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Make sure you are familiar with the controls of the car and the gears, as this will be the first time that you put this equipment into action. One of the hardest things about driving is stopping and starting safely, so once you have mastered this you will be well on your way to passing your test. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXB7WwwO8wQ Moving off – on the flatTo get yourself and the car ready to move, and to make sure it is safe to start it is a good idea to follow a set routine. Here we will explain a routine called Prepare, Observe, Manoeuvre (POM) which is a routine you can use each time you prepare to start to move off in the car. PrepareThe first thing you need to do is get the car ready to move, and this is done through reaching the biting point. To do this, follow these simple steps:
ObserveYou now have the car ready to move, but now you need to make sure that the surroundings are safe for you to move off into. In the observe stage of the routine, you are checking for other vehicles, pedestrians or even animals that might be also using the road and whom you need to be aware of. You also need to check for objects that don’t move – such as parked cars, bollards, and dustbins. A good routine to do as part of the observe stage is the six-point check (this list refers to if you are parked on the left and are moving to the right, do these in reverse if you are parked on the right):
During your observations, you might notice that a car is about to move near you, or you have spotted a person approaching your car. In these cases, it is a good idea to wait until the coast is clear so you can move off without any disturbances. Once your observations are complete and you have decided it is safe to move off decide whether or not you need to signal your movement – either with a left or right indicator depending on which direction you are going. You only need to signal if other drivers or pedestrians would benefit, and remember to only signal when you are ready to move off to avoid confusion to other road users. How do I check my blind spot? ManoeuvreHaving prepared and observed, you are now ready to manoeuvre. Here is how you do it:
Moving off – uphill & downhillUphillMoving off uphill is a little trickier but you will soon get the hang of it. The key is to apply more pressure to the accelerator and to let your foot off the clutch much slower in order to make the car move. It can be easy to panic if you roll backwards on an uphill start but all you need to do is to bring up to clutch slightly and your car will remain stable, and then raise the clutch to get the car going. DownhillIf you are setting off from a downhill position you don’t need to find the biting point. The routine is similar to that above however instead during the ‘prepare’ stage you need to engage the foot brake, instead of finding the biting point, to prepare the car for moving off. Observe in the same six-point step (checking all of your mirrors and your blind spots) and then it is time to manoeuvre. When you are ready, move your right foot from the foot brake to the accelerator – you will feel the car slowly move forward. Slowly bring up the clutch pedal as the car starts moving – if the hill is steep you need to bring the clutch up quicker. Now you are moving, get the car in the normal driving position (NDP). If you are on a small hill and the car doesn’t start rolling you will need to find the biting point to get the car moving. Now you know how to move off, you need to know how to stop. The key to stopping safely is planning ahead and identifying a safe, convenient and legal place to stop. Apart from when conducting an emergency stop, you should always use the Mirrors Signal Manoeuvre (MSM) routine when stopping. When stopping at the side of the road you need to practice the SCALP routine – this stands for Safe Convenient and Legal Position. This is to show consideration to other drivers and to keep yourself and others safe – so only stop where it is safe, convenient and legal to do so. Here we will run through what you need to do to safely stop in a normal driving scenario. MirrorsDepending on whether you are stopping on the left or the right you need to check both the interior mirror and the corresponding wing mirror. SignalIt may not always be necessary to signal when stopping – so make sure you check if there are any other vehicles or pedestrians that would benefit from a signal. If there is a car behind you then you will need to indicate to them that you are stopping and pulling over, so use your indicator to signal to them what you intend to do. Be careful not to indicate too early otherwise, this might be confusing to other drivers and pedestrians (for example, if there is a road approaching and you are intending to stop after this road make sure you signal once you are past this road). ManoeuvreYou have identified a safe place to stop, checked your mirrors and signalled if you needed to – now it is time to stop. Follow these steps for a smooth and safe stopping procedure:
SummaryYou are now fully clued up on the safest way to move off and stop. Here is a quick summary to remember what you have learnt: Move off = POM
Stopping = MSM
What does it mean to move off in a car?' a lot - it means 'Get to the appropriate speed in good time. ' You need to do this after turning into a road, changing gear or anything else that causes you to slow down and therefore affect other road users. During your test, your examiner will probably ask you to pull over and then move off again several times.
How do you move off smoothly in a manual car?Set the gas above 1 and a half, raise the clutch to the biting point, then smoothly release the clutch as you accelerate more. Pressing the gas more allows you to raise the clutch a little quicker which makes the car move off faster.
How do you pull off in an automatic car?If you're in an automatic car, depress the brake pedal to start the car. Next, switch the gearbox to 'D' for driving. The moment you lift your foot off the brake the car will start to move, so leave this for the moment.
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