Manoeuvring Tips

So you have started your driving lessons, you’re quite handy at pulling away and reversing, and you’re feeling pretty confident overall about your general driving ability?

One of the next steps you’re going to face is the challenge of learning the manoeuvres. Many driving pupils will say that this was by far the hardest part of the learning to drive process, and many road-legal drivers describe this as the most nerve-wracking part of the Driving test.

So what can you expect from learning your manoeuvres? Here are Britannia’s top tips to help you out with this:

The UK Driving Syllabus has 4 Set Manoeuvres –these are:

– The Turn-In-The-Road (Often incorrectly called a 3-Point Turn) – This requires a good level of clutch control and reversing ability.
– Reversing Around A Corner – This requires a high standard of reversing and steering ability.
– Bay Parking – Trickier than it looks, but an essential manoeuvre for use on car parks.
– Parallel Parking – A notoriously awkward manoeuvre, but practice makes perfect!

Sometime the examiner will also ask to see an Emergency Stop, although this is not strictly labelled as a Set Manoeuvre.

Most instructors will advise you to leave manoeuvres until later on in your learning to drive process to ensure that you have mastered the basic controls of the operation of a car before attempting anything trickier.

For all of the above manoeuvres, a good deal of clutch control and steering control are essential to master these. You will also need a lot of patience, as it is unlikely you will have these perfected on the first try, but if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again! We are sure you will be an expert maneuverer in no time!

Safe driving from Britannia!

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