Making a turn off main road onto side road

pog it

Is there a good method to this that avoids you slowing down unnecessarily when turning into a minor side road off a main road?
Some people do this very smoothly, others too slowly that traffic gets held up.

(Can a mod please change the 'of' in the title to 'off' )

Alanstrainor

Title fixed!

I'm a bit unsure of what the problem is. You're going to have to slow down to make the turn on to the minor road, so it's not unnecessary as such. Perhaps you're slowing down too soon, and causing a bit of a problem?

BostonB

By smoothly I think you mean quickly. A lot of people do it too fast, so don't be in too much of a rush either.

pog it

I'm somewhere in between fast and slow myself when I'm taking a turn like this. I just imagine others do it better maybe and thought there might be some "secret" trick to it. Trying to become the best driver I can be.

daveharnett

pog it wrote: »

I'm somewhere in between fast and slow myself when I'm taking a turn like this. I just imagine others do it better maybe and thought there might be some "secret" trick to it. Trying to become the best driver I can be.

Sounds like you're doing fine tbh. You know the speed you need to take the turnoff safely. The ideal is to shed speed smoothly and progressively, so there are no surprises for the cars behind, and to reach your target speed a good two seconds before the turn. This allows you to time to unhurriedly take an appropriate gear for the new road after braking and before starting to turn in.

Compressing the process a little is ok when it's necessary (ie traffic behind is being silly), but you really don't want everything happening at once. Turing in while still on the brakes and mid gear-change is not a good idea.

Fair play OP, lots of good questions tonight.

Alanstrainor

daveharnett wrote: »

Fair play OP, lots of good questions tonight.

+1!

pog it wrote: »

I just imagine others do it better maybe and thought there might be some "secret" trick to it. Trying to become the best driver I can be.

The really is no "secret" to it. It's all down to practise, the more times you do something the more natural it will become and the better you will get. It sounds to me like you're going about it in the right way.
As daveharnett mentions, try not to do everything at once, ie try not to be braking, changing gear, and turning all in one motion. You should be able to slow down, and be in the correct gear, which will most likely be 2nd before the corner. It sounds like a "long" process when you spell it out like this, but in reality you can get quick at doing it.
Keep the questions coming!

DrivingTestTips: Brian

I would say that you have a habit of coasting, and when turning your car it does not feel right.Go to http://www.drivingtesttips.ie/Irish-Driving-Test-Video-Tutorials.php and look at "How to use your Brake and Clutch:"

Will you let me know as I'm interested to see.

Hope it helps

pog it

No I don't coast on these turns- I just realised that I take the actual turn-in into the minor road slowly, especially the narrow roads as you can't see as much as say if you were going from one medium width road to a similar width road.. it's the build up to taking the turn that I was wondering about.

My current way is to slow down gradually and work down the gears but not too much as to be overdoing it. I'm really conscious of drivers behind me- you get sick of things like say a driver in front of you who brakes quite suddenly from 4th or 3rd gear with late indication and turns in at the last minute!

Can I ask ye actually- if the driver in front of you is making a turn off a main road and has indicated in good time before taking the turn, would it be normal for the driver behind them to feel like the progress is slow even when the driver in front of them is doing it correctly?

DrivingTestTips: Brian

pog it wrote: »

Can I ask ye actually- if the driver in front of you is making a turn off a main road and has indicated in good time before taking the turn, would it be normal for the driver behind them to feel like the progress is slow even when the driver in front of them is doing it correctly?

I would be happy to help....

That is down to the driver.. "I would not mind" I will say, as an instructor in trucks, it is better to see a driver slow and indicate early because you can slow the truck without braking hard, it will give you more time to slow your HGV and control the weight of same. You see a driver who can drive and give warning to other drivers is always a good driver and if you drive like that, well that is what you are "a good driver".

If you can drive where your passengers are not thrown around when turning and/or braking, well then you are driving well.

I hope this answers your question.

Alanstrainor

pog it wrote: »

Can I ask ye actually- if the driver in front of you is making a turn off a main road and has indicated in good time before taking the turn, would it be normal for the driver behind them to feel like the progress is slow even when the driver in front of them is doing it correctly?

No. If a person in front was making a left turn off the main road onto a minor road, i've never really thought to myself that he/she was slowing me down. You're talking a matter of seconds here, it is something that happens to everybody. It's very hard to gauge how you complete this manoeuvre without being in the car beside you. But by the sounds of it you're fine. Only your instructor(or even accompanying driver) would be able to give you an opinion on your technique though.

pog it

Ah great thanks to ye both, that answers my question perfectly! It's good to hear it from ye.

Alanstrainor

pog it wrote: »

Ah great thanks to ye both, that answers my question perfectly! It's good to hear it from ye.

You're welcome. Post back with any more questions you might have! That's the whole purpose of this forum. Best of luck with everything.

DrivingTestTips: Brian

Your welcome. Glad we could help