(Notes for Bristol Advanced Motorists Observers)

OBSERVERS:

For many drivers, and even so called ‘experienced' drivers, manoeuvring presents a horrific challenge.  It is difficult for many men as well as woman so before asking any Associate to carry out a manoeuvre you should make sure you carry out the following procedure.

1.    Make sure the manoeuvre is SCLP (try to remember ‘scalp') i.e., is what you are about to ask your Associate to do;

a.    Safe,

b.    Considerate,

c.    Legal,

d.    Possible.

2.    Brief the Associate as to what you want them to achieve and how you want them to achieve it.

3.    Guide them throughout the manoeuvre if you see they need it.  Don't let them flounder.

4.    Stop immediately after the manoeuvre and debrief.

Steering characteristics when reversing are very different from what we expect when going forward and as most of us spend comparatively little time reversing there is little opportunity for practice.  It requires a good degree of accuracy but references to the subject are scant to say the least and both the IAM handbook ‘HTBABD' and the police handbook Roadcraft offer no guidance on the subject.

Remember that - as in all manoeuvring - views should be taken over the shoulder as well as from the mirrors and it is also worth noting that almost all manoeuvring (especially with diesels) can be achieved without the use of the accelerator pedal.

The differing steering characteristics are explicated as follows;

1.    Forwards:
When the vehicle is moving forwards whilst turning the steering wheel counter clockwise to the left the nose of the vehicle moves off to the left. This is fairly obvious and it follows our natural expectations.

2.    Reverse:
However, when reversing and turning the steering wheel counter clockwise to the left the nose of the vehicle moves off to the right. For some drivers this action is contrary to their expectation and some may even feel a sense of disorientation leading to an over compensation of steering.

If your Associate is having difficulty it will often be caused by over compensating on steering as they try to counteract this ‘opposite' effect that the steering wheel now has on the sideways direction of the nose of their vehicle.  You will see them shuffling the steering first one way and then the other resulting in the front of the vehicle endlessly swinging in and out whilst the rear heads towards a bank or kerb.  You must nip this in the bud and the following may help in the process.  See also Steering.

As a short test and prelude, find a quiet area with a clear long straight pavement (Yate overflow car park on a Sunday is an ideal location for most manoeuvring practice) and ask the driver to draw up parallel to, and about 30cm from the kerb with the pavement on their left.  Next, ask them to reverse along the kerb for 30-40m keeping their vehicle the same distance from the kerb and make a note of their steering.  Is it steady and controlled or are they over-compensating?

In this short test steering adjustment of more than 12.5% (¹/₈ of a turn) in either direction should be unnecessary.  The key to steering control in all manoeuvring except 3 point turns is ‘slow vehicle - slow steering' and this is how ‘reversing round a corner' should be approached.  Note that if your Associate is new to ‘Skill for Life' you should ensure that they stop the vehicle before beginning manoeuvres.

You should normally precede this manoeuvre by considering the ‘SCLP ‘ element before telling the Associate that "...I would like you to reverse round the corner and then park the vehicle as if you are going to leave it for the day".

1.    Assuming a left hand reversing manoeuvre; find a quiet area with clear straight pavements as above and ask the driver to draw up and park their vehicle about 30cm from the kerb with the pavement on their left in preparation to reversing round the corner.

2.    Once parked get them to look over their shoulder to the kerb behind and then ask them to make a mental note of exactly where their rear wiper or lower rear windscreen bisects a line from the kerb to their line of sight.  You may want to suggest that they place a small sticker to this point as this will assist them in judging the vehicle's distance from the kerb in future manoeuvres.

3.    Ask them to begin the manoeuvre and, keeping the kerb in sight, wait until it (the kerb) disappears from their over-shoulder view.  This is the point where they should begin to use nearside mirror in addition to over-shoulder observations.  Please be aware that if your Associate lowers their nearside mirror as an aid to this manoeuvre (and this is perfectly acceptable) you should make a note if they fail to return it to the driving position before moving off after completing the manoeuvre as this could lead to a test failure if the rest of the drive was substandard.  (In my experience those who do lower their mirror usually do forget!)

4.    They should now begin to turn the steering wheel counter clockwise about ¾ of a full rotation (approximately 1 ½ movements of mirrored steering) in the direction of the turn and aim to maintain a distance of 30-40cm between the kerb and the rear wheel but remember that the front will naturally be slightly further out than the rear in this manoeuvre.  Counsel against large and over compensating bites of the steering wheel in favour of small, slow, smooth and progressive steering control.

5.    Watch what happens to the front of the vehicle.  Is it swinging out and away from the kerb (indicating over compensation) or are they able to keep an approximate distance of 40cm or so?  This is a really important point so monitor it carefully and keep at it until they get it right.

6.    When the kerb begins to straighten out behind they should begin to return the steering wheel to its centre position with just enough steering control to bring the tyres about 10-15cm from the kerb once parked.    GKB 2013