Detailed Description of the Left Reverse Manouevre

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Starting Point

This manouevre is started from a normal parked position on the left before a junction on the left. Move away as normal, not forgetting proper left to right and blind spot observation.

Passing the Road you are to Reverse Into

As you pass the end of the road you are about to reverse into, check for parked cars that may prevent you from doing the manouevre and have a look at the curvature of the corner. Is it particularly sharp or actually a gentle curve? This information is useful later.

Stopping, Preparing to Reverse and the Straight Part of the Reverse

Aim to stop at the side of the road you are on leaving approximately two car lengths clear beyond the junction and slightly further out than you would normally (about 20cm or roughly the width of a drain). Don't forget to check your centre and left mirror and signal when stopping if anyone would benefit (particularly if there is traffic behind you). If you do signal, cancel it when you have stopped.
Prepare to reverse as normal, (select reverse gear and prapare to move off, observe left to right and your blind spot and finish with a look directly behind you).
When there is no traffic reverse slowly in a straight line, looking forward down the road you are on, backwards down the road you are on (most important observational direction when reversing) and into the side road. You also need to check you are maintaining a constant distance from the kerb by looking in the passenger side mirror. To acheive all this, you need to keep the car's speed down and keep moving your head around - if you look in any one direction for more than a couple of seconds you are not doing sufficient obeservation in the other directions.

Starting to Turn

When the gap from the back wheels to the kerb grows to about two drains widths because the kerb is curving into the side road you are ready to start turning the steering wheel. Note in most cars you will not be able to see the back wheels but you can use some other marker on the passenger side of the car which you can see in the passenger mirror. In the Ford Focus, the rear door handle works as a marker point sufficiently close to the rear wheels. When you have reached the point where you are ready to turn, for an "average" corner, turn the steering wheel mid way between 1/2 and 3/4 (5/8th if you want to get mathematical) of a turn to the left (anti-clockwise) as shown in the diagram. Make the turn quickly or you will start to be too far from the kerb. If you have observed as you passed the junction ealier that the corner was particularly sharp, you should turn more and if the corner was particularly gentle, less. Note this initial steering is simply a starting point - you will need to make adjustments as you go round the corner.

Reversing Round the Actual Corner

As you go round the corner, keep observing behind you (most important direction) and up and down the road you were originally on as well as checking your gap to the kerb in the passenger side mirror. If the passenger mirror shows you are getting too close to the kerb, you need to steer right (clockwise) and if you are getting too far from the kerb you need to steer left (anti-clockwise). However, it is important to avoid the temptation of staring in the passenger side mirror for long periods and neglecting your observation for traffic.

Straightening Up and Reversing in A Straight Line

Once you can see in the passenger side mirror that you are parallel with the kerb again, turn the steering wheel right (clockwise) until the wheels are straight again (Ford sign on steering wheel nice and horizontal in the Ford Focus). Reverse back slowly, continuing good observation, especially looking directly behind you. If you are slightly too far from the kerb, correct by steering slightly left (anti-clockwise) but not more than 1/4 of a turn otherwise you risk steering into the kerb. If you do make this correction, you may need to steer right again once sufficiently close to the kerb to get back to parallel with the kerb.

Finishing Point

When you are at least a 2 car lengths back from the end of the curved part of the corner, stop and secure the car (handbrake on and select neutral) and wait for further instructions.

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