Is driving instructor correct.

leahcim

Hi,

My girlfriend is a learner driver, I usually go with here when she heads out for practice drives. At the very start she got a few lessons from a driving instructor. One of the things he stressed for her was to position her car as close to the left hand road margin as possible when driving in single carriageway secondary roads.

I myself think this doesn’t make sense. When I drive I like to keep my car either dead centre on the lane or more towards the central road markings (obviously not over the centre line). I feel this approach makes it less likely I will run over an unlit pedestrian at night or collide with a car or tractor coming out of a blind driveway or junction.

I am assuming his reason for telling her to drive to the extreme left is to reduce the risk of her having a head on collision with an oncomming car.

What do you guys think?

Is her driving instructor correct?

eth0_

I was told to drive close to the line in the middle of the road, I agree it's dangerous to drive very close to the edge of the road because you could hit someone or hit a big pothole!

Mr Magnolia

I've had a 2 different instructors, both told me to keep slightly to the left of the middle. I wouldn't agree with keeping tight to the left, if a child fell off the footpath, or a car rolled out over the stop or yield line you'd be more likely to hit them if you're tight to the left.

Henry Ford III

The centre of your lane is always good. It's a very subjective call however.

AlienGav

You always get some meppet that's slightly over the centre of the road! Sometime's you can be dazzled by fog lights and poorly adjusted head lights and have a head on with them! :eek:

It's always good practice to automatically keep as close to the left hand as side as is safe to do so! Makes overtaking easier for others (especially emergency vehicles!) and reduces the likelyhood of a head on collision!

aido123

The proper answer is left of centre

declanoneill

What defines proper answer?

I'm not being snotty, I'm just wondering where you got the information from.

seamus

There's no defined road position. Good driving would dictate that you change your road position depending on the conditions in order to maximise your ability to see hazards in the road ahead and maximise your ability to react to those hazards.

The rules of the road state:
"A driver must generally drive as near to the left hand side of the road as is necessary to allow approaching traffic to pass and following traffic to overtake on the right (without danger or inconvenience). "

In general, this is interpreted as driving roughly left-of-centre. On most normal roads, you would drive with the driver in the centre of the lane, not with the centre of the car in the centre of the lane.

pontovic

In that book that contains tips about doing the driving test, the correct position was center left, so that you were a sufficient distance from the right to avoid being too close to someone overtaking on the otherside of the road, and so that you were also not too close to the kerb.

A tip is never to weave in and out of parked cars on the side of the road. My driving instructor told me never to be seen driving straight towards a parked car if conditions allow you to move right slightly, so instead of making a sudden overtaking manouvere of a parked car, you overtake by gradually moving out.

watsgone

leahcim wrote:

Hi,

My girlfriend is a learner driver, I usually go with here when she heads out for practice drives. At the very start she got a few lessons from a driving instructor. One of the things he stressed for her was to position her car as close to the left hand road margin as possible when driving in single carriageway secondary roads.

I myself think this doesn’t make sense. When I drive I like to keep my car either dead centre on the lane or more towards the central road markings (obviously not over the centre line). I feel this approach makes it less likely I will run over an unlit pedestrian at night or collide with a car or tractor coming out of a blind driveway or junction.

I am assuming his reason for telling her to drive to the extreme left is to reduce the risk of her having a head on collision with an oncomming car.

What do you guys think?

Is her driving instructor correct?

yeah I was told to do the same when I was doing lessons. I'm not sure about it though I would prefer to be in the dead centre of the lane.

JohnCleary

Think the recommended distance is 2 feet from the left... don't quote me on it though

MrSinn

There are several reasons for keeping to the left in your lane

1 So other cars that may(or emrgency vehicles) overtake can see clearly ahead without crossing the line to do so

2 The trailer on a HGV can sway up to 3ft left and right

3 A HGV uses all its lane

alias no.9

Left of centre unless overtaking parked cars etc. (even when the parked cars are not encroaching in your lane). On the pedestrians, etc, you should be driving at an appropriate speed that would allow you to stop if the road wasn't clear to overtake. Lane position doesn't come into it. When overtaking a pedestrian or cyclist who is in your lane, you should give them a wide birth, using the other side of the road, similar to overtaking a car.

Eoin

JohnCleary wrote:

Think the recommended distance is 2 feet from the left... don't quote me on it though

I know I am quite literally quoting you on it, but 2+ feet is about right - the rule of thumb I was given was a car door width from the side of the road; i.e. if a parked car opened their door, you wouldn't have to move out to avoid it.

subway

if everyone drove on the centre line youd have an awful lot of collisions right away.
you need to leave a bit of a gap from the centre for that reason.
the only reason you havent been involved in a crash when drivng on the white line is because oncoming cars are giving you room.

also leave a foot or so for me to squeeze by on my motorbike

AMurphy

leahcim wrote:

Hi,

My girlfriend is a learner driver, I usually go with here when she heads out for practice drives. At the very start she got a few lessons from a driving instructor. One of the things he stressed for her was to position her car as close to the left hand road margin as possible when driving in single carriageway secondary roads.
.......
What do you guys think?

Is her driving instructor correct?

Depends on the width of the road, whether there is a hard shoulder, open drain, solid wall, etc.

My theory, keep out of the potholes, and keep the ride smooth, even if that means driving on both sides of the road, save when passing and there is no other option.

Goven the amount of debris, rocks, manhole covers, potholes and ruts to the extreme edges of the roads, it makes no sense to be in that zone.

colm_mcm

It's no wonder learner drivers are nervous, a lot of this stuff is over done, e.g the two hands on the wheel even when parking thing, the stretching your neck to make it obvious that you're looking in your mirrors, does this make people better drivers?

Fey!

I remember my father giving me my first driving lesson (all those years ago!) telling me to keep tight to the left. As said by a few people area, judge for yourself by the conditions.

On a related note, I think the best bit of advice I ever got on driving came from a teacher in school (about the only thing I remember from school!); never look at oncoming lights; only look at the centre of your lane - you tend to steer toward where you're looking!

MrSinn

AMurphy wrote:

Depends on the width of the road, whether there is a hard shoulder, open drain, solid wall, etc.

My theory, keep out of the potholes, and keep the ride smooth, even if that means driving on both sides of the road, save when passing and there is no other option.

Goven the amount of debris, rocks, manhole covers, potholes and ruts to the extreme edges of the roads, it makes no sense to be in that zone.

I agree totally,as we all know a lot of secondary roads have very bad edges,bad bumps and humps and too mucky for your clean car so i tend to keep to the middle of the road where possible or necessary,just dont do this when doing a test

AMurphy

Fey! wrote:

......

On a related note, I think the best bit of advice I ever got on driving came from a teacher in school (about the only thing I remember from school!); never look at oncoming lights; only look at the centre of your lane - you tend to steer toward where you're looking!

good advice.

Look down to your left and you may actually see objects otherwise unseen.

Which is a good reason to not stop on highways, or not on the edge of the lane, people look at you and before you know it they are driving AT you, ie driving where they are looking.