The Manoeuvre
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If you are given this manoeuvre on your test, the examiner will begin by asking you to find somewhere safe and convenient to pull up on the left. Look carefully to find the best place on the stretch of road he has indicated. Make sure you do not pull up opposite a junction, across a driveway, on yellow lines, or anywhere else where you could cause an obstruction. Of course, at that point you have no way of knowing he is about to ask you to turn the car around, but it’s common sense anyway to make sure you stop in a suitable place.
When you have stopped, he will ask you to turn the car in the road to face the opposite direction using forward and reverse gears. He will ask you to try not to touch the kerb. If you are not sure what he has asked you to do, say so - he will be happy to repeat it and try to make it clearer for you.
This is what he is asking you to do:
Compose yourself.
Select first gear and prepare to move away as you normally would when driving off. Make sure you look thoroughly around the car. Remember you are about to move across the road so you need to make sure there are no cars within seeing distance who you may inconvenience and that there are no pedestrians on the pavement you would have to drive towards - if there are, stop and wait until they are out of the way.
When the road is clear, release the handbrake and, using clutch control (or brake control on an automatic), move the car VERY SLOWLY forward and steer full lock to the right.
As you cross the road, keep the car very slow and make sure you look up and down the road several times to make sure it is safe to continue. As you cross the centre of the road be ready to change quickly to brake control as the camber causes a downward slope - this change can be sudden and you need to be ready for it. However, try to keep the car moving as too much stopping and starting could be considered loss of control.
About one to two metres before the opposite kerb, steer full lock to the left - using very quick steering whilst keeping the car slow. This is really what they are testing you for - to see if you can co-ordinate the steering and pedals whilst keeping observations going and keeping the car safe. However, the car must be movingwhilst you steer. Steering with the car stopped is called 'dry steering', causes damage to the tyres and means you will not know which way the front wheels are facing. It takes practice, but you will do it.
When you have completed the steering and you are a few inches from the kerb, stop the car and push the clutch right down. Pull on the handbrake. Select reverse gear. Find your clutch biting point. Now look all around the car, making sure you check behind before starting to move backwards. Remember to look for pedestrians who may be about to pass behind the car.
If it’s safe, release the handbrake and move the car slowly across the road, using clutch and brake control, and making regular observations up and down the road to make sure it continues to be safe.
As you cross the centre of the road, turn your head to look up and down the road and finish up looking out of the offside rear window. You will find it is much easier to see the kerb this way than by looking out of the back window.
When the rear wheels are about one to two metres from the kerb, steer quickly full lock to the right whilst keeping the car slow but moving. When you have finished steering, stop the car before the wheels touch the kerb and push the clutch right down. Now pull on the handbrake. Select first gear. Find your clutch biting point.
Look carefully up and down the road. If it is all clear or you can see that any waiting cars are continuing to wait for you, release the handbrake and move off. Remember, however, that if the road is particularly narrow, you may need to cross the road forwards and backwards again before you have space to move off without mounting the kerb.
If any vehicles appear during the course of the manoeuvre, don’t panic and try to rush things to get out of their way. You should be turning in a place where they will have seen you in plenty of time and will able to stop and wait for you to finish.
If you are already crossing the road when they appear, keep an eye on any approaching vehicles just to make sure they have actually seen you, and if there is no room for them to pass either side of you, just continue the manoeuvre. If you are stopped at either side of the road and there is room for other vehicles to get through, look and see if they are going to continue to wait for you to finish or if they are going to go through the gap. Try not to over hesitate, however, and do NOT wave anyone through.
When you have finished the manoeuvre, there is no need to pull over and stop unless, for some reason, the examiner asks you to do so. Just drive off as normal.
