Cockpit drill

Probably the very first thing your instructor will talk to you about, before you’ve even driven a centimetreYour cockpit drill is everything you need to check before you drive – things like making sure your seat position is right and adjusting your mirrors. Basically: is everything cool for you to operate the controls safely and comfortably?You won’t need to go through the whole cockpit drill in your test if you’ve arrived at the test centre in your driving instructor’s car, because everything will be set up.

If you’re doing your driving test in your own car, make sure you’ve been through the cockpit drill before arriving and you have a spare rearview mirror for the examiner. You won’t fail if you don’t have this but it makes a good impression.

DSSSM: doors, seat, steering, seatbelt and mirrors

Revise: how to move off in a car

Vehicle safety checks

Your first vehicle safety check(or ‘tell me’ question) will come up at the very start of your driving test. You’ll be asked to explain something.like when you’d use your fog lights). From 4 December 2017, the second safety question (‘show me’) will happen while you’re driving – like ‘show me how you’d clean your windscreen’. If you can’t answer both show me, tell me questions, you’ll get a minor. Not a great start.

As you can revise and practice these pre-test, you’re in complete control here. Acing this first part of your test will make you feel a lot better about the rest of it. It also makes a good first impression if you can deliver the answer to your first question confidently and in your own words – your instructor can help you with that.

Revise: the show me, tell me questions and answers

Car controls and instruments

Knowing how to use the buttons and switches in the car is so important for safe driving. You never know when that sudden fog is going to start, or if you’ll need your hazard lights.S ome of these controls will come up in your show me, tell me questions, and it’s not unlikely you’ll need to use them as you’re driving around with your examiner, especially if you wake up to a rainy of foggy day.

At any point in the test, you can ask your examiner if it’s OK for you to pull over to adjust, say, your mirrors. As long as you do it safely, with perfect observation, that’s totally fine. If you’re doing private practice in your own car, make sure you’re confident with all those controls too.

The basic car controls

• Foot controls:accelerator, clutch, foot brake

• Hand controls:handbrake, steering wheel, indicators, gear stick

You need to be able to use any of these controls instinctively, without having to look at them.

Revise: using your lights – controlling your car – using your car mirrors

Moving off and stopping

In your test, you’ll stop and move off again quite a few times. Each time, you must show the examiner that you’re doing the MSM(PSL) routine.

Mirror – Signal – Manoeuvre (Position – Speed – Look)

• Mirror– use your mirrors to check the position of traffic around and behind you, acting on what you see

• Signal – show others what you intend to do, in good time

• Manoeuvre– a change in speed or position

• (Position– position your car correctly for the move you want to make, reinforcing your intentions

• Speed– adjust your speed so it’s safe for the manoeuvre

• Look) – have a final look to check it’s safe before you start to steer

Revise: how to move off in a car – how to stop a car