, as this determines your pedal controls.

To begin with carry out the necessary observations required for moving off but only move

off if there is no vehicle approaching from either direction and also if there are no

pedestrians on the kerb across the road in the vicinity of where you will complete your first

move.

Creep forward slowly, but turn the wheel very briskly to full right lock. Move forward as

far as possible. In order to make effective use of the width of the road, stop by use of a

reference point along the door on the same side of the car as the wheel approaching the

kerb first.

After the first move, look right, look left and the look over your left shoulder through the

back window at the moment you begin to reverse across the road.

Start by putting your left hand on top of the wheel and turn it anticlockwise to full lock.

Hold the lock for as long as possible to turn the car by as much as possible.

As you get closer to the kerb behind, decide when to stop, by use of a reference point along

the rear door in the direction of the wheel nearest to the kerb.

There is no need to use the accelerator unless the car stops moving. Keep the movement

very slow but turn the wheel very quickly; however, avoid turning the wheel when there is

no movement at all.

Before each move, if a vehicle approaches from any direction, establish whether the driver

intends to wait for you to complete the next move or wants to pass through whatever space

is available. If the driver intends to wait for you, waste no time in getting on with the next

move, otherwise, wait until they have passed safely.

On narrow roads, it might be necessary to repeat the 2nd

and 3rd

move before you are able to

turn the car completely to face the opposite direction without touching the kerb on either

side of the road.

http://www.2pass.co.uk/signs.htm

Reverse parallel Parking As you pass the car behind which you will be parking, check your rear view mirror,

indicate left if anyone will benefit and aim at positioning straight in the road, not parallel

to the car, because not all cars are parked correctly. Leave a gap of no more than 60

centimetres between the vehicles, i.e. yours the car on the left.

Stop when half the length of your car is gone past the one on your left, and select reverse

gear immediately. If you indicated left, cancel the indicator before you begin to reverse.

Carry out an all round anti clockwise observation starting from your right blind spot and

reverse to your point of turn, i.e. when your rear wheels have just passed rear of the car on

your left. Identify this by use of a reference point along the nearside rear window,

Pause and carry out an all round anticlockwise observation as you did before. If there are

no vehicles approaching, start creeping backwards again and in the absence of any

approaching cars, turn the wheel by a specified amount, i.e.3/4, one turn, or full lock to the

left.

Creep backwards while observing all around, i.e. from one blind spot to the other until the

front of the car is roughly at an angle of between thirty and forty five thirty degrees to

direction of the road.

Straighten the wheel up and reverse while observing in this manner, backwards over your

left shoulder → left wing mirror → rear view mirror → left wing mirror → backwards

over your left shoulder, until the edge of the kerb just disappears or is just about to

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disappear from view in the left wing mirror. (This only works if the left wing mirror is

adjusted in a certain way). Turn the wheel briskly to the right, either by one revolution or

to full right lock (this depends on your assessment of how far away from the kerb the car

is). Straighten up quickly as soon as the kerb reappears in the left wing mirror.

Assess your distance from the kerb and your angle to it and if necessary, make small

adjustments by creeping backwards slowly and turning the wheel by predetermined

amounts, i.e. ½ or ¼, to get you close enough and parallel to it.

If you reverse as far as to 2 lengths of your car and are still not close enough and parallel

to the kerb, select 1st gear and move forward very slowly while steering briskly by large

amounts to correct your position. Avoid touching the kerb at all costs.

http://www.2pass.co.uk/parallel.htm

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Bay parking practice

Reversing into bay 4 from the right: Reverse up to your chosen point of turn, stop, observe

all round, move very slowly and then steer to the right very quickly to full lock. Hold the lock

tightly until you either see the line between bays 4 & 5 in your left wing mirror, or until you

think you may cross the line between bays 3 & 4.

Reversing into bay 4 from the left: Reverse up to your chosen point of turn, stop, observe

all round, move very slowly and then steer to the left very quickly to full lock. Hold the lock

tightly until you either see the line between bays 3 & 4 in your right wing mirror, or until you

think that you may cross the line between bays 4 & 5

If at any point you think you will cross a line. You may select 1st gear and creep forward

while making the necessary correction. Don’t stare in one direction for longer than

necessary, i.e. 4 seconds else you will miss a lot of changes in other directions. Throughout this manoeuvre, move very slowly, but turn the wheel a lot to effect any changes

in your position. Also listen for the sounds of other vehicles and continuously look out for

pedestrians.

Move slowly, steer briskly. Get one side of the car into the bay keeping it close to the line and

then look for the line on the other side. If there is a big gap between the rear end of the car

and the line, it means that you are very likely to cross into the bay on the other side. If after

moving about one third of a car length, the line on the other side has still not appeared in the

wing mirror, select 1st gear and creep forward while steering quickly in an attempt to bring

the lines on both sides of the car into view in both wing mirrors. As soon as that happens

straighten the wheel and pause. Compare the gaps on both sides and then make further

corrections either by creeping forwards and then backwards or just by going backwards into

the bay.