How to turn in the road
Turning the car around to face the opposite direction
What is it?
The turn in the road is often referred to as the three point turn. You should be able to find a diagram of this in your books.
What skills do you already have?
Clutch control is important on this, hopefully you’ve already mastered this, but check first to see that you can easily find a bite point without pulling the car against the bite point. Steering is also important, and you should already be able to pull push steer quite smoothly and quickly. You may also have covered reversing, so you should remember the importance of observations and changing your seating position so you can see comfortably out the rear window while controlling the foot pedals.
What do you want to achieve?
The first time you do this, you should aim to be able to control the car during the turn in the road, and keep yourself safe while your instructor guides you. Once you have achieved this, you should try to do the manoeuvre more smoothly, while keeping the observations up throughout, as hopefully your instructor has to prompt you less and less until you can do this with no help.
Main Points:
Ask yourself ’is it safe’ to perform, or whether a better place could be chosen? Look around yourself to assess hazards.
There is usually no need for indicators for this manoeuvre, as you will not start while other people are around. Once you have started, it is obvious what you are doing due to your road position. And when you put the car in reverse, the reverse lights will come on.
Remember your clutch control. The more careful you are with this - tiny movements, no more than the width of a pound coin - the easier it will be. There is a lot to do, so keep slow enough to fit it all in.
Keep your steering quick, but remember not to steer when you are not moving, as this will wear your tyres (just like your mum used to tell you off for scuffing your shoes as a kid) and is called dry steering
Remember the camber of the road, the way that the road always dips away toward the kerb. If the car rolls toward the kerb, depress the clutch and brake gently to stop yourself running into it. Because of this camber use the handbrake whenever you stop. This will stop you from rolling in the wrong direction. Don’t overhang the kerb with your bumpers, as this inconveniences pedestrians, and larger kerbs may damage your car.
You will only start this manoeuvre when there is no-one to affect, but this can quickly change, so throughout this manoeuvre, and whenever you are stopped, you should observe all around. If the situation around you changes, stop and make sure that you are not causing a hazard.
If other road users are waiting for you to finish what you are doing, keep a calm clear head.
Look other road users in the eye - by doing this you can assess whether they are going to drive around you or not. A smile can encourage them to move past you, but don’t wave them through - they must make their own minds up as to whether it is safe.
If you feel unsure or unsafe at any time - stop. This will allow you and other road users to make decisions safely.
Keep control, and keep up your observations, keep safe.
An instructor can make a huge difference to your confidence on the manoeuvres. Taking quality lessons will save both time and money in the long run.
All content © Tim Manwaring