Main road travelling ahead

When driving on a main road you have priority over oncoming vehicle wanting to turn right across your path and the side also gives way for you too.

Lets have a recap:-

So let’s break it down using the L.A.D.A and HAZARD routine's on the approach to gain information with what’s coming towards you and a potential danger too you.

• L.A.D.A to see where the side road's are and assess oncoming vehicle's
• Mirrors to see what is behind

Large vehicles (bus or articulated lorry)

HGV's may need to emerge more out of a side road and need extra road space to turn or to deal with a hazard that you are not able to see. Be extra observant when approaching junction for HGV or even a vehicle not looking the way they are entering and only looking to the right.

Vehicles emerging

When you are travelling on a main road and for example: You may need to overtaking a parked (red) vehicle less than 10M to a junction, you will need to anticipate vehicles emerging (pink) vehicles that have not looked-asses-decide-act to their left of the main road they intend to enter and have only look to their right for a safe gap.

Overtaking a bicycle

Do not overtake a bicycle just before you turn left, if you are unsure if you have enough time to overtake safely? "DON'T" just hold back and reflect on the situation and have a discussion with your instructor after the situation has been delt with safely.

Question's would be....Was it safe to overtake?  Did you have enough time to overtake? Would you of slowed the cyclist down? Was it a safe to continue?

You were marked on:

• approach speed - your ability to approach junctions at an appropriate speed
• observation - your effective observation and judgement of your surroundings
• turning right - your position when turning right
• turning left - your position when turning left
• cutting corners - your ability to avoid cutting corners when turning

You needed to show you can drive through junctions safely. You should have observed your surroundings, made your intentions clear, followed road signs and signals, and properly controlled the car.

Examples of fault

Some of the most common faults for this area include:

• incorrectly judging the speed of an oncoming vehicle, forcing it to slow down when emerging from a junction
• not checking for other road users when emerging from a slip road, onto a dual carriageway
• being positioned too far to the left when turning right onto a minor road, holding up vehicles behind you
• approaching a junction too fast, making it difficult to make observations

Your examiner may have explained the specific details of any faults you made.

Show you can improve in this are

If you made faults in this area during your test, or if you want to improve in this area, you should:

check rules 170 to 190 of The Highway Cod

read section 8 of ‘The Official DVSA Guide to Driving: the Essential Skills’ (2022 edition)

If you need to rebook the test, spend time practising and improving this skill with your driving instructor or supervising driver. You could work on:

• using the mirrors - signal - manoeuvre (MSM) routine
• using the position - speed - look (PSL) routine to improve your manoeuvres
• approaching and emerging at a variety of different junctions
  

Main road turning right

When turning right (in the below diagram) main road to a side road you have to give-way to oncoming vehicle’s that are approaching you as you will be crossing their path. However if the oncoming vehicle(s) also intends also to turn right you can hopefully cross at the same time ether nearside to nearside or offside to offside. 

As you can see with offside to off side you see more of what is going on behind the oncoming vehicle.

Nearside to Nearside

Offside to Offside

Hold back and wait

Lets have a recap:-

So let’s break it down using the L.A.D.A and HAZARD routine's on the approach to gain information with what’s coming towards you.

• L.A.D.A to see where the turning is and assess oncoming vehicle's
• Mirrors to see what is behind

• Mirrors to the right
• Signal right
• Position so you’re close to the centre line
• L.A.D.A to see if it’s safe to continue?
• Speed reduced to a walking pace 10/12mph or stop if that’s the safest thing to do.
• Gear on the approach. 

L.A.D.A into the road you are intending to entre looking for pedestrians or parked vehicles

Cross when safe.

Correct positioning when crossing

In the below diagram you can see having the incorrect position to the centre line can slow down drivers unnecessary.

In diagram 1 the red vehicle intends to turn right and there is a purple vehicle behind them.  With the red vehicle in the middle of there side of the road the purple vehicle can not overtake safely.

Diagram 2 now show the red vehicle at the correct positioning so the purple vehicle can make progress.

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Emerging out of a busy junction left

When emerging left (in the below diagram) out of a side road you have to give-way to the oncoming vehicle on the main road. Your waiting positioning is very important that you do not hold up the traffic behind by being in the wrong positioning.

Reacting correctly to the indicators of the vehicles on the main road turning left (or right) when emerging out of a side road is very clear in the highway code and the highway code states:-

• Do not assume, when waiting at a junction that a vehicle coming from the right and signalling left will actually turn, wait and make sure.

When emerging left

• Keep as close to the left as is safe and practicable
• Give way to any vehicles using a bus lane, cycle lane or tramway from either direction that’s on the main road. 
• Do not over take a cyclist or mobility scooter if they are close to the give-way or stop line, hold back and be patient.

Look right and left in to the main road you are wanting to emerge into on the approach to see if the junction is an open or closed. 

Anticipate parked cars (even cars illegally parked on double yellow lines), pedestrians walking across the road you intend to drive into and cyclists at the mouth of the junction you are approaching.

Strategy on getting to the give-way/stop line

If you are confronted by an octagon stop sign, this is a command for you to stop. Ensure you 100% stop at the solid white stop line (your correct stopping P.O.T), this is very important as if you go too far forward you could make the vehicles already travelling on the main react and potentially slow down due to your actions (as they could think you are not stopping).

The key is if the junction is a stop junction it is probably a high risk area for accidents, so stopping is the safest thing to do.  There is no time limit in the Highway Code for how long you have to stop for, however working in conjunction with the Think campaign encourages all road users to think once, think twice, think bike. 

Evidence below with a link to the think bike campaign

Emerging left

Emerging right

You were marked on:

• overtaking
• meeting
• crossing

You needed to show good judgement when overtaking, meeting and crossing other road users, such as knowing when to proceed, and when to wait for a safer opportunity.

You needed to make your intentions clear, and understand the intentions of the other road users

Examples of fault

Some of the most common faults for this area include:

• not giving way to road users that have priority
• reacting late when meeting an approaching vehicle
• being too close to a cyclist when overtaking
• crossing the path of an oncoming vehicle when turning right

Your examiner may have explained the specific details of any faults you made.

Show you can improve in this are

If you made faults in this area during your test, or if you want to improve in this area, you should:

check rules 162 to 169 and rules 179 to 183 of The Highway Cod

read section 7 of ‘The Official DVSA Guide to Driving: the Essential Skills’ (2022 edition)

If you need to rebook the test, spend time practising this skill with your driving instructor or supervising driver.

Now in the next diagram the blue bus has passed, you still have a closed junction on your left, slowly move your training vehicle a few inches forward at a time until the view opens up (peep and creep). 

Once both sides have opened up and you have achieved your point of turn and its safe to turn continue your direction turn.

Discuss and agree your next lesson goals

Learning techniques and strategies

Practice achieving and improving the timing of the M.S.P.S.G & L.A.D.A routine's at busier T junctions and crossroads.  Continue to improve negotiating oncoming vehicles and turn nearside to nearside and offside and offside crossings. While fine tuning awareness, planning, the two second gap, holding back position, adequate clearance when overtaking stationary and slow moving vehicles.

Once you have practiced a few situations a few times your instructor will reduce his/her support transferring his responsibility over to you (that's if you agree with this).

Lesson Planning

• Agree learning goals and needs of todays lesson
• Agree appropriate lesson structure (full, partially or independent level of instruction)
• Practice in a suitable training area
• Agreed if needed to adapt the lesson plan to help the pupil work towards their new learning goals if any verbal or physical intervention was made by the instructor

Risk Management

Fully understood how the responsibility for risk of the lesson would be shared on the lesson plan between instructor and student.

• Directional instructions will be given in ADI format (Alert, direction and identify manor) given to the pupil clear and given in good time
• Agree if the students made a minor, serious or dangerous error on your lesson it will be broken down using F.I.S.H (fault, implications, solution & help) this method of feedback helps pupils understand what fault is being made and how to strategies on how correct the faults.

Teaching & Learning Strategies

Like mentioned earlier every student is induvial and each and everyone of you will progress at different rates so driving will adapt their lesson plan to help you achieve your driving goals.

• Your driving instructor will adapt their teaching style to suite your ability and ability
• Your driving instructor will continue to encourage you on your lesson and analyse any problems made and allow you to take responsibility for your own learning goals by giving you technical information to improve your techniques. Your technical feed back from your instructor will be ether given on the move or if feel needed by pulling you up on the side of the road somewhere safe, legal and convenient.

Rote learning (WikipediA)

Rote learning is a memorization technique based on repetition. The method rests on the premise that the recall of repeated material becomes faster the more one repeats it. Some of the alternatives to rote learning include meaningful learning, associative learning, spaced repetition and active learning.

At the end of your lesson 

At the end of your lesson you will have a debrief with your instructor giving you the opportunity to reflect on your performance on your lesson then you can set up new goals for your next driving lesson.

This will also give you the opportunity to research any new topics that will be brought into on your next agreed lesson. So remember your instructor is there to HELP you, so on your driving lesson if you have any uncertainties or need anything rewording or recapping to make things any clearer, just ask.