Reverse into a driveway

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 on the driving test, so there is no examiner's box. The simulator marks it the way it marks the test manoeuvres: control, observation and accuracy, with the same grades. A clip of the kerb or a rough finish is minor; touching something or finishing outside the target is serious.

Why it is worth practising

Reversing in means you pull out forwards, with a clear view of the road, instead of backing blind onto it later. The price is that you reverse across a pavement with the gateposts either side, and pedestrians have priority across a driveway.

Reference points

Mirrors, then signal. Your driveway is on the left: drive past it at walking pace in the middle of your lane. Stop when the back of your car is about a metre past the far gatepost. Reverse gear and look all round, including along the pavement. Full lock to the left and creep back, looking through the back window and watching the near gatepost in the mirror. When you are square to the gateway, straighten the wheel and keep going back slowly between the posts. Check both sides of the car, then stop with the whole car inside the gateway.

Common faults

Minor and serious follow the simulator's marking, which copies the examiner's grading. Serious: touching a gatepost or wall. Fix: watch the near gatepost in the mirror and stop as soon as the gap looks tight. Serious: not checking the pavement. Fix: look along it both ways before you move and again as you cross it. Serious: keeping on moving when someone is crossing close to the car. Fix: stop at once and wait until they have passed. Serious: finishing outside the driveway, more than 35 cm off centre or more than 12 degrees out of square. Fix: straighten the wheel as the car comes square to the gateway. Minor: reversing faster than walking pace (over 4 mph here). Fix: creep with your foot over the brake. Minor, then serious: too many corrections (three, then six here). Fix: stop past the far post with the car straight in the lane, so one turn is enough.

If it goes wrong

Stop. You are on a public road, so check mirrors and signal before you pull forward. Drive forward out of the gateway, straighten up in your lane and start again from the stop point. If the traffic is building behind you, a short wait to let it pass is better than rushing a third attempt.

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. 1Mirrors, then signal. Your driveway is on the left: drive past it at walking pace, keeping to the middle of your lane.
2. 2Stop when the back of your car is about a metre past the far gatepost.
3. 3Reverse gear. Look all round, including along the pavement: pedestrians have priority across a driveway.
4. 4Full lock to the left and creep back. Look through the back window and watch the near gatepost in your mirror.
5. 5Square to the gateway. Straighten the wheel and keep going back slowly between the posts.
6. 6Wheels straight. Check both sides of the car, then stop with the whole car inside the gateway.
7. 7That's the driveway. Stop here and tap Finished. In real life you would handbrake and check the pavement before you get out.

Common questions