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IV30 5GP
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Exercise 6
This is a dual exercise involving two separate exercises, the examiner will make this clear as he explains what is required. His explanation will be similar to the following:
"I would like you to imagine I have been having driving lessons in a car like this so I am conversant with the controls. This week my instructor was going to teach me two separate exercises. He was going to give me practical instruction in the use of the mirrors and teach me how to do an emergency stop. Will you teach me both those subjects as if I haven't previously been taught them?"
We now have to consider what he needs to know about each of these subjects, then we must find out how much he knows already. Taking what he knows away from what he needs to know will leave us with what we need to teach him. I would begin by clearing up the mirrors. I would ask, has your instructor shown you how to adjust the mirrors? Do you know about the field of view you have with each mirror and where the blind spots are? Are you aware of the different type of glass you can have in mirrors, such as convex and flat and the advantages and disadvantages of each?. Hopefully we should receive a positive response to each of those questions, if however we receive a negative response then we shall know where to begin. Otherwise we will start by using the following explanation.
The mirrors are the driver's third eye and must be used effectively before the driver carries out any intended manoeuvre. A manoeuvre is any change of speed or direction. Therefore the mirrors (all three of them) must be used:
1) Before moving off either from the kerb or in traffic.
2) Well before changing speed, that is before accelerating and before slowing down or stopping.
3) Well before changing direction, that is well before changing lanes to the right or left. Well before deviating to pass a stationary vehicle or overtaking a moving vehicle. Before turning right or left.
4) Well before we give any signal and before we, or any of our passengers, open a car door.
We have a mnemonic code M S M which stands for Mirror Signal Manoeuvre you may have heard of that. Now we must use the mirrors effectively that means looking in them early enough to see if there is a need to signal and if it is safe to signal. You would not signal if another driver is in the act of overtaking. After giving the signal you must check again in order to see if other drivers are acting on your signal because your signal does not entitle you to carry out your intended manoeuvre. It is still the driver's responsibility to ensure it is safe. For example if we were travelling along a road and we intended to turn off into a road on the right. We would need to check the mirrors before signalling, again before taking up our position in the road and on reaching the corner we would need to check again before beginning the turn. Have you any questions? If any questions are asked, deal with them. Finally explain that you will be giving him practical instruction once we move off.
Next deal with the emergency stop. Begin by asking, "Have you had a natural emergency during your lessons?" You will probably receive a negative answer. You will then say,"Good drivers seldom need to carry out emergency stops if they are reading the road correctly, but we need to know how to do one and the potential dangers involved so I will explain. No doubt you will have seen the braking distance scales in the Highway Code and noticed the Overall Stopping Distances consist of two components: Thinking Distance and Braking Distance."
Thinking Distance is the distance the car will travel from the moment you see the need for an emergency stop and your foot actually starting to press the footbrake. The car will travel approximately 1 FOOT for every MILE PER HOUR OF YOUR SPEED. Which means if you were travelling at 30 MPH and just about to pass the rear of a double deck bus, and a pedestrian walked into your path at the front of the bus, you would hit the pedestrian before you had started to brake. So you can see it is important to maintain quick reactions. Your reaction time will be slower if you are: tired, ill, under the influence of drugs or drink. Therefore unless you are feeling 100% fit, you should not be driving.
Braking Distance is the distance the car will travel after you have applied the brakes before it actually stops.
Now we will explain how to do an emergency stop. As soon as you see the need for an emergency stop, you must react quickly by bringing your right foot across to the brake and quickly and progressively applying it. At the same time hold the steering wheel firmly keeping the vehicle in a straight line. Just before the vehicle stops press the clutch to prevent the engine from stalling. Once the vehicle has stopped make it secure by applying the handbrake and selecting neutral.
After the emergency, when you are ready to drive on. Remember you may be some distance from the kerb and there may be enough room for a vehicle to pass between you and the kerb. So check all three mirrors and both blind spots.
I will now explain why it is necessary to hold the steering firmly and apply the brakes progressively. Whenever we apply the brakes firmly there will be what we call a weight transference. That means most of the weight will be pressing down on the front wheels. This is because the wheels are trying to stop the vehicle but the body of the car and it’s occupants are still wanting to travel at the same speed and in the same direction. With more weight pressing down on the front wheels than the rear wheels, will mean the front tyres are gripping the road much better than the rear tyres. Therefore there could be a risk of the rear wheels locking. If that happens the car will be skidding and we shall have to immediately correct the skid. To correct the skid the driver must immediately remove the cause which was heavy braking. So you must release the brakes and if there has been any lateral movement with the rear of the car sliding to the right or left you must counteract that by turning the steering in the same direction. i.e. into the skid. (This should be demonstrated to the pupil with the aid of a diagram, or a book ,or a model car.) It is possible to cause a car to skid on a perfectly dry surface but it will skid more easily if the surface is less than perfect. For example: loose shale or pebbles, wet roads particularly after a long dry spell, near bus stops caused by diesel spillage, wet leaves, ice, snow, road markings, manhole covers.
The driver should always be monitoring the road surface and asking himself, what would happen now if an emergency arose, and he should adjust his speed accordingly. It is too late after the event. At this point I would invite questions and deal with them.
Next I would arrange a method of signalling with the pupil to indicate when I wanted him to do an emergency stop.When I want you to stop as in an emergency, the signal will be like this. I then demonstrate by raising my right hand and calling STOP. When I do that I want you to stop immediately and under full control as though a child had run into the road. I would ask, do you understand?. You may receive questions such as: Have I to look in the mirror before I apply the brake? Will you check behind to see if there is anything following? Assure the pupil all he has to do is to react as he would in a real emergency. In a real emergency it would be better to save the life of the child than worry about the car, so this is the only instance when you do not have to make a special point of looking in the mirrors. I shall make sure there will be no danger before I give you the signal. You can then instruct the pupil to move off when he is ready.
You must remember that if anything happens as a result of the pupil reacting to a direct signal from you, then you must take full responsibility for any ensuing accident. Therefore it is important you realize a pupil doing an emergency stop for the first time, is an unknown quality and care should be taken. For the first time I give the signal at approximately 15 MPH. I always check the road ahead to see there are no parked cars, keep left bollards, road junctions etc. I also check the dual mirror and I turn around to check the blind spots. If I think the pupil is anticipating the signal because he has seen me looking round, then I don't give it, I look round again.
Once you have instructed the pupil to move off when he is ready, begin with your practical instruction in effective use of the mirrors. Your objective is to cultivate the pupil's judgement so help him by telling him to check his mirrors and what he should consider and what action to take under the circumstances. Later after he has had some practice, ask what he thinks, such as is it safe, should we signal or delay it, is it safe to take up position etc. If the pupil's thoughts are in accord with your own, give him feedback, if not correct him and express your views. The examiner is going to make mistakes in both subjects so it is up to you to watch for and correct any mistakes if you cannot prevent them. Faults in the emergency stop such as pressing the clutch too soon, holding the gear lever, slow reaction, making a point of looking in the mirror before braking, swerving. All faults must be corrected at the side of the road not in the middle of the road. After the vehicle has come to rest just ask the pupil to pull into the side while you discuss it with him. Do not forget to remind him to check both blind spots.
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