3 questions about driving

booksale

Because my friend and my instructor told me different things, so, want to have a clear understanding:

1. Do I stop before I enter into the round-about?

2. Do I need to check the mirrors (rear and side) before I INDICATE? Why?

And one thing I found difficult to do:

I was asked to have my foot off the accelerator when press down the clutch. But then I was asked also to maintain the same speed (but not to slow down) when I change the gear (up). Well, but how can I have my foot off the accelerator but still maintain the same speed? Was I changing too slowly that the speed decreased before I finished the changing? Do I need to do it more quicker or what's the problem with me?

THANKS.

The Big Red Button

booksale wrote: »

Because my friend and my instructor told me different things, so, want to have a clear understanding:

1. Do I stop before I enter into the round-about?

2. Do I need to check the mirrors (rear and side) before I INDICATE? Why?

And one thing I found difficult to do:

I was asked to have my foot off the accelerator when press down the clutch. But then I was asked also to maintain the same speed (but not to slow down) when I change the gear (up). Well, but how can I have my foot off the accelerator but still maintain the same speed? Was I changing too slowly that the speed decreased before I finished the changing? Do I need to do it more quicker or what's the problem with me?

THANKS.

1. No, not necessarily. The whole idea of roundabouts is to keep the traffic flowing. You only stop to give way to traffic coming from the right (well, hopefully it shouldn't be coming from any other direction! :eek:) If there is nothing coming, you do not stop, and you would be penalised in the driving test for doing so.

2. Yes, you do. When you're indicating, you're making other drivers aware of your intention to make some maneuvere (make a turn, change lanes, whatever.) It is pointless to make them aware of this unless you are sure that you can make the maneuvere safely. Therefore you check the mirrors for cyclists/cars coming up the side of your car, large vehicles approaching you too fast from behind, that sort of thing. When you're sure that the maneuvere is safe, you indicate. (Remember, indicating shows your intentions ... it does not give you any right of way.) Apart from anything else, say for example if you were to indicate left without checking your mirrors and a car was coming up fast behind you in a lane on your left? He could get spooked seeing you indicating and make some f*ck-up leading to an accident. Anyways, apart from all the sensible practical reasons that you should check your mirrors before indicating, you'll fail your test if you don't.

booksale

THANKS, very clear. Just one question re:

chatterpillar wrote: »

1. No, not necessarily. The whole idea of roundabouts is to keep the traffic flowing. You only stop to give way to traffic coming from the right (well, hopefully it shouldn't be coming from any other direction! :eek:) If there is nothing coming, you do not stop, and you would be penalised in the driving test for doing so.

What about a car just entering the round-about in the opposite exit? Do I need to wait until he leaves the round about / pass-by me?


Yes, I was telling my friend about the reasons for indication (similar to your ones) but can't verbalise that clearly as yours. THANKS.

And any idea about the not slowing down when foot off the accelerator?

The Big Red Button

booksale wrote: »

THANKS, very clear. Just one question re:

1. No, not necessarily. The whole idea of roundabouts is to keep the traffic flowing. You only stop to give way to traffic coming from the right (well, hopefully it shouldn't be coming from any other direction! :eek:) If there is nothing coming, you do not stop, and you would be penalised in the driving test for doing so.

What about a car just entering the round-about in the opposite exit? Do I need to wait until he leaves the round about / pass-by me?

You definitely don't necessarily have to. It's a matter of exercising your judgement, if you are coming up to the roundabout and they are coming onto it from the opposite side, you won't need to stop unless if, by continuing, you will force them to brake or slow down. Basically if you will interrupt their driving, you wait and give them the right of way. Otherwise you continue.

It does take some practice to get to a stage where you can judge your speed, their speed, and the general flow of traffic correctly. Until you can do so, it's safest for all involved if you err on the side of caution! But there is a section on the tester's marking sheet for Lack of Progress; if you stop at a roundabout when you don't need to, you will get marks against you for it.

booksale wrote: »

Yes, I was telling my friend about the reasons for indication (similar to your ones) but can't verbalise that clearly as yours. THANKS.

You're welcome!

booksale wrote: »

And any idea about the not slowing down when foot off the accelerator?

If I've interpreted it correctly, you're not changing gear quickly enough. It's probably just a matter of practice. It should be just one quick fluid movement (but not too fluid - my driving instructor said that I changed gears like an F1 driver! ) But yeah, it should come more naturally to you when you've been driving a bit longer.

Leeg17

chatterpillar wrote: »

If I've interpreted it correctly, you're not changing gear quickly enough. It's probably just a matter of practice. It should be just one quick fluid movement (but not too fluid - my driving instructor said that I changed gears like an F1 driver! ) But yeah, it should come more naturally to you when you've been driving a bit longer.

You shouldn't have your foot on the accelerator at all when you're pressing the clutch, you can press it down as you're raising the clutch. Make sure you don't raise the clutch too fast because the car tends to shudder a bit if you do this, and this happened alot for me when I was learning.

It just takes practice until you get comfortable with it and it becomes second nature

-Chris-

With regard to the clutch thing, bear in mind that depressing the clutch disconnects the engine from the gearbox (and therefore the wheels).
So, once the clutch is depressed, it doesn't matter if you're off the accellerator or if you've got your foot mashed to the floor, your car is still going to gradually slow down.

Whether you have the accellerator pressed or not (and you shouldn't) while you're changing gears doesn't make a difference to your speed. If you're slowing down while changing gears it's because you're taking too long with the clutch depressed.

booksale

Thank you, guys.