Hill start

Watch it, then drive it

1. 1

   Watch the official video

   DVSA's short guide to the four manoeuvre skills the examiner looks for.

   

   From the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on YouTube. Free to watch.

   More videos on YouTube↗
2. 2

   Drive it with the coach

   Guided mode puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift.

   Practise this in the simulator
3. 3

   Test yourself

   Test mode says nothing and marks you in the examiner's words. Three clean runs in a row and it is learnt.

What is marked here

Not a manoeuvre on the UK test, so there is no examiner's box. The simulator marks it the way it marks the others: control, observation and accuracy. Rolling back and stalling are minor faults; moving off without all-round observation is serious.

Where it is tested

Ireland's Category B test and New South Wales and British Columbia road tests include a hill start (see the Irish and Australian pages). Turkey's exam asks for it on a slope of at least 7 per cent, without the handbrake, with a roll-back limit of 50 cm (Ministry of National Education, Özel Motorlu Taşıt Sürücüleri Kursları Yönetmeliği, article 34). The simulator teaches the handbrake routine by default. The Unity simulator also has the Turkish version (country Turkey): the car is held on the foot brake alone, the slope is 8 per cent and a roll-back of more than 50 cm is a fault. The wait time in that exam is not modelled.

Reference points

The car is parked facing uphill with the handbrake on. Look all round, including the blind spot, then signal away from the kerb. Bring the gas up and watch the drive bar: past the tick the engine pulls against the hill. Only then release the handbrake. Keep the gas steady and let the car pull away smoothly. Once moving, cancel the signal and settle in your lane.

What the simulator does

The slope here is 14 per cent, about 1 in 7. That is our own practice setting, steeper than most roads so that you can see the hill. One drive bar replaces the clutch: hold Gas and the bar rises. Past the first tick the engine starts to pull, and a green tick shows where it pulls hard enough to hold the hill. Release the handbrake below that and the car rolls back; hold the bar high against the handbrake and the engine can stall. It is a simplified model for learning the order of things, not a copy of a real clutch.

Automatic cars

No clutch, so no biting point. Hold the car on the footbrake, check all round, release the brake and press the gas as the car begins to creep. Some cars have a hill-hold that does the holding for you; ask your instructor how yours behaves.

Common faults

Minor and serious follow the simulator's marking, which copies the examiner's grading. Minor: the car rolls back. Fix: bring the gas up until the engine pulls against the hill before you release the handbrake. Minor: stalling. Fix: too little gas for the slope, or holding the handbrake against the engine. Hold on the footbrake, restart and build the gas more steadily. Serious: moving off without all-round observation, including the blind spot. Fix: check left, right, rear and the blind spot before the car moves. Minor: moving off without signalling. Fix: signal after your mirror check and before the car moves. Serious: finishing outside the marked area. Fix: ease off the gas early and brake gently to stop.

If it goes wrong

If the car rolls back, press the footbrake straight away, apply the handbrake and begin again. If it stalls, handbrake on, neutral, restart and find the bite again. Never let it roll towards the car behind.

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. Steering only takes the pedals and gears off you, the way an instructor does on the first lesson: a mark on the wheel shows when to turn and how far. Guided puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift. Test says nothing and marks you in the words the examiner uses. Three clean Test runs in a row counts as learned, and it comes back two days, a week and three weeks later so it is still there on the day.

Step by step

These are the words the simulator says to you, in order, the same commentary you would get from the passenger seat.

1. 1The car is parked facing uphill with the handbrake on. Look all round, including the blind spot, then signal away from the kerb.
2. 2Signal away from the kerb, then bring the gas up and watch the drive bar. Past the tick the engine pulls against the hill. Only then release the handbrake.
3. 3Handbrake off. Keep the gas steady and let the car pull away smoothly. Too little gas and it rolls back towards the car behind.
4. 4Moving. Cancel the signal and settle in your lane.
5. 5Ease off the gas and brake gently to stop in the marked area.
6. 6Stopped in the marked area. Apply the handbrake, then press Finished.

Common questions