Newslink March

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slowly. When teaching reverse bay
parking, allow time for pupils to try to
work out how to correct their position.
For example, nobody said you have to
reverse into the bay in one go. Think
about how you would reverse between
two cars; do you do it in one go or do
you take a shunt forward to allow you to
re-position your car before reversing
between them? Many learners struggle to
think which way their front wheels are
facing, so it is often easier to allow them
to drive forward so that they can work it
out for themselves.
It’s funny, but we don’t really think too
much about how to steer when driving
forward, but we do when reversing.
I always think it is just as important to
know how to correct manoeuvres as it is
how to do it first time. This is because if
something happens while they are on
their test, they should have the
confidence to correct it, not to say after
they have passed their test too.
Understanding the length of your own
vehicle plays an essential part in
reversing into a bay, so don’t be afraid to
position the car for a reverse park and
get out of the car to see where the back
of the car is positioned in relation to the
bay you are going to reverse in to. Also,
making links to what has been learnt in
other subjects will also help.
For example: the point of turn for a
forward bay park. Imagine turning left
from main road into a side road. What
would happen if you turned too early or
late? Likewise, can your pupil link turning
right into a side road to a forward bay
park to the right? Where would they
begin to turn to avoid cutting the corner?
‘‘
Although both faults are
relatively easy to identify,
they are not always so easy
to analyse, because they can
often be to do with a lack of
confidence...
‘‘
The right reverse exercise (the pull up
on the right and reverse two car lengths)
is a good one to include in the first few
lessons, as it will add variety to moving off
and stopping and is a good introduction to
reversing. After all, reversing is also a
moving off and stopping exercise.
Again you can link the blind spot check
from the moving off from the left to
moving off from the right. It shows that
our learners are thinking about what they
are learning and how to adapt these
skills.
Before we finish, a quick word about
the turn in the road. I know it’s no longer
a test requirement but it contains
essential skills that will help in all
manner of situations.
It can also be used as a steering
exercise for new learners. I recently had
a lad who struggled to emerge from
junctions while using clutch control, but
he could move off from the kerb under
control, so I used the dual clutch while
he did the steering. It made a huge
difference and it wasn’t long before he
could deal with emerging on his own.
The inclusion of bay parking has meant
we can use the time wisely during our
lessons. We can use them for feedback
sessions on what we have been working
on before we parked and the bay park
doesn’t have to be the focus.
The more someone does something,
the less likely they are to worry about it,
just like roundabouts. So including at
least one manoeuvre to your lesson
should make them seem less daunting
on the day of the test.
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