Test Centre: Wallasey
Reason for fail: Move off - Control
Poor Bill. A mandatory part of the driving test (unless you live in Cambridgeshire) is the Hill Start.
Bill has done hill starts many many times without incident. Yet on his driving test, instead of moving off forwards, he rolled backwards into the kerb. The examiner has marked it as a serious lack of control.
There are two ways you can struggle on a hill start, in addition to the usual ways of picking up faults when you move away from anywhere. One is that the car is more likely to stall, and the second is that unless you've prepared to go properly before you release the handbrake, the car will roll backwards.
The structure to moving off is as follows:
1. Prepare
2. Observe
3. Move.
Us instructors use the acronym, POM. It's done in that order so that the last thing you do before you move is to get an up to date picture of what's going on around you.
To prepare, you select the appropriate gear, provide a bit of power with your gas pedal, bring your clutch up to biting point, and get your hand onto your handbrake. If you're moving away uphill, you should make sure you can feel the car pulling fairly strongly agaisnt the handbrake.
To observe, you look in your centre mirror, and check over your right shoulder. If you can't see out of your centre mirror because of obstructions, use your drivers side door mirror and check over your right shoulder.
To move, keep your feet still, and release your handbrake. If you've prepared correctly, the car will move away smoothly.
