Reversing around corner

daretodream

I had this mastered but every practice I do lately leaves me in the middle of the road. Like the reverse is fine but as I keep going backwards, I drift to the middle of the road, which is a Grade 3. I can't book/afford any more lessons... Just can't seem to keep the car straight. So stupid. Where am I going wrong, anyone?

markmoto

daretodream wrote: »

I had this mastered but every practice I do lately leaves me in the middle of the road. Like the reverse is fine but as I keep going backwards, I drift to the middle of the road, which is a Grade 3. I can't book/afford any more lessons... Just can't seem to keep the car straight. So stupid. Where am I going wrong, anyone?

Little bit more practice, play free driving game on large screen.
There is few but check this out
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.boombitgames.DrivingSchoolParking&hl=en&gl=US

MascotDec85

Give this a watch

https://youtu.be/rX0HkKJ0kpk

TrangiaCoffee

daretodream wrote: »

I had this mastered but every practice I do lately leaves me in the middle of the road. Like the reverse is fine but as I keep going backwards, I drift to the middle of the road, which is a Grade 3. I can't book/afford any more lessons... Just can't seem to keep the car straight. So stupid. Where am I going wrong, anyone?

Are you in a different car now to when you mastered it beforehand?

Just take note of the angle of the side of your car to the kerb in the wing mirror view. It may look as if it is parallel but might not be in reality.

clobber

How exact are they in the test for this manouvere. I mean yeah, reverse around, don't hit kerb, observations and then straighten up. All that

What other pitfalls are there to it

terminator74

clobber wrote: »

How exact are they in the test for this manouvere. I mean yeah, reverse around, don't hit kerb, observations and then straighten up. All that

What other pitfalls are there to it

Awareness of other traffic or pedestrians is key. If a another car passes or is in proximity you need to pause. Then redo your observation routine again.

While your wing mirrors are key for keeping the kerb in view, make sure you look out the back window a number of times.

When you finish its important to do all your observation routines again before setting off.

clobber

Thanks

Yeah so observations aside, I'm guessing then the proximity to the kerb thing I was taught in training is only a worse case scenario i.e allowing me some lee way in the actual test.

Once you stay on your side of road, go round corner, avoid kerb and the eventually straighten up at end then its mission accomplished?

clobber

tphase wrote: »

it's easier to do than to describe

Yeah all about the practice. Just saying it wouldn't be that technical in most real life situations.

Gooser14

daretodream wrote:

I had this mastered but every practice I do lately leaves me in the middle of the road. Like the reverse is fine but as I keep going backwards, I drift to the middle of the road, which is a Grade 3. I can't book/afford any more lessons... Just can't seem to keep the car straight. So stupid. Where am I going wrong, anyone?

Adjust your passanger side door mirror downwards so that you can see the kerb before starting the manaouver. Don't forget to readjust the mirror on completion of the reversing exercise.

thesimpsons

Make reversing part of every drive you go on. reverse into parking spaces, driveway, practice in an empty carpark between the lines, it will eventually become second nature

daretodream

terminator74 wrote: »

Awareness of other traffic or pedestrians is key. If a another car passes or is in proximity you need to pause. Then redo your observation routine again.

Would failure to do above result in a Grade 3 Observation fault?

terminator74

daretodream wrote: »

terminator74 wrote: »

Awareness of other traffic or pedestrians is key. If a another car passes or is in proximity you need to pause. Then redo your observation routine again.

Would failure to do above result in a Grade 3 Observation fault?

I'm not sure - if a car or pedestrian ended up in close proximity to your vehicle due to poor observation it may result in a grade 3 for Failure to React to Hazards. -

BobbyBolivia

Go very slow, very slow.

Reverse and when you stop seeing the curb in your wing mirror, start slowly turning until you see it again. This saves you from adjusting the mirror down and forgetting to readjust.

Pull your windows down so you hear any oncoming traffic and when a car is approaching stop the manoeuvre.

MascotDec85

daretodream wrote: »

terminator74 wrote: »

Awareness of other traffic or pedestrians is key. If a another car passes or is in proximity you need to pause. Then redo your observation routine again.

Would failure to do above result in a Grade 3 Observation fault?

Observation if you don’t see the approaching person/vehicle
Right of Way if you see it but don’t deal with it correctly.

J_R

Hi,

If the OP came on here and posted that he could not drive in a straight line, that he always ended up on the right hand side of the road what advice would he receive ?

The original purpose of the "reverse corner" in the test was to check the ability of the candidate to "reverse into a limited opening". This simply meant able to safely reverse in a straight line then turn into a lane-way, driveway, roadway, whatever.

Unfortunately for the driving test this has now morphed into closely following a kerb around a corner. And quite a few learners concentrate on this aspect without first learning the very basics of reversing. First they should learn to reverse in a straight line then curves then into driveways etc Only when totally happy and confident with their reversing into lane-ways etc should they prepare themselves for the driving test "reverse around a corner" exercise. And then if necessary use the left mirror to check their position relevant to the kerb - about two feet.

When I was an instructor I knew that a certain examiner might give a pupil a grade 2 for their reverse. (He obviously liked to see them keep really close to the kerb, The instructions he gave to a pupil once was to "Drive past the road on the left and PARK, then reverse back etc. I reported this to the supervisor but all he said was that it obviously was just "A slip of the tongue" and nothing appeared to change, still got the odd grade 2)

I continued to teach my pupils to reverse keeping roughly two-thirds of a door width from the kerb. This gave a little leeway for errors.

My opinion, learners spend far too much time trying to perfect this "corner reverse", time would be better spent on other more important aspects of driving. Provided they keep "reasonably close" to the kerb and maintain good obs they should be fine. Even if they get an examiner that thinks they should reverse a parking distance form the kerb worse that can happen, they get a grade 2.

Timfy

Don't panic... it will come.

I took my lessons and test late in life and whilst I could parallel park, reverse into tight spaces etc when it came to reversing around a corner I was like an oil tanker that had lost power! I used to be all over the road!

I later realised that in my case the problem was that my car (Captur) is slightly "wasp waisted" and when looking in the mirrors it never seemed lined up with the kerb. The rear door handle was however parallel and it was that that I used as my reference, keeping it aligned to the kerb and about 50cm clear of the side of the road.

As other posters have stated, awareness of traffic and pedestrians is key. Manoeuvre slowly and make a show of your observations.

clobber

J_R wrote: »

Hi,

If the OP came on here and posted that he could not drive in a straight line, that he always ended up on the right hand side of the road what advice would he receive ?

The original purpose of the "reverse corner" in the test was to check the ability of the candidate to "reverse into a limited opening". This simply meant able to safely reverse in a straight line then turn into a lane-way, driveway, roadway, whatever.

Couldn't have put it better myself. I reversed a pick up into a laneway on practice. Done what I needed to do. Came to lessons it in a smaller car it was all about the kerb and staying straight. I thought mountain out of a molehill but glad someone else here follows me

Wishbone Ash

clobber wrote: »

...Once you stay on your side of road, go round corner, avoid kerb and the eventually straighten up at end then its mission accomplished?

You omitted the most important aspect of the reversing manoeuvre. A reversing motorist has no right of way and must yield to all other road users. The tester will be checking your observational skills more than your actual reversing skills.

ebbsy

Dane Tyghe has a great video on YouTube on this part of the test.

clobber

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

You omitted the most important aspect of the reversing manoeuvre. A reversing motorist has no right of way and must yield to all other road users. The tester will be checking your observational skills more than your actual reversing skills.

Yeah I know, that's why I said observation stuff aside, just concerned about the practical stuff of the manouvere thus allowing more time to concentrate on the observational stuff if that makes sense. Obviously not going to reverse over someone. Once I know what I can and cant do in the practical bit or what i will fail on then it will allow me better focus on the observation.

Every bit of the test has observation as part of it so Im not forgetting about that part

J_R

clobber wrote: »

Couldn't have put it better myself. I reversed a pick up into a laneway on practice. Done what I needed to do. Came to lessons it in a smaller car it was all about the kerb and staying straight. I thought mountain out of a molehill but glad someone else here follows me

Hi,

Total basic common sense. If you reverse into a lane that way you are automatically going to be looking in the correct direction. Odd quick glance all around and your observation is perfect.

Another benefit is that you will discover the different way the car handles/steers in reverse, which might not become apparent to a learner who is creeping around a concrete kerb.

clobber

J_R wrote: »

Hi,

Total basic common sense. If you reverse into a lane that way you are automatically going to be looking in the correct direction. Odd quick glance all around and your observation is perfect.

Another benefit is that you will discover the different way the car handles/steers in reverse, which might not become apparent to a learner who is creeping around a concrete kerb.

Completely agree and understand but instructors are performing the manouvere based on this approach and this looks solely to be linked to the test. I don't know otherwise because I'm not worried about the real life situation that you speak about there.