Reversing around corner without a left-hand wing mirror

M25

Hi Everyone,
Im having a hard time getting the hang of reversing around a corner, my car is 20 years old & it doesnt have a left side mirror which is okay. I checked that out, i dont need it coz the car is so old. But i cant get the hang of the reverse, any help would be much appreicated!!! My test is on Wednesday 29th July.

biomech

age of your car has nothing really to do with it..... very hard to help you on the forum.... id advise you to just practice reversing..... ya dont have to do it to the book , just practice goin backwards. when you get the hang of it then practice all your lookin and checking... make sure your sorted for the rest of the test and you mite get away with it... best of luck:D

TwoShedsJackson

M25 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
Im having a hard time getting the hang of reversing around a corner, my car is 20 years old & it doesnt have a left side mirror which is okay. I checked that out, i dont need it coz the car is so old.

??! What make and model is it?

Never heard of a car not having to have a left hand mirror because it's too old?

Permabear

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M25

I can reverse im just a foot and half away from the curb when i do, thats the problem Its an old nissan micra 89. Back then they only had one side mirror ( right one). I rang the test centre & its okay to use her in it. Its just tricky & i was wondering if anyone had any tricks to it? I want to do the test with her coz im used to her now. Thanks everyone for your help!

aujopimur

You are allowed to look over your shoulder for this manouver with out your seat belt

bladespin

Practice, practice and more practice, you'll get the hang of it eventually, try using a cone or something to reverse around.

Wishbone Ash

biomech wrote: »

age of your car has nothing really to do with it

I think you've missed the point. The OP was not saying that the age of the car mattered for reversing but merely pointing out that, as the car was 20 years old, it didn't have a nearside mirror.

If he/she had simply said that it didn't have a nearside mirror, the thread would have had loads of posts saying that it was illegal, wouldn't pass the NCT etc.

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Never heard of a car not having to have a left hand mirror because it's too old?

donegalfella wrote: »

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Lots of small 1980's cars didn't have a nearside mirror. It wasn't considered that important in the pre-motorway days.

I recall avoiding buying cars with one side mirror simply because I thought they didn't look right - a bit unbalanced. Safety/practicality issues didn't seem to arise then!

Permabear

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brian076

donegalfella wrote: »

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When you pull in before the manoeuvre, look out the back and see where the kerb comes to in your back window, it should be close to the centre. As you reverse back, the kerb will gradually move out of view, when it disappears you should turn the wheel a half turn left, stop & look over your right shoulder.
If it's safe to continue, turn the wheel to the left again until the kerb comes back into view in the corner of the back window and keep it there until you get into the road.
When you see the kerb coming back towards the centre of the window straighten the wheel and keep reversing back holding the kerb in this position until the tester tells you to stop.

jhegarty

What car is it ?

I can't think of any that still had only one mirror by 89.

Anyway, as said above practice practice practice is the only way.

Spiritoftheseventies

how do you see out of left side of your car without a mirror? just curious

J_R

M25 wrote: »

I can reverse im just a foot and half away from the curb when i do, thats the problem Its an old nissan micra 89. Back then they only had one side mirror ( right one). I rang the test centre & its okay to use her in it. Its just tricky & i was wondering if anyone had any tricks to it? I want to do the test with her coz im used to her now. Thanks everyone for your help!

Hi,

But where is the problem . The correct distance is about two feet.
One and a half is more than fine. What distance do you think you should be out ???

The old Nissan Micra sans left mirror is the ideal car for reversing in the test.

One way, (almost same as brian076) if the corner is a normal curved one, drive two car lengths past the corner and stop two feet from the kerb.

Check all around, look through the back window, see where kerb bisects the window and start reversing. As you near the corner the kerb moves to the left, you will see less and less of it. When there is just about two inches left in bottom left corner, stop check all around.

Now move off slowly, and commence turning the wheel, as you go round the corner keep those two inches in the rear left of the back window. If you start to lose it turn in, if too much turn out. When you see you are in the road, straigten wheel. Kerb should then be back to original position

Above works all cars that have a decent back window, is a normal corner and the new road is not downhill.

But my advice to you, keep reversing way you are doing it.

Sunjammer

Have a look at this video tutorial especially the technique clip and practice it over and over you will see in the clip what the other posters here are referring to by looking for the position of the kerb in the rear windscreen before you begin and then getting the kerb back to that position in the rear windscreen to complete the manoeuvre

http://www.driving-test-success.com/rev_corner/cornerrev.html

What advice can you guys give the OP for near side observation making left turns at junctions etc without a near side mirror what would the tester be expecting to see from the OP?

Spiritoftheseventies

donegalfella wrote: »

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how do you drive without a left mirror full stop?

ilovemarmite

J_R wrote: »

Hi,

But where is the problem . The correct distance is about two feet.
One and a half is more than fine. What distance do you think you should be out ???

There is no way you should be two feet away from the kerb when reversing around the corner!

You should be less than a foot away from kerb and when you have completed the corner and going straight back you should be about 9inches from kerb.


You can use focal points and look over left shoulder. When you stop before you reverse around corner see where bend starts. When back of your car is at corner start turning your wheel to the left. Be careful to do it slowly and do not forget to do lots of observation whenever you stop which should be 4 or 5 times during manouvere. Do not rush and you'll be ok. Can you get a lesson before test to help with this as maybe an instructor could demonstrate it and then guide you through it.

Good Luck, but I'd seriously advice getting a car with left wing mirror soon as you can afford it. Much safer on the roads you need to be able to see the area that mirror shows easily.

Permabear

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ilovemarmite

If you are in control of your car you should not rub or mount kerb.

If you are sticking out 2 feet from kerb while it probably wont be a fail you may get grade 2 for competancy.

I have always done it one foot approx from kerb and been told it is perfect and did it in test and got no marks at all against me.

It is just important that the op does not think they should be two feet from kerb which J_R said. You don't want to aim for that. You should be aiming for about 12inches from kerb.

Good Luck OP

J_R

ilovemarmite wrote: »

I have always done it one foot approx from kerb and been told it is perfect and did it in test and got no marks at all against me.

It is just important that the op does not think they should be two feet from kerb which J_R said. You don't want to aim for that. You should be aiming for about 12inches from kerb.

Good Luck OP

The verbal instruction the tester gives

"Reverse into this road on the left/right. You should continue reversing, while it is safe to do so, keeping reasonably close to the left/right. I'll tell you when you have gone back far enough; you may start when you are ready."

The manoeuvre is designed to see if you can safely reverse into a limited opening. Optimum distance is 2 feet. This allows some leeway either way.
(From the kerb to half a car width)

The examiner will not mark the applicant for using the mirrors, provided adequate observation also taken, but they woiuld prefer the applicant NOT to use them. Ideal situation - they should look where they are going. Unfortunately this always not possible due to design of car, small high back window, large pillars, or vertically challenged candidate for example.

The ideal car for reversing is the OP's

brian076

ilovemarmite wrote: »

If you are sticking out 2 feet from kerb while it probably wont be a fail you may get grade 2 for competancy.

2 feet from the kerb is ideal, you will not receive a grade 2 fault if you're this distance away.

Spiritoftheseventies

yeah its a very tricky manoevre. Idea is to practice practice and practice till you get it right.

Wishbone Ash

bayviewclose wrote: »

how do you drive without a left mirror full stop?

There is no legal requirement to have a nearside mirror. A saloon car is only legally required to have one rear view mirror. An estate or hatchback must have two mirrors, one of which must be on the off-side (right side).