Advice for passing your driving test

Contact your local Blackpool instructor on 01253 857465 or 07795 363583. You can also e-mail for more information

Pass your Driving Test - Our Top 10 Tips

It's very important to make sure that you're ready to pass before you take your driving test. One of the biggest causes of failure is poor preperation. You should be able to drive unaided, and perform all of the required driving manoeuvres before you book your test. You also need to make sure that you have as much private practice as possible, as well as plenty of high quality instruction from your local instructor!

Here you'll find our top 10 list of things to avoid on your driving test. These are the reasons why many people are unsuccessful . . . get them right, and they'll be the very reasons why you pass!

Your instructor will ensure that you have plenty of experience in all of these areas, so follow your driving instructors advice and you'll soon be on the road to success

Always take care at junctions

Whenever you have right of way over a junction such as a crossroads or where you see a side road, check your mirrors in case you have to make an emergency stop, and carry on as normal. If you are emerging at a junction, check your mirrors, use the ms-psl routine and slow down to give way at the junction if necessary. Your examiner will tell you in plenty of time of which direction to take. If you have to turn, check your mirrors, signal to turn, and slow down to take the turning. Remember to position yourself well for the turn, so as not to endanger or mislead other road users

Reversing

You need plenty of practice with these manoeuvres. As with all of the reversing manoeuvres, the purpose is to test your clutch control and control of the vehicle whilst moving backwards. Don’t go too fast, because the steering naturally turns when you are proceeding backwards, and that will cause you to loose control. Make sure you use your mirrors to check behind you before you start, and keep looking in front of you whilst you carry out the manoeuvre. Remember to give way to other road users if they approach during your manoeuvre

Control whilst steering

If you check on the fault list above, you will see that this category involves a lot of care of the steering wheel and the control of it. These are all bad habits that can be picked up in natural driving conditions, or from experienced drivers that drive wrongly. Don’t cross your hands on the wheel, let the wheel spin back after a turn or drive with any hands off the wheel for any longer than they have to be

Reverse parking

Arguably the hardest of the reverse manoeuvres, reverse parking is probably the most used on the road. As with all of the reversing manoeuvres, the purpose is to test your clutch control and control of the vehicle whilst moving backwards. Don’t go too fast, because the steering naturally turns when you are proceeding backwards, and that will cause you to loose control. Make sure you use your mirrors to check behind you before you start, and keep looking in front of you whilst you carry out the manoeuvre. Remember to give way to other road users if they approach during your manoeuvre, and that touching the kerb is not an instant fail, provided you are in control of the vehicle

Using the gears

Gears are very important to the control of the car in normal driving. Make sure you are in the right gear before you move away, as pulling out in third and stalling will cause you a world of problems and stress. If you are fortunate to have a Rev. counter in your test car, your engine should rarely go above 2000 revs during normal travel. If it is above or below this, you should change gear. Gears should never be used for braking unless you are in emergency situations, however, you should gear down on approach to junctions and traffic lights, not coast in and “block shift” back to first

Effective use of the mirrors

When should you use your mirror? Whenever you think “I’m about to do something”. Roughly speaking, between 25 and 50% of your driving time should be glancing in mirrors. If you spend any more, you are not paying enough attention to the road. Also, do not accentuate your looks at the mirrors. The examiner is trained to know when you are looking, and does not need you to swivel your head to tell them

Hesitation

It is understandable that you will be concerned about your speed. The examiner will fail you for driving over the speed limit if you do not need to, however, progressing at a “safe” speed of 25 mph, and building up a tail of traffic will also gain you a minor fault. Not noticing a de-restriction sign and continuing to drive at 30 despite other road users will be more serious. Pay attention to the prevailing road conditions and the actions of others

Crossing approaching traffic

As with anything that isn’t driving in a straight line, remember your mirrors. Look at them before you do anything. Then indicate and move to the right of the lane you are in (if you are testing in a larger vehicle, the more left you need to be). Wait for an appropriate gap in the oncoming traffic – you know how long it takes for you to turn right, the aim is not to hold other people up. If someone flashes you out, move as quickly as possible, or you may get a hesitancy point

Hesitation at junctions

As with turning right, you know how long it takes for you to pull away. In general you should be looking for a gap of 4-6 car lengths in the oncoming traffic, and move into that gap. If you don’t pull out, and have people behind you, you may get this point. If you don’t have people behind you, you may only get a hesitancy point

Moving off safely

Moving off can be a major problem for some people on a test. Your instructor will teach you the proper POM routine, so make sure that you use it correctly at all times. Always remember to take good, effective observations before you do anything. As with anything that isn’t driving in a straight line, remember your mirrors. Also remember to check any blind spots that you know to be on the vehicle before you move. Wheel-spinning, stalling or bouncing when moving away will show the examiner that you do not have sufficient control of the vehicle

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