Chapter 11 – Vehicle Handling

Overtaking at night

1. be careful because you can see less.
2. beware of bends in the road ahead.
3. don’t dazzle other road users.
4. If you are overtaken at night and you have your headlights on full beam, you should switch to a dipped beam as the overtaking car draws level with you.

Facts to Know

1. You activate the engine brakes when you change to a lower gear.
2. When driving up steep hill lower gears will pull better, the engine will work harder, you will slow down sooner.
3. On icy roads, the distance you should drive from the car in front is ten times the normal distance.
4. Coasting (rolling in neutral gear or holding the clutch pedal down) is dangerous because you will have less steering and braking control, and won’t be able to make use of the engine brake.
5. When using your brakes, a lot i.e. when driving downhill you may notice that they don’t work as well as normal. This is due to them overheating.
6. You must use dipped headlights during the day if visibility is poor.
7. Traffic calming measures are used to slow traffic down.
8. In windy weather, high-sided vehicles, cyclists, motorcyclists and cars towing caravans are likely to be most affected.
9. To correct a rear-wheel skid you should steer into it.
10. Areas reserved for trams may have a) white line-markings b) a different colored surface
11. c) a different textured surface.
12. Rumble strips, raised markings, or yellow painted stripes across the road, are designed to alert you to a hazard ahead, make you aware of your speed and encourage you to slow down.

Motorways

1. On a well-lit motorway at night always use dipped headlights
2. If you break down on the motorway or have to stop on the hard shoulder you must turn your headlights off and turn on the sidelights.