Tips for Passing the driving test – Mirrors

With more and more traffic on the roads, and it seeming that driving standards are dropping, then the use of your mirrors whilst driving not only increases the chance of you passing your driving test, but also decreases the chance of you hitting someone or something once you've passed!

Which Mirrors

As a general rule you always use mirrors in PAIRS. Centre and left or Centre and right.

The centre mirror provides the most accurate picture of what is coming up behind you and how close. So if there is someone gaining speed behind, often you can be quite sure that they are going to overtake or indeed, undertake!

The centre mirror also lets you know how close a vehicle is behind. So if you know you've got a lorry a few inches from your back bumper you know you need to start planning further ahead before slowing down or stopping. Not just hit the brakes at the last second.

The Left Mirror

This help you to know if anything is coming up alongside you on the pavement side of your car. Motorbikes, cyclists, other cars. Very often not checking the left mirror is the biggest cause of collisions in vehicles. YES the bike shouldn't have tried to undertake at the point, but just as equally, YOU should have looked in the left mirror to see him there and not turned!

The Right Mirror

Before accelerating or going around a stationary vehicle, it is essential to check the right mirror.

If you are on a single carriageway road, and perhaps there is a van or a more inexperienced driver who thinks they have enough room to overtake, if you accelerate without knowing they are there, you will keep them on the wrong side of the road and ultimately may cause a head on collision.