RoSPA South West Group

General Ability

Deportment and conduct:

The examiner will assess your temperament, concentration and your consideration for other road users. You should be positive, thoughtful and progressive yet disciplined and considerate in order to ensure safety. Creating too many opportunities for others to enter the flow of traffic may be appreciated but may adversely affect the opportunities to make progress during the test.

Vehicle sympathy:

You should respect your vehicle and drive it in a way which will not abuse it or produce faults for future drivers. Harsh use of the controls or a failure to drive according to changes in road surface conditions may be penalised.

Observations:

Advanced drivers will be expected to search for information in the near, middle and far distant views. They look for and see more than other drivers and so have more information on which to plan their driving, They will look ahead and cover a much wider field of view. They are always looking for clues to enable them to anticipate the actions of other road users. The examiner will want to see evidence that you are doing this. Even in congested traffic advanced drivers will always be using observation to form a driving plan, looking far enough ahead so that they are not forced into an unplanned action or a move out of sequence in the system. It is not enough merely to acknowledge a change, but how this is being analysed and ordered in developing a driving plan.
If you wish to give a commentary the examiner will be pleased for you to do so though this is not essential. The examiner may ask you to think aloud for a few minutes and this will help him to judge your observation and planning.

Judging distance:

The examiner will note your ability to judge distance and note whether you follow vehicles at a safe distance.

Motorways and Dual carriageways:

Joining the motorway can be from either lane of the slip road and will depend on traffic conditions. The use of the different elevation of the slip road and the motorway may give a better view of the motorway. Acceleration sense should be used to achieve an appropriate merge speed. Speed and following distances should be appropriate for the conditions. When leaving the motorway the candidate should be in lane 1 before the 300 yards marker and, if necessary, signalling that intention.

Questions:

To conclude the test the examiner will ask you questions on The Highway Code, and general motoring matters perhaps including knowledge of Roadcraft. There will be some questions on basic car mechanics. Your vehicle handbook should provide enough information to answer these questions.