Driving In A Town Centre – inc. all 4 Driving Test Manoeuvres | Extended Drives

In this video, Mat will be driving for  30 minutes in a town centre, in his Ford   Fiesta – which has a petrol engine and a manual  gearbox. There will be a mixture of roads,   junctions, roundabouts and hazards – and he  will try to drive confidently and safely.   He will also be completing all four manoeuvres  that are currently used in the UK Driving Test,   so watch out for those. This is quite a long video  – so if you want to jump to a particular point,   use the YouTube chapters in the video timeline,  or the links in the video description below.   Before we get started, make sure  you subscribe to our channel   and click the bell so you are alerted  when we upload a new video. Also,   we love to read your comments – so please scroll  down and let us know what you think.

Let’s go! For this video we used 6 cameras,  to capture as much as possible.   Here you can see that I’m using a little clutch  control to drive slowly in this small car park. I always ‘set the gas’ before biting the clutch,   to ensure I have enough engine  power to move off easily. We have also filmed the front and  rear view outside, and what I can see   from the driver's seat – including  the right and centre mirrors. Since the traffic lights are green,   the car in front should enter the junction –  but I’m happy to wait until they are ready.

We have added the speed limit to the on-screen  graphics – and you can see it is a 20 limit here. I’m happy to keep my speed low in areas like this,   just in case someone else is  in a rush and makes a mistake. This is a one-way street, but the signs  are clear and show me where I must go. I see the black hearse trying to reverse,   so I wait for a moment in case  the driver hasn’t seen me. The speed limit has changed to 30 here, but  don’t think of it as some kind of target.   It’s OK to go slower if necessary. At this roundabout, we will turn left, 1st exit.

I always pre-select 1st gear just before the  car stops, so I am ready to pull away promptly. I intend to turn right at the next  roundabout, so get into lane fairly early. I spot the people walking in the road, so  I stay in 2nd gear and drive carefully. This area has a lot of double-parked  cars – so I look as far ahead as possible   and plan where to pass oncoming traffic. I always  like to say thanks if someone helps me out. Here I spot the car behind us and indicate  right so they know we haven’t parked   and intend to drive on. I use 2nd gear a lot in areas like this, as it  is very flexible and can go from almost walking   pace to about 30. Using 3rd might save a little  fuel, but would mean a lot more gear changing. After turning left, I am hoping  to do a parallel park on the left. It’s important to keep looking all around the car,  just in case a pedestrian or vehicle approaches. There is no need to indicate when  pulling away if there is no-one nearby. No-one has priority in this situation,   so I am happy to wait if the  other driver wants to go first.

At the next roundabout, I want to turn  left. As always I follow the Mirror,   Signal, Manoeuvre routine to ensure it’s safe. More double-parked cars – so I stay in 2nd  again, and then change up once the road is clear. The road is about to go downhill,  but it’s not too steep so I stay in   3rd gear and use the engine braking  to keep the car’s speed in control. The next corner is fairly tight and is followed  by another downhill – so I am going to select   2nd gear for more engine braking.

Watch out for a  little ‘rev-match’ to keep the gear change smooth. I’m going to turn left at the traffic  lights, but I don’t indicate yet as I   don’t want to mislead anyone that  I’m going into the petrol station. This road goes uphill towards the roundabout,  so I try to anticipate the traffic flow   and keep moving forward slowly  with a little clutch control. Watch out for the 20 limit sign on  the left – many drivers miss this,   and then accidentally speed on this  wide road. Not good on a Driving Test! I never squeeze through tight gaps  like this, as it would be easy to do   thousands of pounds of damage. I’m happy  to wait a few seconds until it’s safe. This is a one-way street – I’m  not sure the cyclist cares though… Can you see the blue signs? Which way do  I have to turn at the end of this road? Always take the time to look both ways.

Even  though this is a one-way street there might be   something in the road, like a pedestrian  or another cyclist going the wrong way. Even though I could use 3rd  gear at this speed, I prefer   to stay in 2nd as it helps me control my speed. Because this is another one-way road, I  should use the right lane to turn right. This roundabout is fairly busy, but I’d  rather be patient than take a risk by rushing. According to the car, I’m doing  29mph in a 30 limit – but watch   how the car behind still overtakes us anyway. I’m going to turn left and then  park in the multi-storey car park. This entrance is very tight, so I’m careful  not to scrape a kerb with my wheels! I spot a space on the right between  two cars, and I’m going to reverse in,   as it will be much easier  to leave the bay afterwards. Notice that I’m only using the clutch to   move the car – no accelerator is  needed when going this slowly.

I’m going straight ahead at the next  roundabout – notice the road markings? The next roundabout has poor  visibility to the right,   so I slow right down in case I need to Give Way. The small white sign shows which lane to use  – I don’t think the car in front has seen it… I’m going to turn right at the roundabout,  but which way is the black car going?   Their lane discipline was quite misleading  and almost blocked me from passing.   This is why we should steer  precisely and stay in our lane. Wide and clear roads like these  are very easy to speed on. I see the pedestrian crossing, and  keep an eye out for anyone nearby… I stay behind the turning lorry, in case  he needs more room to make his turn. I’m going to do a forwards  bay park in this car park.   This is much easier if there are  clear bays on either side of our bay.

The last driving test manoeuvre is the  ‘right reverse’ – let’s do it here. I must be patient and wait until it’s safe to  reverse. Reversing towards oncoming traffic   or a pedestrian might cause danger,  and I don’t want to scare anyone! Reversing very slowly makes it much easier  to steer carefully and keep looking around. I’m in no rush, and happy to wait for  the man to finish crossing the road. I didn’t know about this road closure  – I guess I’ll turn right then! Back along this wide road  with a 20mph limit again.   It does feel very slow at this speed,  but I must stay under the limit! I check my mirrors before moving off –  just in case a cyclist is squeezing past. One last right turn, before we stop. We hope you found this video interesting. If you  would like to learn more about any of the driving   or manoeuvering skills seen in this video, then  please visit our channel as there are over 100   more tutorial videos to help you improve  your driving. If you haven’t already,   please subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss  our next video.

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