Left Reverse

The examiner will ask you to pull up on the left just before a particular junction. Make sure you pull over safely using your mirrors and signalling if necessary. Do not stop too close to the junction as you will cause an obstruction to vehicles trying to exit - about ten metres before is fine as long as it is safe and you are not in a restricted zone such as yellow lines.

When you have stopped, the examiner will explain to you that he wants you to drive across the junction to the other side, stop the car and then reverse around the corner. If you are not sure what he is asking you to do, ask him to repeat it - he will be happy to do so.

Compose yourself.

Prepare to move away as normal. If it’s clear, move SLOWLY across the junction. As you cross over, you need to look for three things:

• 1) Look into the junction and make sure it is clear and that there are no obstructions, such as parked cars, which may get in the way as you reverse. If there is an obstruction which will make it impossible to do the manoeuvre, the examiner will say so and will ask you to drive on to find another corner. If there are cars there, but not so close to the junction as to be dangerous, he will say nothing but you need to be aware they are there.

• 2) Look at the corner. Note how sharp it is. When you reverse, the corner is difficult to see, it will help you if you already have an idea of how much steering you may need.

• 3) Look for a high point of turn. It will help when you are reversing if you can see at what point you will need to begin turning the wheel to the left. This point is called the ‘point of turn’ and you have reached it when the rear wheels get to the bend in the kerb. When you are reversing, you can’t see the kerb so you need something high which lines up with the bend so you can see when you have reached it.

When you reach the opposite side of the junction, pull over to the left about two car lengths past the junction - remembering to check your mirrors and signal as necessary. Make sure you stop with the car parallel to the kerb and about half a metre out - I cannot stress enough the importance of getting this right. If the car is too close to the kerb, you will be in danger of hitting it when you reverse, if it is too far out you are a danger to other road users. If the car is at an angle, you will find steering difficult as you begin to reverse. So please make sure you get this part right and it will help the rest of the manoeuvre.

When you have stopped, pull on the handbrake and select reverse gear. Find your clutch biting point.

Now look right around the car, starting by looking over your right shoulder, check the external right mirror, then look ahead and check the interior mirror, then check the exterior left mirror and finish by looking over your left shoulder out of the rear window. By doing your observations this way, you have looked right round the car in one movement - quick and easy. Keep a special eye out for pedestrians.

If it’s all clear, release the handbrake and, using brake and clutch control, reverse SLOWLY back towards the junction.

As you reverse, regularly look forwards and behind to check for approaching vehicles. If one appears, stop and wait for them to pass. It may help to have the window open so you can hear vehicles approaching.

One metre before the back of the car reaches your tall point of turn, be sure to look all the way around the car. This is because, when you reach the point of turn you are going to turn to the left, when you do this the front of the car will swing out into the road. Therefore, you must be sure it is clear before turning - this is very important, the examiner will look for you to do this.

Remember, if you wait until ‘after’ steering before looking round, you might miss a potential danger and cause an accident. So the timing of this observation is vital.

When the rear wheels are in line with your tall point of turn, keep the car moving slowly and turn the steering wheel to the left. Now, the big question is ‘how much?’ and this depends on how sharp the corner is.

On my teaching car I use a small, wide angle mirror stuck onto the left exterior mirror. This enables the driver to see the kerb and how far the wheels are from it. By keeping the car very slow, the driver can check this mirror regularly, as well as continuing to check behind and around the car, and make small adjustments to the steering to keep the car roughly the same distance from the kerb all the way around the corner.

As the car finishes coming around the corner, look out of the back window and keep steering left until the kerb is almost half way across the window in your line of view.

At this point begin to steer to the right, with the car still moving, until the front wheels are straight. Remember to continue checking around the car for other vehicles. When the front of the car is off the main road, you needn’t stop for cars passing the junction as you will be out of their way. However, if a vehicle signals to turn in then, or if a vehicle appears behind you, you must stop and wait for them to pass.

Now reverse in a straight line, keeping about half a metre from the kerb, until the car is at least two car lengths from the junction.

At this point, stop, apply the handbrake and put the gear lever into neutral. The car should now be parallel to the kerb and about half a metre out.

The examiner will thank you and ask you to move away, turning left or right at the junction. Remember to do your observations properly when you move away and remember to signal at the junction!

Right Reverse