Guidance for rules for turning left??

MotoringAlong

Hi, failed the driving test last Thursday. Overall i felt i drove really well, had a pre test just beforehand and went on exact route I was taken so i knew what to expect.
Got a scattering of Grade 2s but a load of them for observation turning left which brought me down. Tester told me that at a number of corners even through there were yield signs he felt I should have stopped. I was down in second and crawling at a snails pace and only proceeded as I could see that it was clear - could have stopped safely at any point if needed. Some were blind corners so I was really going slowly and doing the usual peep and creep. Not sure what I could have done differently and would have thought if I stopped and changed back to first at every yield sign I would have been marked down for hesistancy?? he said once i got this sorted i would be flying.
Have applied again and requested a cancellation online - does this help to get another test quicker usually?

brian076

If you were crawling at snails pace you should probably have been in 1st gear. When emerging from a closed junction with a yield sign, you really need to be barely crawling and I don't see how you could do this in 2nd gear. Remember just because you go into 1st gear doesn't mean you have to stop, you can still keep the car moving, but only just, while peeping and creeping.

A common fault when turning left, is entering the new road while looking to your right, or what testers call "flying obs". This happens when you approach the junction too fast, you obviously look to your right to make sure that nothing is coming, but you don't give yourself enough time to look left before entering the new road and something could be approaching on the wrong side, ie overtaking a parked car.

Eventhough you may have felt that you were going slow enough, it's unlikely that you were, if still in 2nd gear.

DrivingInfo

If you can look at what Brian has here and ill help a little more:

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If you were crawling at snails pace you should probably have been in 1st gear. When emerging from a closed junction with a yield sign, you really need to be barely crawling and I don't see how you could do this in 2nd gear. Remember just because you go into 1st gear doesn't mean you have to stop, you can still keep the car moving, but only just, while peeping and creeping.

A common fault when turning left, is entering the new road while looking to your right, or what testers call "flying obs". This happens when you approach the junction too fast, you obviously look to your right to make sure that nothing is coming, but you don't give yourself enough time to look left before entering the new road and something could be approaching on the wrong side, ie overtaking a parked car.

Eventhough you may have felt that you were going slow enough, it's unlikely that you were, if still in 2nd gear.

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AS you can see Brian has made very good points and these things can change for every turn you encounter.
What i would add is:
On a driving test it always depends on the situation and how you deal with different situations. So you may be required to stop at some yield junctions due to poor visibility but others you would not stop due to different situations.
Reading your post you seem to know this, so i would have to ask about your observation.
Can you tell us what way you observed or how you observed and we will help best we can from here.

MotoringAlong

Thanks a million for the replies guys. I had always been told never to change down to first unless i have come to a complete stop and are restarting, hence I never changed down.
Do take your points completely though, I was probably over concentrating on checking to my right and didnt observe enough to my left.
Will take a couple of lessons again and hopefully nail it completely next time - think i am 99% there which is an achievement given that this time last year I thought I would never be able to drive!
On the question of cancellations do you guys have any idea how quickly they come around? Have an NCT due on my car start of August so am afraid with the backlog the NCT crowd have i wont have a valid disk when i do get a test date.

Kenny_D

About 4 weeks for a cancellation. I've got my cancellation test in just over 2 weeks (15 June). Prob 3-4 weeks in total from when I applied

MotoringAlong

Thanks GStormCrow. Did you just tick the box on the separate section where you can specify unavailability or did you call them directly to ask to be put on a cancellation list? If you get 2 weeks notice for a cancellation thats fantastic, I had visions of it just being a couple of days.

dudara

Ditto on what the guys said above. Make sure to check your left mirror and the road to the left. It's easy to forget as you're focussed on traffic from the right.

Plus, you said some were blind corners. I personally would always stop at these, regardless of whether there was a Yield sign or not.