Turnabout

What the tester is looking at

Control, observation and kerbs. Control is slow, smooth steering at full lock and stopping before the car gets close to a kerb. Observation is checking both directions before every move, because the car sits across the whole road for a while. The aim is to do it without touching a kerb at all.

How many moves

Driving schools commonly teach three moves: forward across the road, back, then forward again to finish on your own side. Needing more is not an automatic fail, but each extra move is another time the car sits across the road and another chance to touch a kerb. The simulator only records a fault when the corrections pile up to seven moves or more. That limit is our own practice setting, not an RSA rule.

Why the road width matters

The simulator road is 7.3 m kerb to kerb. With the same car, full lock turns the rear axle on a circle of about 3.5 m, so the three moves only just fit. Real roads vary; on a wider one you have room to spare, on a narrower one you may need more moves.

Reference points

Check all round and make sure the road is clear both ways. Move one is forward: steer right and creep across the road, watching the far kerb and the front corner of the car. Stop before the front gets near the kerb. Move two is reverse: look all round, mainly over your left shoulder, steer left and reverse slowly, and stop well before the kerb behind you. Move three is forward again: check both ways, steer right and drive round to face the way you came, ending on your own side of the road. Straighten up and stop.

Common faults

Minor and serious follow the simulator's marking. How a tester grades it on the day depends on how it happened. Serious: mounting a kerb. Fix: stop early on every move; a clear gap now means no kerb later. Minor: touching a kerb. Fix: slow, full lock steering and stopping before the car gets close. Minor: too many moves (seven or more here, which is our own practice setting). Fix: use the full width of the road on moves one and two. Serious: moving without all-round observation. Fix: look both ways before every move, because the car sits across the road. Minor: reversing faster than walking pace (over 4 mph here). Fix: creep, with your foot over the brake. Serious: finishing on the wrong side or more than 30 cm and 12 degrees out of line. Fix: straighten up on your own side before you stop.

If it goes wrong

Stop. You can stop in the middle of a move to look or to avoid a kerb, and an extra move is better than a kerb. If a car comes, stop and let it pass. If you are close to a kerb, change gear and go the other way rather than trying to squeeze round.

How it is marked

The RSA's tester guidelines grade driving faults 1 to 3. A Grade 3 fault fails the test, and so does a build-up of Grade 2 faults; Grade 1 faults do not fail on their own. The RSA does not publish centimetre limits for manoeuvres, so the distances used in the simulator are practice targets of our own, not official numbers.

How you practise it here

Watch drives it for you with the commentary running, so you see the whole thing once before you touch anything. Guided puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift. Test says nothing and marks you the way a driving tester would, by what you touched and what you looked at. Speeds in the simulator show in km/h.

Step by step

These are the words the simulator says to you, in order, like a passenger who has done it before.

1. 1Check all round and make sure the road is clear both ways. Then drive on a little and get ready to turn right across the road.
2. 2Move one. Steer right and creep across the road, watching the far kerb and the front corner of the car.
3. 3Stop before the front gets near the kerb. A clear gap now means no kerb touched later.
4. 4Reverse gear. Look all round, mainly over your left shoulder, and check for traffic from both directions.
5. 5Move two. Steer left and reverse slowly. The back of the car swings towards the kerb behind you, so keep looking.
6. 6Stop well before the kerb behind you.
7. 7Drive. Check both ways again before you move off.
8. 8Move three. Steer right and drive round to face the way you came, ending on your own side of the road.
9. 9Straighten up on the left-hand side of the road and stop.
10. 10Facing the other way, on the correct side of the road. Stop and tap Finished.

Common questions