To think what the driving instructor has told Dd is wrong?

[JacobReesMogadishu]

Apparently you never do a shoulder check unless you’re stopped. So if you’re changing lanes on a motorway or coming down a slip road you just use your mirrors and don’t do a quick shoulder check. I know it’s a long time since I took my test but I was told you must because of blind spots.

Second thing is apparently when stopped at traffic lights, etc you don’t need to put your hand brake on. Again I was told you must so if someone rear ends you hopefully you don’t crash forward into the person in front. She’s driving an automatic if that makes a difference.

So last week when driving with me she was stopped at lights with quite a hill start and hadnt got the hand brake on. It’s a good job she is in an automatic or she’d have rolled backwards when she took her foot of the brake to move forward!

She has her test in less than two weeks! 😱

I passed my test two years ago and after being shouted at when practicing with dp I checked with my driving instructor who explained it as using mirrors correctly should suffice and taking your eyes off the road in front for even a second or two at high speed can be extremely dangerous as things can change.

I've been confident driving and never had any issues or comments since passing.

Surely by checking your mirrors frequently? That’s what I do, and on thinking about it, I only do a shoulder check if I don’t think I’ve checked my mirrors often enough.

I’m looking in my mirrors every few seconds.

I learned relatively recently (4 years ago) and was taught that you don't need the handbreak when stopping briefly but it's always safer to put it on at a traffic light in case someone drives into the back of you. My teacher did say not to do a shoulder check changing lanes but not to change unless you're aware of what's either side of you. (So I guess you should have noticed if there was a car which was about to enter your blind spot).

Things change all the time. I would trust the driving instructor to know the current Highway Code. Don't confuse her just before her test.

Your do a quick check over your shoulder going on t a motorway etc to check the blind spot that you can’t see in the mirrors! What the instructor talking about?

I also agree with you on the handbrake. If there was a multiple car smash, having the handbrake on would make it less likely you hit the car in front!

[quote Hobnobsandbroomstick]@BillMasen

How do you check your blind spot without looking over your shoulder? Genuine question.[/quote]
Just lean forward a bit or shift your head to the side a bit, changes the angle you’re looking at the mirror from

I’ve never done the shoulder look, in one car it wouldn’t work at all as there’s no visibility (small rear windows, door pillar in the way). Was always taught to be aware of what’s coming up, and moves bit to check if you’re really not sure

I learnt 30 years ago though so not saying I haven’t picked up the odd bad habit over time...

Its wrong. I passed in an automatic in 1999 and was told to always check the blind spot.
My driving instructor said you shouldn't roll on a hill in an automatic but to put the handbrake on regardless.

I was told by my driving instructor not to check my blindspot over shoulder before changing lanes because you make the car wiggle. He said you should be checking mirrors more frequently so you can account for all the cars in your vision. I mentioned this once before on a mn thread and was flamed. A friend has since told me you can look to the side without going the whole way round and that seems to work fine.

I always check my blind spot, in 20 years of driving there had never been anything there (because I also use my mirrors). A few weeks ago I checked it and there was a car there! Gave me the fright of my life. Please check it folks, even if you think you don’t need to because you use your mirrors. The consequences of changing lane when there’s already someone there make it a risk that’s not worth taking.

On the handbrake, no one in real life puts it on when stopped (especially so in an automatic, where even hill starts are not an issue), but I was taught to do so. As far as I know it was mostly to help prevent you rear ending the person in front if someone went into the back of you.

I passed my test last year and I was also told not to look over my shoulder. Instructor told me I’d fail if I did that in my test.

I do now I’ve passed though, feel too nervous not to!

I drive an automatic and was told to put my handbrake on at lights. You don’t need to use the handbrake for a hill start in an automatic.

I'm currently learning too (finally!) and while I haven't got to changing lanes yet, I've never been told to put the handbrake on unless I'm parking, and I'm learning in a manual.

Your do a quick check over your shoulder going on t a motorway etc to check the blind spot that you can’t see in the mirrors! What the instructor talking about?

My instructor told me I’d fail if I did this.

@Nicknacky

But what about people undertaking you? My daily rush hour commute involves a dual carriageway which briefly becomes three lanes, I start in the middle lane and need to merge over to the left, while also keeping an eye on be traffic in front and whose trying to merge into my lane from the right. People frequently undertake, so I wouldn't feel comfortable moving over without a shoulder check a second before.

@Tinty

You always do a shoulder check in case someone has raced up into your blind spot.

I was taught, you put your handbrake on at the lights, unless you are in the first car at the lights.

This is what I was taught nearly 30 years ago - OH always puts handbrake on when first in queue as he says that’s what he was taught about 20 years ago!!

When both of my dc passed (in last few years) we had the same discussion. They had learned in different parts of the UK with different instructors and neither put handbrakes on unless they were parking / getting out and leaving the car. We got into a wider discussion with their cousins and they'd had the same discussion with my BiL and dsis.
It definitely isn't taught for the test nowadays - but I convinced them of the sense of it after they passed and were driving my much older car and not the driving instructors' cars which are set up differently.
Same with 'biting point' - I had to teach them that after they passed to.

You always look over your shoulder. Whether you are moving about to adjust your position, and looking in the mirror, or looking over your shoulder, your eyes are off the road for a few seconds. Looking over your shoulder is the only way to ensure you have covered the blind spot. It’s called a lifesaver for a reason.

I stopped doing the shoulder check when I was passenger with my brother whose movement was so extreme it was clearly more dangerous - I check my mirrors frequently enough that I'd see anything coming - also not being funny but surely a driving instructor should know

hobnobsandbroomstick I check all three mirrors every few seconds, that’s second nature to me. If I have to look over my shoulder then that shows to me that I haven’t been observant enough if I’m leaving it that late.

@Nicknacky

In my advanced driving course (Police) many years ago we were taught not to do a shoulder check but to be checking our mirrors so frequently that I am aware of what is behind me. I still to this day only use my mirrors.

I think the theory is that as you turn your head your hands can follow and pull you off course.

That’s what the instructor said. That she shouldn’t be moving forward while looking backwards.

It's different with every instructor, I swear. Most will say to do a shoulder check if it's safe to do so. A shoulder check whilst moving lanes in my nearby city could be essential as there are so many cyclists all around you.

The handbrake thing has definitely changed my daughter passed recently and that's what she was taught - no need for handbrake at traffic lights. Not sure about the shoulder check, I always do it when changing lanes after I didn't do it once and nearly pulled into the side of another car that was in my blind spot!!

I passed 10 years ago now but I was told not to shoulder check...I do though, just feel better for doing it!