Narrow street: who goes first?

Watch it, then drive it

1. 1

   Watch how it is done

   Instructors film this one step by step. Watch a couple before your first try.

   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.

The rule

Highway Code rule 163 says to give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road. So when the parked cars are on your side, you wait in a gap, well back, and go once the road ahead is clear. When they are on the other side, the oncoming driver should wait for you, but be ready to stop if they do not.

Where it sits on the marking sheet

Two boxes on the DL25 cover it. Judgement – meeting is for pushing on when you should have waited, so the other driver has to brake or swerve. Progress – undue hesitation is for stopping when you had priority, or sitting still while someone holds back for you. The simulator marks both: making the oncoming car stop for you is a serious fault, and waiting more than three seconds while the other driver is holding back for you is a driving fault.

How far back to stop

Far enough back to pull out round the parked cars without reversing. Here the coach stops you about nine metres short of the first one. Stopping right behind a parked car boxes you in, and the oncoming driver cannot tell whether you are waiting or parking.

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 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. 1A narrow street with cars parked on both sides. Check your mirrors and blind spot, then move off.
2. 2Parked cars ahead on your side, and a car is coming towards you. It has priority. Slow down and stop well back from the parked cars.
3. 3Keep to your side and let it pass. Once it has gone, check your mirror and blind spot before you pull out.
4. 4Pass the parked cars slowly, leaving about a door's width of room.
5. 5Past the parked cars. Check your mirror and move back to your side of the road.
6. 6This time the parked cars are on the other side, so you have priority. The driver ahead is waiting for you: keep going at a steady pace and thank them.
7. 7Clear of the parked cars. Slow down and stop on your side of the road.
8. 8You gave way when it was their turn and went when it was yours. Stop here and tap Finished.

Common questions