Driving in the UK

You'll have to do 2 of the 3 following maneuvers:

- Turn in the road
- Reverse around a corner
- Parallel parking

But you won't know which 2 you'll be asked to do until you're actually asked.

You also may be required to do an emergency stop.

I found the reversing around the corner to be the most difficult, but then I don't believe in driving backwards as a rule. 

Reverse around a corner?!!?!?!? What!!??    is this the driving school for James Bond? why would I want to do that? I guess it would come in handy for when you drive down a really narrow street and you see another car approaching and you have to give way. Hmmm.... oh I can feel myself stressing again. My dumb luck I bet I'll get asked to execute those two manuevers. Reverse around corner and parallel parking. I'll be sweating it.

biggest tip I can give you is do not drive on the right side of the road.  he was so nervous going out of the parking lot, when she said turn right he got on the right hand side of the road! Failed before he even left the parking lot!!    Irratating thing is that he hasn't done it in the 18 months of being here!!

As silly as that seems, I can see that happening to a lot of Americans because we are used to driving on the rightside all our lives! Especially under stress, you can't think straight. 

Best of luck to your DH for his next attempt.

He was so embarrassed bless him!  One of those things we'll laugh about after he's passed!! 

The parallel parking isn't bad at all- because my instructor told me that they only have you park behind one car only, not to get in between 2 cars

I've been practicing my parallel parking, turns in the roads, backing into bays (chary forgot that one), and backing up around a corner.  Backing up around the corner is the thing I have the hardest time with.  

You can learn how to drive a manual car your instructor if you choose.  Find one that will be very patient with you- mine is very patient and sweet when I can't back around a corner- she laughs because I can do everything else, but I can't back around a corner without staying on the left side of the road!  If not, you will need to find an automatic instructor.  

I'm more worried if I have to actually do an emergency stop.  I don't like em.  

He was so embarrassed bless him!  One of those things we'll laugh about after he's passed!! 

Yeah definitely! haha  nothing to be embarrassed about though.

Oh and just so you know, you can find all the practical test routes (for where the examiner will take you) on the dsa.gov website 

backing into bays (chary forgot that one)

I didn't have that as an option! Is it new?

Ahhh

No idea, but I saw on the DSA website now that its there and confirms what my instructor told me

The parallel parking isn't bad at all- because my instructor told me that they only have you park behind one car only, not to get in between 2 cars

I've been practicing my parallel parking, turns in the roads, backing into bays (chary forgot that one), and backing up around a corner.  Backing up around the corner is the thing I have the hardest time with. 

You can learn how to drive a manual car your instructor if you choose.  Find one that will be very patient with you- mine is very patient and sweet when I can't back around a corner- she laughs because I can do everything else, but I can't back around a corner without staying on the left side of the road!  If not, you will need to find an automatic instructor. 

I'm more worried if I have to actually do an emergency stop.  I don't like em. 

phew! what relief about the parallel. what's backing into bays though? Nah I think I will stick with automatic. No need to add on to the stress. Though I wonder how difficult it would be to find an automatic instructor seeing as almost everyone drives a manual in the UK.

Also what's an emergency stop?

Backing into bays is backing into a parking space

And you can find automatic instructors pretty easily, several folks around here haven't had issues

An emergency stop is what you think it is- a slam on the brakes hard and fast maneuver! 

An emergency stop is what you think it is- a slam on the brakes hard and fast maneuver! 

I loved that one! It was fun!

The other maneuver that was an option when I took my test was a hill start. But, since I took my test in an automatic, I sort of knew I wouldn't be asked to do it. It's only really difficult in a manual.

Hmm...  a hill start, I would have thought that would have been a given ,especially if you're caught at a light- not too difficult in a manual, that's what hand brakes are for ;-)

Reverse around a corner?!!?!?!? What!!??    is this the driving school for James Bond? why would I want to do that? I guess it would come in handy for when you drive down a really narrow street and you see another car approaching and you have to give way.

It can come up more times than you might think - I had to reverse around a corner every day for 6 years! We had a strange driveway at the end of a cul-de-sac, so every time I left the house I had to reverse out of the driveway (between two stone pillar-things) and then reverse round into the neighbours driveway as part of a three-point turn so that I was facing the right way, lol.

My worst maneuver was parallel parking - I just couldn't get it right and as a result I avoided doing one for 4 whole years after I learned to drive! Eventually though I had to start doing them (and I don't have much trouble at all now) because it was the only way I would be able to park when I drove into work and university... the only parking spaces were at the side of the road - usually between parked cars.

Hmm...  a hill start, I would have thought that would have been a given ,especially if you're caught at a light- not too difficult in a manual, that's what hand brakes are for ;-)

I HATE LOATHE hills! San Francisco is really bad with hills in China town. It's practically verticle! I try and avoid them as much as possible. If I can't avoid it and am approaching one and the light just turned Red, I go up REALLY slowly so that I don't have to actually come to a full stop. The whole time I am praying that the light turns green before I get there.    My fear of possibly rolling backwards and crashing into someone's car

I agree completely! I'm a big fan of roundabouts and I'm actually not sure why they haven't really caught on in the US.

There are tons of new developments/roads being built where I am in the US and they ALL seem to have roundabouts.

The only problem is that drivers have no clue what to do and so it's commonplace to see people trying to drive the wrong way around them.  Seriously, people here haven't been taught them (because they didn't exist when most people took their driver's test) and so they don't know how to navigate them.