Question About Turnabout in Test

Yellow Snow

Yeah i thought about that too (honest ) but then I was thinking of test conditions, so starting positon pulled over to the left hand side of the road. Like you said, he'd have to be more to the centre of the road for reverse to be his first move. Anyway, hopefully he'll just stick to 3 or 5 for his test

nacho libre

Yellow Snow wrote: »

....I'm hugely confused by what you just said...


Sorry for sidetracking, I just cant see how you did it in two moves???

Good luck with your test by the way

Thanks:) I'll need it.
yes, i did it as described by Stark(i just wanted to see could i manage turning the car around in two moves without hitting the foothpath)

Done as mandated by the test rules it usually takes me three moves.
Though, i'll lose marks as i stop the car when moving forward, on the first move, to check my position and then start again. Still, i feel it's better do this than not stop and end up hitting the kerb.

sweetbubbly

As a fellow Driving instructor the information given by Coolshark is Perfectly correct in his advice on a turnabout in the driving test. It used to be called a three point turn but this was changed about 10 years ago, to turnabout. And as for doing it in 3 or 5 moves that is all dependent on the width of the road.
You will not be marked for doing in 5 moves.

The tester normally says " I would like you to turn the car around using the confines of the road, you may do this in 3 or 5 moves."
If you do not think you will clear the kerb on the 3rd move, dont risk it.
As for turning the steering wheel while the car is stopped, that is perfectly acceptable, before power steering, it was not acceptable to do this, as anyone who has driven a vehicle without power steering will tell it is practically impossible to full lock your steering unless you are built like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Nools

ok can i just ask to be super clear does the turn about have to be done in an odd amount of attempts? for my 1st test i was told do it in 1 or more, needless to say i messed it up on a narrow road with a huge fat tree behind me. all instructors that ive had has said to it in as many was you need so now im lost and confused

Alanstrainor

Nools wrote: »

ok can i just ask to be super clear does the turn about have to be done in an odd amount of attempts? for my 1st test i was told do it in 1 or more, needless to say i messed it up on a narrow road with a huge fat tree behind me. all instructors that ive had has said to it in as many was you need so now im lost and confused

it can only be in done in odd amounts of turns, for example 3: forward, back, forward. If you did it in say, 4 turns,(forward, reverse, forward, reverse.) you'd be doing the rest of your test in reverse. You can take as many turns as you need, but they are inevitably in odd numbers.

Sup08

sweetbubbly wrote: »

The tester normally says " I would like you to turn the car around using the confines of the road, you may do this in 3 or 5 moves."

The tester says "I want you to turn your car around on the road to face the opposite way, you may go over and back more than once if necessary"

The necessary refers to the width of the road and the length of the car.
For example: Your typical driving school car is always a small 3 to 5 door car and therefore would be expected to do the turnabout in 3 points on a normal sized housing estate road. 5.5m to 6m wide.

J_R

sweetbubbly wrote: »

As for turning the steering wheel while the car is stopped, that is perfectly acceptable, before power steering, it was not acceptable to do this, as anyone who has driven a vehicle without power steering will tell it is practically impossible to full lock your steering unless you are built like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Am sorry but this is not acceptable, power steering or not.

Dry steering or turning the wheel whilst the car is stationary puts strain on the rack and pinion, tie rods, bearings, the power pump and in particular rips rubber off your front tyres. Power steering does even more damage as the wheels can be turned that much quicker.

I do not understand why dry steering is not marked in the Irish test, as it is in the UK.

The basic purpose of the turnabout in the test is not to turn the car in the road, instead it is an exercise to test a person's car control skill. That is what the person is marked on, not the number of turns necessary to complete the manoeuvre.

If the driving instructor's remit is merely to have the pupil pass the test then allow dry steering. But if trying to prepare them for a lifetime of care free driving then they should be able to teach them that dry steering is totally unnecessary and in fact should be avoided.

Alanstrainor

J_R wrote: »

Am sorry but this is not acceptable, power steering or not...

I do not understand why dry steering is not marked in the Irish test, as it is in the UK.

Contradiction?
Dry steering is perfectly acceptable for test purposes, although i'll agree that it puts unnecessary strain on multiple parts of the car.

J_R

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Contradiction?
Dry steering is perfectly acceptable for test purposes, although i'll agree that it puts unnecessary strain on multiple parts of the car.

No contradiction in my post, only in the Irish driving test system whcih allows something which is damaging to the car (steering mechanism. tyres).

In the UK it can be marked as a serious (Grade 3)

Perhaps the reason it is not marked in Ireland is because too many people would fail the test. There are many driving instructors here who are either incapable or else do not bother teaching proper car control techniques which would make dry steering unnecessary.

But suppose it is down to the person learning to drive. do they want ot learn a skill for life or how to perform a trick to pass an Irish driving test.