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TO DO’s

  • Start off and pull over/up;
    • Observation is required every time you move from stand still.
    • handbrake down completely!!
    • gear 1 first! Sometimes forget to change to gear 1 before starting off after temparary pulling over.
    • Don’t get too close to the curb when pulling up. [✘]
    • When you are asked to do a U-turn at DTC, get to the middle of the driveway, avoid the curb!
    • Change gears! Don’t forget gears.
    • When start off at mini-roundabouts or roundabouts, give more gas to start off fast, 1st gear start off!
  • Clutch control (Don’t forget to change gears!)

    • changing gears early, sometimes foget to change gears. Brake first before you gear down. Don’t use engine to force slowing down, use brakes!

    • clutch down fast, lift slow. Off the gas when you change gears at high speed. Give gas at the last 10% of clutch lifting when you start off.
      • clutch up and give gas: engage to give power to go;
      • clutch down and ease gas: disengage to reduce power and to brake or stop;

    • speed >20 m/h $\rightarrow$ 3rd gear; >30 m/h $\rightarrow$ 4th gear; >40 m/h $\rightarrow$ 5th gear

    • what should you do if you want to lift the clutch fast but smooth?
      • Off the gas. You can’t give gas (make revs up) while clutch up (make revs down) smoothly.
      • clutch is good at bringing your revs down, but not good at bringing revs up.
      • if your clutch has to bring the revs up, you will find your car will jolt forward.
    • Normal drive condition: 1st gear: <5m/h; 2nd gear: lowest bound is 6-9m/h; 3rd gear: lowest bound 17-18 m/h; lower than the lowest bound will make your car jerky;
      • 1st gear is designed to accelerate your car from stand still; change to 2nd gear later when you have uphill start off, wait until 12-13 m/h.
      • use 2nd gear for uphill climbing, more power;
    • If you speed is too low or too high for your gear, you clutch down and coast a bit.
    • if you are turning left into a narrow side road, you go at 5m/h, use either
      • 1st gear or,
      • 2nd gear with clutch down and coast a bit.
    • if you change to 1st gear at maybe 10m/h, the car will shake b/c speed is too high for 1st gear. Car struggles and forces to slow down to keep up with the gear. $\rightarrow$ keep clutch down and coast a bit until your speed is low. Then lifting the clutch will not be jerky.
      • if you are approaching red traffic light and slowing down, should change to 1st gear directly and coast until you reach the waiting line. B/c your speed is still high, higher than the normal speed for 1st gear, car will become jerky. $\rightarrow$ You keep the clutch down and coast until you stop.
    • Coasting is not a problem when you are at a low speed. Coasting is bad when you need power to speed up or need engine to brake. [✘]
    • Do not press the gas when you are waiting on traffic light. Just cover the gas, be prepared to start off.
  • When you have made a mistake of choosing the correct lane, you just follow it through, do not try to force your way and correct your mistake;
    • common mistakes on roundabouts
      • when you want to take the next exit but your lane forces you to exit $\rightarrow$ you have to exit;
      • when you want to exit but you are in the middle or right lane $\rightarrow$ go another round and exit next time;
      • it is ok to take a wrong exit, better than put yourself at danger.

  • crossroads; T-junctions;

    • Do NOT indicate too early, do not forget to indicate either. [✘] There might be side ways before crossroads or junctions. Indicating too early could be misleading.
    • 档位的操作2档或1档过路口
      • clear way $\rightarrow$ 2nd gear;
      • you have to stop or you are not sure $\rightarrow$ 1st gear;
    • check wing mirrors:
      • before start off;
      • speed up/ slow down;
    • emerging from T-junctions $\rightarrow$ always 1st gear (closed junction—have to stop and lean forward for observation; open junction—don’t need to stop if you have a clear way); exiting from Northway to Marston Ln (the 1st turn left) $\rightarrow$ 1st gear but do not stop (1st gear b/c you can start off quickly. It’s unlikely that cars will come from the right to make you stop, so do not stop);

  • meet oncoming vechicles; give way to pedestrians and cyclists;

    • when it’s 20m/h speed limit, it’s not worth overtaking; just hold back;
    • be aware of road works; cyclists and pedestrians might come down to the road to get around the roadwork;
    • check if there is enough space on your right. If so, you don’t need to pull in to give way;
      • whether your pulling in has any effects, if the answer is no (when there is a junction on the right), you can just stop and let the oncoming vehicle pass.
    • if giving way to bus, you need to pull in completely, then when you pull out, must indicate; under normal conditions, you position will be half in half out, don’t need to indicate when pulling out.
    • don’t copy cars in front of you. Need to make your own observation and judgement.
    • give more priority to cyclists;

  • Bends are dangerous, don’t need to drive up to the speed limit. This is driving to the condition.

    • don’t speed up on bends;

    • don’t overtake on bends;

  • mini-roundabouts

    • go around it, do not drive on top;
    • exception: Hollow Way and The Slade mini-roundabout but only from The Slade direction with the two lanes; For other directions with only one lane, you always go around it.
      • From Slade to DTC, 2nd exit, turning right, don’t turn your wheel to left first, you go straight to the circle, ride half on half off. If you turn left before turn right, that is called “swan neck” steering.
    • A blocker doesn’t mean the car on your right is going to stop for you. Have to see if the car on the right is stopping, only if he is stopping or stops, you can go. No priority is guranteed. Sometimes you have to give up any priority you have.
      • But the rule is when a blocker shows up, the car on the right should give way, meaning you can join the mini-RA at that time.

  • dual carriageways; slip roads;

    • keep your speed up, do not slow down; do not stare at signs; [✘]
    • two-lane slip roads:
      • leaving to the left lane is early, when you see the opening for slip roads, you must leave to the left lane as soon as possible; leaving to the right lane is late; if you missed the timing leaving to the left lane, you have no choice but leaving to the right lane; it’s not suggested to change lanes afterwards, only do it if you checked mirrors and made sure it’s safe;
      • joining from the left lane $\rightarrow$ have to follow through to the end and join, do not cut lanes to the right in the middle of slip roads; cars are speeding up, dangerous to cut lanes; joining from the right lane is easier;
    • do indication early on dual carriageways! B/c cars move fast on dual carriageways, so have to let other drivers know your intention early.

  • Emerging to left

    • Focus on your right, just a quick glance on your left for pedestrians and cyclists, b/c danger comes from the right—you don’t want to block the way of oncoming vehicles;
    • Don’t need to right-left-right check. Just one right and left would be enough.

  • Emerging to right

    • Have to see both sides, left and right to make sure both ways are clear;

    • Last check on your right before you start off.

    • Emerging to right at DTC, if you are going to wait for a long queue, use the handbrake, so you right foot is on the gas, you can start off whenever you spot a safe gap.

    • Do NOT be overly cautious [✘], which results in unduly hesitance fault. I tend to wait for too long to emerge. If you are able to walk through, you can drive through.

      image-20230103124221743

  • Turning right

    Uncontroled (no lights), to a side road

    • if you are going in a narrow side road or car park, possibly with parked cars, need to do it at 1st gear;
    • if you have a clear way and your exit is wide, meaning you won’t need to stop, then turn at 2nd gear;
      • 2nd gear is generally alright. Even if you see vehicles coming, you always have the option to cluctch down, stop, change to 1st gear;
    • if you see oncoming vehicles, then you need to stop and give way; so use 1st gear and wait in the box;
      • when you have a clear way and start off, give gas to start off quickly so you don’t get stuck in the middle, oncoming cars can come soon, so you must get away fast as soon as you have a gap;
    • if there are parked cars on the left before the junction, you need to go as a S shape to avoid the cars first and return to your lane (left lane) and position right close to the center.
      • pay extra attention when there is no central line to separate two lanes. Must NOT go to the opposite lane. [✘]
      • your indicator might go off when you try to avoid the parked cars. Just have it back on and carry on your turning.

    Controlled (with traffic lights)

    • you have to decide where you are going to wait; only two cars can wait in the box; if you are the 3rd car, you have to wait behind the waiting line; sometimes you have a waiting box for cyclists, do not go ahead there either;
      • lights can change fast, if you the 3rd car, the chance is high that you will be stuck in the middle. That’s the worst case scenario.

    • sometimes you have separate traffic lights for going ahead and turning right. E.g., Cherwell Dr to Marston Ln. Have to wait until your right arrow is green, do NOT start off when you see the green light for going straight. [✘]

    • whenever there are two lanes turning right (middle and right lane), if you choose the middle lane, you have to go ahead a bit when turning even if there is no car on the right lane;

    • start turning right after you start off, so you do not end up onto cycle lanes or bus lanes.
  • Turning left with traffic control
    • Very important to check left mirrors b/c cyclists are usually there.
    • If a cyclist is along side you and turning left $\rightarrow$ hold back and let him pass first. Alternatively, you could go but give a very wide gap to him. But this is less ideal.
    • Be aware of any scooters on the left as well. They go fast.

  • Approaching traffic light

    • light is turning from red to green, you go on 2nd gear, don’t need to go 1st gear b/c you won’t need to stop as the light is changing and traffic starts flowing;

  • Reading signs

    • Roundabout signs are important!
    • Bus lane signs sometimes have time period say 8-10am & 4-6pm, menaing outside the time periods, bus lane is a normal driving lane, and you must drive on it;
  • Manuevers
    • observations
      • parallel parking: look more on the right blind spot, don’t stare at the left mirror for too long; stop when cars or pedestrians appear near you;
    • Reference point
      • Forward bay parking: $\ge$ 2.5 fingers. Turn on move. Remember to indicate right.
      • Reverse bay parking: $\le$ 1/4 of the hand brake from the top; STOP at your reference point, do observation again and carry on. Full lock to the left when you start moving. If you turn on move [✘] , will end up being too close [✘] to the left.
      • Parallel parking: Turn on move, do NOT need to stop at the reference point. Small triangle + more than 2 turns on the right (2.5 turns full lock to the right) if you find the gap is too small (about to hit the curb, reat door is on the curb). Have to keep an eye to see if you are getting too close to the curb, if so, must react to it—either $i$) turn more than two turns to the right, or $ii$) stop and move forward to correction.
    • Parallel parking: where is your curb reference, sometimes you have another line outside the curb; Observation when doing paralle parking is essential b/c it is usually in a build-up area, pedestrians and cars do pass by. You need to be fully aware of them. (Bay parking takes place in a car park usually, so you don’t get other cars in the way.) If you did NOT see cars or pedestrians around you [✘] , it would be a serious fault.
    • Correction:
      • bay parking: always do when you go forward; need to turn about b/c you only have a very small space to correct.
      • parallel parking:
        • too wide (too big triangle)—correct when you reverse back and go forward;
        • too tight (too small triangle)—2 options: $i$) turn more than 2 to the right, maybe a full lock of 2.5 to the right; or $ii$) go forward before pulling in. If the gap is too tight, your left rear wheel will hit the curb. If you rear door handle is on the curb, then you will hit the curb. Must stop before you hit the curb. 如果三角形过小，可以向右打多于两圈儿(2.5圈full lock to the right)或者向前走一下修正。但是如果三角形过大，无法在倒车过程中修正了，必须向后多退一下，往前走的过程中修正。
        • 两害相权取其轻，最好是triangle稍微大一些。No risk of hitting the curb.
        • If there is a car coming behind, you indicate left to show your intention.
          • if he stops, you carry on;
          • if he goes around you, you stop to let him pass.
    • keep wheels straight when you finish;
    • end with checking behind;
    • when you pull out from a bay and prepare to carry on, do a full observation and blind spot check like you start off.
  • 1m gap between parked cars, cyclists;
  • Signals off after you join dual carriageways; leaving roundabouts; making turns; etc.
  • check mirrors when changing speed;
  • speed limit

    • build-up areas with street lights: 30m/h;

    • single carriageways: 60 m/h

    • dual carriageways: 50 or 70m/h depending on the speed limit sign.

  • Lane choosing: if two lanes both work, always choose the left one of the two;

  • 不要盯着某个东西一直看, traffic signs, looking for slip roads。这样会分心导致看不到其他更重要的路况，比如speed limit, other cars, cyclists etc.

    • 如果看不到slip road, 证明它很短或者就是还没到。即使错过也问题不大。注意的是严禁未经indicate, mirror check , 突然拐弯。反正就是看到出口的路牌，心里感觉快到了就打转向灯，然后注意力放在继续行驶上，注意speed limit。到了slip road再exit。
    • 在dual carriageway上，indicate要早。注意力放在center, right mirrors.
    • 注意力是car control。
  • Sat-Nav. Have to look at yards distance, indicate at 80 yards (100 yards=91meters).
    • have to keep an eye on the routes for which direction you are going to next. Plan in advance!
    • It is ok to miss a turn, sometimes a turn comes sooner than you anticipate. 100 yeards is very short. But never turn without mirror check and signal. Better to miss than turn at last minute and put people in danger.
    • Sat-Nav will show the name of the road you are taking, so keep an eye on that.

  • DTC

    • give way to pedestrians going to their cars;

    • when pulling out from the DTC gate, give way to cars on the road;
    • Emerging at the end of the road: use handbrake.
    • U-turn at the end: go a bit futher, but not too much ahead.
      • not further enough: will hit the right curb;
      • too further: will hit the left curb.

NOT TO DO’s

habitual faults, you can’t have the same fault for over than 3 times on your test.

  • 右转

    • Uncontrolled crossroads
      • 车开到对面车道等候右转，严重影响对面车辆行驶。[✘] Exiting from Northway to Headindton & Hospitals.
      • If there is oncoming vehicles, do not pull to the left since you are indicating right and intend to turn right. Do not swerve steering wheel.
    • Controlled crossroads
      • Definitely do not stop in the middle or the turning box once started. [✘]

  • 左转

    • 车开到自行车道，太靠左行驶 [✘]
    • keep 1m gap when you turn left.
    • Controlled
      • do not stop to check road conditions. Just go when it’s green.

  • General driving

    • 有时候会错过人行道的红绿灯。尤其是拐弯之后马上出现的，所以拐弯一定要慢。

    • I do not read road markings and signs. I focus too much on the way I am going. [✘]

    • Don’t drive too close to your left, might hit the curb. [✘]

  • Dual carriageways

    • Do not slow down at the first two markers. [✘]
    • Do not slow down when you look at signs for roundabouts or exits.[✘]

  • Mini roundabout

    • do not drive right on top of it. [✘]

Roundabout Lane Choosing

  • General
    • Read signs is important!! Get a general idea which direction you are going, and which exit you are taking.
    • If you are mistakenly at the left lane before an exit, you have to exit no matter what. If you carry on, the middle lane car will have no place to go, because he is going to be the left lane and you are on his way. This is likely to cause collision. So must exit if you are on the left hand lane already.
    • Do not change lanes or indicate left until you pass your penultimate exit. Giveing signals too early will be misleading.
    • At big RAs such as Littlemore and Heyford, need to give more gas when starting off. Need to go a bit faster than usual.
  • Headington RA
    • From A4142 Cowley to A40(E) London, 4th exit, turning right — right to middle lane (this does NOT seem to be a natural choice b/c middle lane is usually for going straight)
      • Tip to help remember: London is a busy exit; so both middle and right lane go to London; but good thing is both of them is split from the right lane;
    • From A4142 to A40(W) Northway, the Sat Nav will say 3rd exit towards Marston b/c it also counts a small exit. You take the left lane and carry on what you do. The middle and right lanes go to A40E towards London.
      • mind the 30m/h speed limit still applies for a while untill you see the 50m/h speed limit sign.
    • From Headington to London, 3rd exit, going straight — left to middle lane; get to the left lane after the bus lane;
    • From Northway to A4142, 4th exit, turning right, 2 o’clock—right to middle lane, indicate right!!
      • Do NOT forget the right signal. [✘]
  • Cowley RA
    • From Ring Rd Noth to Cowley Business Park, 4th exit, turning right:
      • Right when entering. Right when joining the RA.
      • Middle lane on the RA. Right lane split into middle and right. The split is very fast, you choose the middle lane when you reach the split. (This is not a special lane choice b/c right lane seems to be a more natural choice for turning right) You will exit onto the left lane of the exit.
      • Stick with right lane is ok but will exit onto the right lane. Have to move back to left lane when possible.
  • Littlemore RA
    • From A4142 Cowley RA to Iffley, 3rd exit, turning right. When approaching: move to the right lane early (when you see the green sign saying Westgate…) and indicate right before the lane splits into middle and right lanes, so people know which lane you are choosing.
    • From Iffley Rose Hill to Oxford Rd/ Littlemore, 2nd exit, straight ahead
      • Entering: middle lane. There is no traffic light for you to join the RA, so you have to do observation and make a decision to join.
      • after passing the 1st exit, move to the left lane (unless there is a queue in the left lane, must make independent judgement); be prepared to exit;
      • be aware of the poles when you join Oxford Rd.
    • From Rose Hill to Ring Road towards Midlands, 3rd exit, turning right
      • Entering: middle lane (mid lane goes straight ahead or turing right)
  • Kassam Stadium
    • Last RA before joining A4074 (back to Oxford city center): 1st exit, turning left. When approaching, indicate right and get to the right lane.
    • Grenoble RA W2 from west to east, taking the 2nd exit, choose the middle lane. This is the only middle lane in Kassam Stadium RAs.
    • Otherwise, always take the left lane, do not indicate when joining RAs, indicate before you leave.

  • Heyford RA

    • From Littlemore A4142 to A4074 Rose Hill, 2nd exit, turning right. Indicate left and join the slip road $\rightarrow$ cancel left signal and join the RA $\rightarrow$ Leave RA, drive towards Rose Hill.

      • 1st and 2nd exit share the slip road. 1st exit goes to Sainsbury.

    • From A4074 to A4142, 2nd exit, turning right. Middle lane, indicate right. Exit onto the right lane, need to do observation and indicate left to move to the left lane after you cross the RA.

Specific Roads

  • BP petrol station on Cherwell Drive before joining Northway.
    • Wait for the lights for turning right to become green before you proceed. Lights for going ahead and turning right are saparate and do not change at the same time. Lights for going ahead become green first. Do not go at this time.

Test Routes

Test Routes: https://www.driving-test-centre.com/oxford-driving-test-routes.php

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@driveprofessionaldrivingsc2189/videos

BRM Driving School Oxford

Maps:

https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Route-1-Oxford-test/HUxuaclGl1

https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Test-route-2/_k04h81PyC

Google Earth Oxford Driving Stops - Self-Made

Test routes

Test routes notes

When turning left from the DTC, it is usually that you first take a detour and make 1 or 2 stops/maneuvers, then you carry on to Holloway. Holloway is very busy road with many parked cars on the left. Need to give way to oncoming vehicles. Need to judge where you are going to stop.

  • very likely to go to B480 Cowley Rd (Garsington Rd) towards Oxford Business Park RA and Cowley RA; Oxford Business Park RA, 2nd exit, going ahead, left lane. Cowley RA, 2nd exit, going ahead toward Watlington, middle lane;

Lesson 1 - Aug 10, 2022

moving off, doing turns, and T junctions the proper way to pass with the correct mirror checks as well as pulling over etc.

Moving off (Pull away) 启动 (start button + Air button) $\rightarrow$ 挂1挡，find biting point, hold住 $\rightarrow$ Mirror, Signal right $\rightarrow$ 拉手刹(push the button on handbrake), last blind spot and mirror check $\rightarrow$ 起步

一启动，二挂档，三镜四灯，五手刹，六盲区，七起步。

  1. Start the car (clutch down, press start, air button)
  2. Prepare the car (change to gear 1, find the biting point (on very old cars, you need to slightly give some gas) and hold at the biting point (no down no up 稳住在半联动状态), first mirror checks, then signal light)
  3. Start the car (handbrake down, final right blind spot and mirror check, start moving)

Notes

  • first mirror check then signal right; only when you find a gap where you could start off, then you signal right. If you have a flowing traffic, don’t signal, or else, you are disrupting the traffic.
  • fianl check blind spot and mirror after handbrake down and before starting off;
  • 先抬离合找到biting point再抬刹车！否则会roll back.

Car starts moving when finding the biting point.

If the car begins moving forward while attempting to find the biting point (clutch is a bit too high), keep calm. Just put the clutch down, take your foot off the gas, and try again.

Car stalls when finding the biting point.

This is usually because the clutch is way too high, engine is fully engaged, but power is smaller than friction, car stops and engine stops/stalls.

Stopping (Pull up/over)

  1. check mirrors,
  2. signal left;
  3. ease off gas and brake gently, put the clutch down (don’t need to change to gear 1, just focus on positioning and braking). We could stop the car in whatever our current gear is, but we need to push the clutch down completely to avoid stalling.
  4. position to a good place (<30 cm away from the curb) $\rightarrow$ brake to stop and change to neutral gear $\rightarrow$ handbrake up.

Notes: 停车踩离合的原理

如果我们仅仅是减速，只需要踩刹车，但是如果我们需要刹车到停止，我们就需要踩下离合。如果不是空挡，离合在不踩下的情况下，发动机是和输出轴连接的，这样如果发动机动力小于阻力(1档情况下)，车轮阻力会导致车辆停止，进而引起发动机也跟着停止，车子熄火。但是如果是在高档位，车子动力大，踩刹车就不会熄火。

所以我们在刹车停车时需要踩下离合器，这样车子在停下来时，输出轴和发动机分离，发动机不会熄火，然后再拉上手刹切换到空挡，再放开离合和刹车，这时候由于是空挡，汽车和发动机没有连接，发动机仍然不会熄火，这样我们可以快速了开始下一次启动。

When you are on a road

Change to gear 2

Mirror check (center-left-right)

keep 1m distance from other cars, cyclists, etc.

Center-left mirror if moving to left, center-right mirror if moving to right;

center-right mirror check before changing speed.

Making turns MSPSL Mirror-Signal-Position-Speed-Look

How to make a left turn

  • Mirror-Signal-Positioning-Speed(Slow Down)-Changing Gears
    • 先signal再position再减速
    • 先减速再换档，换档是最后一步。
  • always first or second gear when making turns/bends etc. If need to stop, change to gear 1 (it’s ok to slow down from gear 3 to gear 1); if don’t need to stop, change to gear 2; before changing gears, slow down;
  • brake gently (progressively and repeatedly), gas gently.
    • When on gear 1 and if brake hard, will stall; if need to stop, cluth down and brake gently.
    • When on gear 2, clutch down to prevent stalling, can brake if need to stop in case there are pedestrians/cyclists. If have a clear way, don’t brake because you could go too slowly. Ease on gas will be sufficient to slow down.
  • after turning, change to gear 2 immediately and do mirror check after.
  • open vs. close junction:
    • open junctions have a clear view, don’t have to stop to observe; 2 gear with clutch down; 10 mph
    • close junctions have a block view, have to stop to observe; 5 mph gear 1, clutch down, gently brake to stop and observe; if clear to go, release brake and enter the major road.
  • If you see pedestrians standing on the pavement waiting to cross the side road: you should wait and give way to the pedestrians.

Left turns

  1. mirror check at 6-car distance, signal, position to left (choose the correct lane)
  2. when approaching the turn, brake to slow down (~5 mph, walking pace), clutch down and change to gear 1
  3. at the junction, stop and observe (left-right-left), if have a clear way, start to move (find the biting point first, then ease the brake).
  4. after starting, don't move left foot away, keep it on the clutch, because you need to change to gear 2 right away.

Notes:

  • Choose the correct lane beforehand;
  • give way to pedestrians until they are finished crossing the road;
  • avoid going to the other side of the road - turn early;

Right turns

  1. mirror check, signal, position to right (choose the correct lane, car mirror riding on middle line;)
  2. when approaching the turn, brake to slow down, clutch down and change to gear 1
  3. at the junction, stop and observe (right-left-right), if have a clear way, start to move (find the biting point first, then ease the brake).

Notes: avoid going to the other side of the road - turn late when right mirror passes the middle line, so you reduce blocking traffic on the other lane;

Things to bear in mind

  • finding biting point 启动时离合器要hold住!!

  • 离合松到后10%的时候给油门，助力起步。

  • Gear 1 (<10 mph): use clutch to control speed (clutch down to slow, lift to start); no hard brake, or it will make the car stall; 1档只有起步和爬坡的时候用。起步完成马上换2档。

    需要减速时

    • 急停离合刹车同时踩，但是刹车要轻踩；
    • 缓慢减速踩离合就好；
    • 只踩刹车会熄火。

  • Ease on the brake. On gear 1, do not use break (otherwise will stall), just down the clutch you will stop. Gear 1 max speed: 20 mph; need to change to gear 2 immediately after starting off.

  • Higher Gears (2, 3, etc): brake first, then lower gears if needed. When changing gears, use your palm. It’s not always necessary to change gears one at a time. (换低挡位可以跳跃，不需要一档一档换。升挡位需要一档一档升。)

    • It’s quite acceptable, and often preferable to miss out gears by going from fourth say, straight down to second.
    • gear 2: 10-20 mphl; gear 3: 20-30mph; gear 4: 30-45;

  • When making right turns, do it like a straight angle, do not turning the wheel too early

  • 手扶方向盘的位置 左右双手都在上或中间。

    • 推荐左手中间，右手在上，更加方便控制。

  • 熄火的原因：转速太低

    • 车快熄火的时候会抖，这时候根据情况踩油或换挡或踩下离合。
    • 行驶过程中的急停容易熄火。原因：没踩离合器。当发动机转速下降、车辆抖动时要及时踩下离合，切断动力，才能保证不熄火。
    • 起步熄火：离合抬起太快，发动机动力不足，给油不及时导致发动机憋闷熄火。
    • 挡位与速度不匹配
      • 高档低速：发动机会有轰轰轰轰的声音(高手起步，以及突然减速会发生这种状况)。遇到堵车，可以跨档降档(4档降2档)。
    • 避免熄火：踩离合—只要踩住离合即切断了动力，就不会熄火。
      • 但是注意行驶过程中踩离合会加速离合器的磨损。

  • 低速高档：发动机就会呜呜呜呜地响，会引发积碳，严重会损坏发动机。

    image-20220828093350135

    发动机拉动动力轮，油门控制动力轮转速。油门一样时 (发动机转速不变)，低档位大转盘，转动圈数少，车速慢；高档位小转盘，转动圈数多，车速快。

    • 高档低速 动力轮转的非常慢，少给油，会省油。问题是发动机有有效转速，低于有效转速，容易造成堵油嘴，缩短发动机寿命等问题。$\rightarrow$ 所以需要先升速再进档，逐档进。
    • 低档高速 发动机转速过快，过度给油， 发动机长时间超负荷动转，发热很大，伤机子。

  • 上下坡都需要用低挡位，发动机对速度的控制力更强。

    • 低速档牵引力大，高速档牵引力小。所以爬坡要用低挡。下坡低挡位，发动机可以辅助制动。

    • 雨雪天需要高档位低速度行驶。低挡位动力太大，车轮会打滑。

  • 空档怠速 (coasting/rolling) 的危害：下坡时会加速很快；发动机对车辆控制减弱(steering and speed)；刹车更困难(no engine brake 无发动机制动)。

  • 可以踩下离合之后不马上换档。这种情况一般在需要减速换挡或者停车之前。换挡可以从容进行，踩下离合后缓几秒再换档也是没有问题。

  • If we need to slow down the car to less than the current gear’s minimum speed we will have to be very carefull. (eg 2nd gear to pass junctions) $\rightarrow$ if you want to slow down, need to press clutch down; if you have a clear way and don’t need to slow down, a second gear without gas or brake would be fine.

    • if we simply press the brake, we will feel the engine resists the brakes. Shudder a little then stall.
    • Instead, we should press the clutch down and adjust the biting point to control the amount of drive to the wheels, use brakes as assitance. (离合主要控速，刹车辅助控速)
    • Note that, we have to speed up to more than the minimum speed of the current gear, before we let lift the clutch fully. Otherwise, speed too slow, engine will stall. [This technique is called “slipping the clutch”.] This procedure must be short, a few seconds won’t wear the clutch; a long time like this will wear out the clutch faster than normal.

  • 速度变化需要看镜子

    • 过路口或者红绿灯前需要换低挡：先刹车减速，速度降下来之后再换低挡。

    • 过完路口或者红绿灯之后要加速换2挡。先踩油门加速，再换2档。

    • 速度标志加速：先换档，过了速度标识之后再踩油门加速。

Lesson 2 - Aug 19, 2022

  • Practicing left/right turn;
    • always clutch down;
    • When to signal, 20-30 mph, 6 car lengths.
    • position shows your intention, so position correctly.
    • 快到路口时要离合踩到底，防止熄火；右脚离开油门减速，尽量不踩刹车；如果确实需要刹车，点刹即可，挡位过低时猛踩刹车会熄火；
    • Look at the junction:
      • turning left: left-right-left
      • turning right: right-left-right
      • you can observe more times, as observation gets old. Keep looking and lean forward if you need to.
    • 车子启动时左脚送完离合后不要拿走，继续原地等马上换2档踩离合。
  • Driving on busy roads;
    • 等红绿灯 快绿灯时: find biting point $\rightarrow$ ease brake and give a bit gas $\rightarrow$ start off.
  • Two ways to slow down:
    • ease on gas
    • down the brake

Lesson 3 - Aug 24, 2022

今天主要是drive on busy roads and how to pass crossroads. Checks on mirrors!

注意人行横道，左侧自行车，起步中或者暂时到站停车的公交车。

  • Meeting on coming traffic in build-up areas

    • If the obstruction is on our side, oncoming vehicles will have priority and we must not do anything to make them change speed or direction.
    • If the obstruction is on the other side, we have the priority but should be prepare to stop because cars could emerge before they see us approaching.
    • Obstruction on both sides, no priority, just slow down.

    Notes:

    • If there is not enough room for an oncoming Motorbike/cyclist, you have to hold back and wait until the motorbike passes.
    • Look ahead, evaluate where I can hold back and anticipate what the oncoming car will do; have to act to the body language of the oncoming car, is he slowing down? Is he turning to the middle or to the side?

  • Giving way to traffic

  • Adequate clearance

    • don’t keep too close to the front car; keep 2 sec distance behind when it’s dry; 4 sec for wet; 2 car lengths in build-up area;
    • pass parked vehicles with full door width or 1m gap; or at least half a door width or 0.5m gap.
    • queueing rule: when stopping in traffic, keep the front car’s rear wheels in view;
    • diagonal rule: when travelling on a multi-lane road, positioning diagonally to other vehicles;
      • do not go side-by-side; [✘]
      • do not drive in other cars’ blind spots; [✘]

  • Mirrors in general driving

    • Make more use of the central mirror!
    • start off, stopping
    • when driving: change speed (increase speed: center-right, make sure no one is overtaking; or decrease speed: center-right mirror, make sure no one is closely behind you); change direction (center-the direction you are turning to)
    • in a new road, mirror check.
    • when making turns, do mirror check right before you make the turn.
    • passing slip road: center-left; help them to merge;
    • When turning left, have to check left mirror for cyclist. 在路上超自行车也很容易造成大错，不是不能超，而是需要有技巧。英国的自行车是法律规定可以在机动车道上行驶的，其他车辆必须给他们足够的空间，如果要超车必须在空间足够宽敞的道路上，不能给骑行人员造成危险。
    • Junction转弯以后，要从车里边的后视镜向后看一下后边的traffic situation，不要影响后边的traffic，比如后边的车辆不能因为你转弯后速度太慢而减速，否则一个major就挂掉了。
    • 定期检查mirror，开车过程中大概每隔15-30s就需要检查镜子，而且动作幅度大一点，一定要让考官看到。其他一些特殊情况，比如斑马线停车的时候一定要先看后视镜，踩刹车之前，要先检查mirror。从右侧绕行停车的公交时，先检查mirror。每次检查mirror一定是两个镜子，要么后视镜和右侧镜子，要么后视镜和左侧镜子。

  • Crossroads general

    • control crossroads: with traffic lights. Uncontrolled crossroads: no traffic light.
    • Do not go to the middle until you are sure you will make it through. Otherwise, you will be stuck in the middle or pedestrian crossing. If you are not sure, just wait behind the stop line.
    • Allow only 1 or 2 cars waiting in the middle. If you are the 3rd car in the queue, wait behind the stop line, until the cars in front of you have past the crossroads and you have enough a gap to pass for sure.
    • Do not block “KEEP CLEAR” road markings on the road.
    • If you decide the crossroads is not a good one to turn (e.g., you meet a big lorry), you could just go straight and make a turn at the next crossroads.
    • Need to signal accurately, don’t signal too early as there might be two consessive turns and signal too early might be misleading the driver behind.
      • I tend to signal way too early. [✘]

  • Crossroads turning right

    • 右转和直行分道：在右转待行，车头向右偏。(curved car body)
    • 右转直行合道：车头笔直，否则会block oncoming vehicles. (straight car body)
    • If only one lane on the road, the position indicates your next move.

  • offside/nearside crossing. Follow what the car in front did; if you are the first, then make your own call.

    • offside 大转弯: the side away from the curb (driver side). 适合narrow roads; go behind the coming car and turn right. This is safer as it enables drivers on both sides of the road to see oncoming traffic as you move around. Better view.

      It is suggested to go forward straight to the point of turn before turning, and make a offside turn when you see fit. $\rightarrow$ This way you will give cars behind us enough room to go forward, drivers behind have a better view of what’s happening at the crossroads;

      Offside 大转弯只存在理论中，知道怎么回事儿就行。实际上从没用过… 😂

    • nearside 小转弯: the side nearest to the curb (passenger side). nose-to-nose turn; 适合wide roads; used more often; driver turn in front of each other; blocked view. 学车到现在从没走过大转弯，一直用nearside.

    image-20220824132439609

    • If you decide the crossroads is not suitable for turning, you may carry on and turn at the next junction instead. E.g., oncoming lorry turning right as well.

  • Box junctions: you can sit in the yellow box as long as you are turning right and your exit is clear, and you are just giving way to oncoming vehicles.

    image-20220824133418559

  • 低速驾驶时，松离合时慢慢松，否则会bump. Do not slam on the brake because it might cause rear collision. Check the center-right mirror before braking.

  • 有pedestrian corssing时，要预判。Plan what you are going to do as soon as you see a crossing. 看有没有人，有人要准备停车，没有人就正常行驶。

    • uncontrolled crossings: zebra crossing, need to stop and give way to pedestrains.

      • Zig-zag line (same as a red line): No waiting, parking, loading, no overtaking.
      • Where you should stop at a zebra crossing: Stop at the stop line.
      • Some zebra crossings have an island for people to wait in the middle of the road. It’s inappropriate to slow dow and stop for people at an island. An island is not an official crossing. Do not stop for people there!

    • controlled crossings: 有人摁下按钮，可能很快就要红灯，要准备停车。无人的话，可以放心继续行驶。

    • Traffic light at crossings

      • red: stop
      • green: proceed when it's safe. Wait for the pedestrain to finish crossing before you proceed.
      • flashing amber of Toucan Crossings: proceed when it’s safe.

  • Steady amber when you have left the stop line: do NOT accelerate, just move smoothly past the junction.

  • Pay attention to the speed; pay attention to the left side (don’t scrape parked cars)

  • When you use handbrake at a crossroads, keep left hand on the handbrake, be ready to down. Push the button when lift or down the handbrake. 路口红绿灯长时间等待可以拉起手刹，但是左手要一直放在手刹待位。Wait on green light 是major fault.

  • 停车的时候控制好距离，要紧贴路边 (英国路窄，要靠边停车)。

  • 从main road进去side road可以用二挡，side road进去main road一般用一档，一定注意不要使后边的traffic减速！！否则就是major fault。

  • 在很窄的路段上，如果迎面有公交或者卡车，一定注意找合适的位置停车让行。狭窄路段，迎面遇到公交，一定注意减速或者停车让行，即使是在junction。Safty is the priority.

  • 狭窄路段，如果道路两边都停了车，迎面如果没有来车，不需要必须行驶在middle line里边，可以跨过middle line，和左边停车保持一米左右的车距，保障安全，靠的太近考官可能会担心你蹭到旁边的车辆。

  • Dashed line for bus/cycle lane: can cross it when necessary, but only temporarily.

  • 等红绿灯时，

    • 停车位置：can see the tyres and some of the road.
    • 长时间等待可以拉起手刹，但是左手要一直放在手刹待位。

  • 注意Turing right position: wing mirror in line with the center line of the new road.

Lesson 4 - Sep 2, 2022

今天练习了crossroads. 几个注意点

  • crossroads give way to oncoming vehicles (including going straight and left); waiting at the waiting point until you have a safe gap or the oncoming vehicles have stopped;
  • 过路口要减速 slow down, 2nd gear; mirror-signal-speed 先signal再减速
    • 如果不停车的话，就不用踩离合。
    • From minor to major road, 1st gear.
  • 换挡右手要稳 hold firm, otherwise the car swerves.
    • 右手在上比较容易给力。

  • 手刹抬起的时候 要按下按钮;

  • 左转的时候往外一点，不要离马路牙太近。
  • 靠边停车时直接离合踩到底，刹车控制车速。如果需要调整位置才换到1档，否则直接找好位置停车，然后空档就好。
  • 在坡上停车或者慢速行驶的话，离合半联动hold住的时间要比正常情况下长，保持车的最大动力，否则动力不足容易熄火。
  • 红绿灯起步的时候，刹车快点松，离合慢点松。刹车松的慢的话，车会抖。
  • 20 mph限速的时候要用3档。开车要考虑fuel efficiency. 2档过渡后如何可以升3档就马上升3档。
  • 注意speed limit.
    • 遇到换speed limit的时候，先换高档位，过了指示牌后提速。

起步的时候有可能遇到车辆经过，需要等待。等待结束，车准备开出来时要再看一次盲区。

Lesson 5 - Sep 12, 2022

今天学习了mini roundabout，并练习crossroad.

Mini-roundabouts

Mini roundabout

4-way mini-roundabout

Useful links:

https://inclusivedriving.co.uk/2019/09/01/m-is-for-mini-roundabout/

Emerging

  • Observation at 2 car lengths.
    • look on the right.
      • If they are signalling left (meaning they are about to leave), you can join the roundabout now.
      • If they do not signal (drive ahead) or signal right, meaning they are coming in your way, you need to wait until a safe gap. But if they stop there and are giving ways to cars on their right (a shield/bloacker car appears on your left), you could join since there will be a safe gap for you.
    • Shield/cover/blocker is the car you right car must give way to. When the car on your right gives way, you can join the roundabout.
  • Gear 2 or 1.
    • gear 2 if you have a clear way and don’t need to stop and wait for joinging.
    • gear 1 if you have to stop and wait for a safe gap.
  • When you stop and wait, use gear 1 and wait behind the waiting line. Do not cross it. Otherwise, it’s a major fault.
  • U-turn is a right turn, indicate right as you join.
  • observation 误区—mini-roundabouts are small and if a learner driver sees a car approaching the roundabout from the left or there are oncoming cars (which you need to give way suppose it were a crossroad), a learner driver can be tempted to stop, especially if the vehicle appears to be traveling at speed. $\rightarrow$ Pay attention to your right, don’t be tempted to stop and giva way to cars on your left or oncoming cars.
  • Need not to choose lanes on mini-roundabouts, might even drive on the center circle.
    • half on and half off the center circle.

Leave

  • do not need to signal when you leave because your signal or lack of signal when you approach is enough for people to know where you are going.

Crossroads turning right

  • Watining point: the wing mirror in line with the center line of the new road. 本次练习的major fault:
    • my fault: 车开到对面车道等候右转，严重影响对面车辆行驶。[✘] 

Driving on narrow roads

  • focus on your position (not too left—do not scratch parked cars; not too right—dangerous oncoming vehicles), do not need to look at mirrors too often.

Lesson 6 - Sep 22, 2022

练习了mini roundabout, get more comfortable with it; meeting vehicles on residential areas; turning right on crossroads.

Need to improve road scan (read road signs; speed limit; traffic on crossroads); look far ahead to anticipate; gentle steering especially when you are slow; steer after you start off; ask if not sure where to go.

Meeting oncoming vehicles

  • car position: half in half out so you can see what’s going on ahead;
    • too in: can’t observe road situation ahead;
    • too out: still block the road, giving way does not work;
  • turn left early when you decide to give way, so you have a large part of your car body inside; ideally half in half out.
  • do not stop too far away from oncoming vehicles; carefully judge which gap you could use to hold back and give way;
  • do not steer car head way left—your car will lay diagonally and sit across the entire road, taking more space, blocking the way instead of giving way;
  • observe if oncoming vehicles are fleshing lights; if so, you can go first;
  • watch out for (left) cyclists when you give way.

Crossroads turn right (uncontrolled)

  • problem is first gear passing and stop to give way. Timing to steer right: after start off, right wing mirror is on the half the road;
    • 1st gear goes with clutch down, so you don’t get your car to bump or stall.
    • start off after waiting for traffic: hold biting point $\rightarrow$ release brake $\rightarrow$ give gas $\rightarrow$ lift clutch slowly. Same procedure for upward slopes start off (hold biting point for a while, longer than you usually do).
    • observation: look at the right for pedestrians and parked cars if you have a clear way; look ahead for oncoming vehicles whom you give way to; should focus more on the road ahead, situation change fast with oncoming vehicles;
  • position on the center right; but not on the other side of the road (very dangerous) [✘] , keep staying on your side;
  • car head points to the right slightly if there is a separate turning right lane;

mini roundabouts

  • do not brake on the roundabout unless necessary. Once you are already on the roundabout, you have priority.

Maneuver

  • clutch down to slow down; up to start off; have to release brake early, so you don’t have a very high biting point of the clutch and dash off once release brake; 慢松离合，快松刹车。

Road bumps

  • center your car so your wheels ride on the sides of it; so that you pass more smoothly.

Controlled pedestrian crossing

  • when it’s green light, should suppose pedestrians to stop, and you go. If you stop, pedestrians will go against red lights.

Give way lines

  • meaning traffic is busy there, have to observe more carefully, stop there if necessary. Stop accurately on the line, not too far behind—otherwise will be difficult to observe.
  • carefully watch for cyclists;

Wait on traffic lights

  • do not block the cycle lane when waiting for traffic lights; otherwise cyclists won’t be able to pass.

  • when you start off, observe the left side for cyclists;

Lesson 7 - Sep 28, 2022

Practice controlled crossroads

Turning right

  • Waiting Position
    • Straight
      • on narrow roads or your opposite lane is a mix of turning right and going straight;
    • Curved (so you have a better view of oncoming vehicles)
      • wide roads and your opposite lane is turning right only;
    • sometimes you have to ride on the cyclist lane whilst turning right; both cars and bikes share the lane; there is no other way to go.

  • can’t stop in the middle; go if no oncoming vehicles blocking your way;

  • Juction approaching (from main road to minor road)
    • car is straight! because there are definitely oncoming vehicles going straight.

  • Juction emerging (from minor to main road)

    • do a nearside turn, 小转弯，提前打方向盘，less steering; 先起步再打方向盘

    • offside is much harder, 大转弯, have to steer a lot, and you go like a straight turn.

Turning left

  • Don’t cut into the left when approaching the crossroad, otherwise will block cyclists;
  • let your door mirror be your reference, ride on the curve. Don’t start to turn too early.

When approaching junctions, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings [2档足矣；1档只有在确定要停车的时候才会使用]

  • brake to slow down $\rightarrow$ 2nd gear 提前换档; don’t assume to stop (i.e., do not change to 1st gear);
  • if you are sure to stop, then you can go for 1st gear;

When meeting vehicles

  • turning left early and go further ahead a little bit, so your car body is kind of straight.
  • curved cars will take up more space and block the road.

Parking

  • Don’t get too far away from the pavement. [pavement, not the road marking, is your reference.]
  • Sit straight when you look for your ideal parking position, don’t lean to the side to look, make sure your reference point is fixed.

Lesson 8 - Oct 6, 2022

Practice lesson

Lesson 9 - Nov 10, 2022

Practice on junctions, crossroads, and mini roundabouts.

General

  • When you start off, be sure to ready your biting point, do not let the car roll back.
  • Approaching junctions, crossroad, …: First Mirror-Signal then slow down, don’t slow down first.
  • I tend to get too close to the left side on narrow roads; pay attention to your position, ideally middle of two lanes;
  • Off the gas when clutch down (changing gears); otherwise the car will struggle, rumble and shudder, like it’s going to stalll;
  • Turn right: don’t start turning unless you are sure of a clear way; otherwise will be stuck in the opposite lane, which is very dangerous. [Do not stop in the opposite lane! [✘]]

Junctions

  • Close junctions on 1st gear, left-right-left routine to check latest updates on traffic, lean forward to check traffic situation.
  • Open junctions could go on 1st gear as well. It’s safer and gives people more control.

Crossroads turning right (uncontrolled)

  • look advance if you have a clear way before you start turning.
    • If you have a clear way, then start turning.
    • If you need to give way to oncoming vehicles, pedestrains, cyclist, etc., wait in your own lane (keep your signal on; do not cancel your signal, you are still waiting to turn) for a clear way and then turn.
  • In case of giving way, must wait in your own lane, do not block the opposite lane;

Crossroads turning right (controlled)

  • judge if you have enough time to pass
    • if yes, then you go ahead;
    • if no or not sure, then you wait behind the waiting line. You don’t want to be trapped in the middle and block the traffic (major fault).

Mini roundabouts

  • Do not ride right on top of it (that’s too right), could be half on half off (right on, left off).
  • If you are completely off, that’s too left; completely on, that’s too right.

Pedestrian crossing

  • with traffic light: look advance if there is anyone waiting at the lamp post;
    • if there are people waiting, need to slow down (30 speed limit $\rightarrow$ 23/24 m/h), be prepared that the light might change soon, and you might need to stop; if you go as normal speed, you need to brake very harsh if you need to stop at the last minute;
    • if no one is there, can go at normal speed to pass. (the light will not change)
  • Zebra crossing (no traffic light): have to give way if there is pedestrian waiting to cross.

Kassam Stadium RAs

Same routine as mini-roundabouts; 3-exit for Kassam Stadium RAs;

  • always use the left lane, except the 2nd one from the West—use middle lane;
  • when leaving the roundabout, check left mirror, signal left.
  • Do not indicate when you join, always signal left when leaving.
    • Indicate right when eatering from Cowley RA, Grenoble RA East 1, b/c it’s the 2nd exit and on the right.

If your exit is the 1st exit which is at or past 12 o’clock, do not indicate when joining, indicate when leaving.

  • From East to West, from Cowley RA Garsington Rd towards A4074 and Heyford RA: take the 1st exit (except the 1st RA, which need to take 2nd exit), no indicating except for the first roundabout.

  • Always take the left lane, follow the sign to Reading.

  • Grenoble RA East 1: 1st roundabout coming from Cowley RA, indicating right, 2nd exit, follow the sign to Reading.

image-20230120094757905

  • Other RAs

    • always take 1st exit;
    • Take left lane; do not indicate when joining (1st exit is past 12 o’clock), indicate when leaving;

    image-20230120100331457

  • Grenoble Rd 2: take the 1st exit; the first open you meet is only a farm entrance, not an exit!
    • Take the left lane, no signal when entering, signal left when leaving. image-20221116225620861

  • The penultimate roundabout

    • 1st exit is on the left side, do need to indicate left when joining b/c the 1st exit is indeed on the left, unlike other RAs whose 1st exit is on the right.

      image-20230120093828569

  • The last exit before going back to Oxford city center, joining A4074 afterwards.

    • Must move to the Right lane; signal right; move to the right lane with road marking “OXFORD”. When you are on the right lane, just follow it through to OXF, NO need to indicate left.

      image-20230119083753888

    • Sometimes you are told to pull over before the roundabout. Better to go forward a bit, aiming for 1/3 of the parking distance before it ends.

    • It is a dual carriageway with central barrier. After you pull over, you need to get to the right lane if it is safe to do so.

    image-20221129105759778

​ After this roundabout, you go to A4074; and you will reach Heyford Hill roundabout;

  • Heyford Hill roundabout;

    From A4074 to A4141, 2nd exit, turning right, middle lane.

    image-20230207180132991

  • From West to East, A4074 Heyford RA: 2nd exit, no indicating when joining, indicating after passing the 1st exit. 1st exit usually leads to parking lots. From west to east follows the sign to Cowley. This is harder b/c the first few RAs are quite close, but the distance between RAs gets longer when you go east.

    • Left Lane; do not indicate when joining the RA; indicate left after you have past the 1st exit.

    • If you see a car on your left, they are most likely going straight unless they are taking a U-turn or taking the 2nd exit; in either case, they’d indicate right; if you don’t see a signal, assume they are going straight to your direction, which won’t affect you. Meaning you carry on.

    • Grenoble RA W1

      image-20230207180706064

  • Grenoble RA West2, 2nd exit to Cowley, turning right.

    • left lane goes to Oxford Science Park, take the middle lane; always have a look at your right mirror for cars on your right;
    • Use the charcoal shading to guide your position. image-20230207184048077

  • Common Grenoble RAs: This is how most Kassam Stadium roundabouts look like.

    • From East to West, from Garsington—the 1st exit is a bit to the right, take the left lane: do not signal when enter, signal left when leave; hug the curb;

    • From West to East, from A4074—take the 2nd exit, left lane; 1st exit leads to residentail areas, business parks, parking lots;

      image-20221116224441570

Lesson 10 - Nov 17, 2022

Kassam Stadium roundabouts [light traffic area; alleged to be one of the easiest test routes in Oxford]

  • Approaching:
    • mirror $\rightarrow$ (signal $\rightarrow$) slow down $\rightarrow$ clutch down to 2nd gear $\rightarrow$ position (choose the correct lane) $\rightarrow$ look on your right if there is oncoming vehicles you need to give way to
      • if the oncoming vehicle is signaling right or no signal (meaning they are turning right or going straight)$\Rightarrow$ give way;
      • if the oncoming vehicle is signaling left (most likely they are leaving) $\Rightarrow$ carry on;
    • when your are taking the 1st (or 2nd exit–the 1st exit is a minor one) on Kassam Stadium roundabouts, normally don’t need to signal at entrance, because you are most likely going ahead or turning right (the 1st exit is after 12 o’clock);
    • position: Left lane usually (1st exit); right lane if you are taking a U-turn.
    • consistent braking (make it smooth), do not tap on the brake (it makes the car bump).
  • On the roundabout
    • hug the curb if you are on the left lane;
    • stay close to the center if you are on the right lane;
  • Leaving
    • before you are leaving: check mirror (center-left) $\rightarrow$ signal left;
    • have a last glance of your right, no car is cutting in;
    • after you leave: cancel the signal if it’s still on; build up the speed from 2nd gear to 4th gear (speed up first to >30m/h before gear up to 4th gear);
  • Pull over after a roundabout
    • choose a stop position far away from the roundabout (better view of vehicles coming from the roundabout);

Busy traffic and narrow roads

  • watch out for poles; steer clear of them; slow down when passing them;
  • 2nd gear; stay at low speed (ok to be slower than speed limit); safty is priority;
  • parked cars on the left, have to get to the position (right) early;
    • steer early—otherwise the examiner will interfere and result in a major fault in your test.

General

  • Make sure to let down the hand brake totally!

  • Learn to control the steer with right hand only, firm steering, do not swerve.

  • Look in advance and react fast—anticipatation is important.

    • bus ahead: can you pass it? Is the bus starting off? [Yes: no overtaking; No: could overtake if condition allows] Are there oncoming vehicles? [Yes: no overtaking; No: probably]
    • scooter and eletric bikes ahead: they go as fast as cars, not worth it to overtake;

  • Do not signal at crossroads too early, it might be misleading if there are small side crossings (car park etc).

    • be aware of the car park before White Horse Pub. Signal after passing the car park.

  • Start off at crossroads

    • look at wing mirrors (both sides) to make sure no cyclists are overtaking.

  • Meeting oncoming vehicles

    • if you need to give way, steer to the left and go further ahead to straighten you car;

  • Pull over and start off in the middle of your driving

    • follow the same routine as in the beginning. 中途停车起步的时候，不要乱，我容易忘记一些步骤。比如：
      • 即使在住宅区停车也要打方向灯；
      • 起步右侧盲区的最后检查；

Lesson 11 - Nov 23, 2022

Slip road and dual carriageways.

  • Entering
    • Do not speed when your first enter. There should be a 50m/h sign. You could speed up after the speed limit sign but not before.
  • Leaving—countdown markers. Do not slow down at the first two markers. Do not slow down on dual carriageways. [✘]
    • first marker: look at your center-left mirror;
    • second marker: indicate left;
    • third marker: when you turn into the slip road, brake a lot;

Headington Roundabout

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH69swvJDSI&t=476s

image-20221130122608683 image-20230104073305241

General:

  • Speed limit, usually 30m/h, before joining the roundabout applies after you exit; until you see a new speed limit, e.g., 50m/h;
  • Headington RA 选择进入车道很重要；之后上了RA不用做选择，follow through 并数好出口即可；

Different Routes:

1. From Headington London Rd

image-20221123154938816

Two lanes to three lanes:

  • Left split into left: A40(W), BART
  • Left split into middle: A40(E) to London
  • Right: A40(E), A4142

image-20221223082345710

image-20230103230606544

  • From Headington to Northway (Marston), 1st Exit, turning left

    When approaching Headington roundabout, there is a bus lane you need to stay clear of.

    Left lane, indicate left, first exit. A40(W)

    image-20221123155251573

    Your exit to Northwayimage-20221123160228022

  • From Headington London Rd to A4142 Cowley, 4th exit, turning right

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STj1Z7aem-A

    • Turning right, right lane; indicate right; 4th exit;

    • Follow through your lane, use the left line as your reference point. Indicate left when you have passed the 3rd exit.
    • after the 2nd exit,
      • remain in your lane, now you are on the middle lane; as you pass the 3rd exit, you will become the outer lane and you exit onto the left lane of A4142.
      • if you take the right newly emerged lane, as you pase the 3rd exit, you will become the middle lane and you exit onto the right lane.

    image-20221127100732667

    1st Exit to Northway

    image-20221127102644745

    2nd Exit to Barton Crematorium image-20221127103645756

    image-20221127102814775

    After the 2nd exit, you could use either the middle or right lane;

    • middle lane is recommended as it leads to the left lane at your exit;
    • right lane is also possible, it leads to the right lane at your exit.

    When you exit, watch out for vehicles merging from the slip road on the left.

    3rd Exit to London/ Thornhill Park & Ride image-20221127103850351

    4th Exit to A4142 Cowley

    image-20221130115458433

    image-20221127104233468

    image-20221127104006862

    Cowley exit has a brown building looking like this

    image-20221127104610894

​

  • From Headington to London A40E, 3rd exit, straight ahead, 1 o’clock;

    • Entering: Start with Left lane which split into middle lane (Easier Choice)

    • On the roundabout: middle lane;

2. From Northern Bypass

BRM video starts from 13:30

  • Roundabout sign appears very early
    • if you are going to Cowley/Headington, be preapred to move to the right lane when the long white lines become short lines; you don’t need to move over right away when you see the sign, just be prepared to do so; long white lines are hazard lines which you are not supposed to cross; short white lines are ok to cross to change lanes;

  • You first see two speed limit signs left and right say 50m/h;

  • then you see “Reduced Speed Now” sign, you reduce speed to 40m/h, NOT too slow, 30m/h would be outragously slow;

    image-20221227141226385

  • then you see trafic control ahead sing

    image-20221227141140681

  • then you see speed limit 30m/h

    image-20221227141310778

  • finally you see the roundabout sign again with exit info

image-20221127085348670

  • From Northern Bypass to A4142 Cowley, taking 3rd exit, turning right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_PEx68oToY

    Turning right 1 o’clock, right–middle lane; indicate right;

    • Move to the right lane first on Northway when you see the long white lines.

      image-20221127090257804

    • You will see trafic light signs, then speed limit sign of 30m/h, then split into 3 lanes

    • Use the middle lane;

      • right lane is also possible, but middle lane is easier;

        image-20221214222910680

    • Indicate right is important, so you tell others you are not going to London.

    Note there is a slip road on the left of the exit, have a look at your left mirror to be safe when you exit. image-20221127100556110

  • From Northern Bypass to Headington/ City Center, 4th exit, turning right

    BRM 18:44

    • Right lane
    • after exiting, you will meet bus lane right away, need to move to the right lane to avoid it. Don’t ride on the bus lane.
3. From A4142 Cowley

image-20221214204943858

image-20221223081648629

From A4142 Cowley towards London, 4th exit, turning right.

  • Middle lane ends with left lane; right lane ends with right lane;
    • Use the middle lane;
    • follow the lead of the lanes, they will take you automatically to your exit;
    • After exiting to London, speed limit of 30m/h  still applies; have to control your speed for a while until you see the 50m/h sign;

From A4142 Cowley to A40W towards Northway/ Marston/ The Midlands, 2nd exit, straight ahead 11 o’clock.

BRM video 17:00

  • left lane because you it’s a left turn.
4. From A40W London

image-20221214221112459

image-20221215084802696

From London to A40W Marston, 3rd exit , turning right

  • Start with the right lane which splits into two lanes afterwards, take the left lane of the split lanes;
  • Use the hamburger lane going through the middle of the roundabout.

From London to Headington, 2nd exit, straight ahead

  • left lane marked “OXFD BART”.

Leaving Ring Rd A4142 to Headington Hospitals, turning right

image-20221214223949419

On A4142:

  • when you see two red squares, you start moving to the right lane;
  • when you see the sign, be prepared to move to the slip road;
  • be cautious of the traffic light changing fast, the green light allows only 4-5 cars, you don’t want to tail the front car very close; you might need to stop abruptly;

Leaving Northway

Exiting the Northway:

  • brake hard (really hard!! You were at 50 m/h, gear 5, on the dual carriageway, so have to brake really hard to slow down to 30m/h) after exiting, slow down to 30m/h, to gear 3 in the middle of the bend;
    • do not keep coasting (clutch down) on gear 4 when turning;
  • When reaching the end of the first bend, change to gear 1 to merge;
    • have to stay close to the left, do not go to the other lane [✘] ; road is narrow, easy to drift to the other side of the road;

image-20221129113109738

Road sign of exiting to Marsh Lane (Headinton, Hospitals) after the traffic light image-20221125083708539

Northway Car park

  • If you coming down from Northway, you see a series of signs, the 30m/h speed limit is your last cue to the car park.

image-20230118140329026

  • If you coming from Marston Lane, then you see pedestrian crossing and a bus stop afterwards, the bus top is your cue to the car park.

Crossroads and junctions

  • turning right:

    • never stop in the middle, including inside the box [✘], must finish once you have started; must keep the road clear; [I have a tendency to stop in the box. Must fix this!]

      image-20221125085925781

    • a curved turn at crossroads and junctions, do not go as a straight angle; [do a near side turn]

      • if you are going into a side road, then you go as a straight angle so you don’t go into the other lane;
      • bad things about going a straight angle on main roads: much steering; go extra slow; risk going into the cycle lane;

    • parked cars on crossroads

      • you go as snake crawling “S” shape: right to avoid the parked cars $\Rightarrow$ left to pull the car back to your own lane (so you don’t block the right lane) $\Rightarrow$ right to adjust your car head, be prepared to turn right

  • Turning left:

    • I tend to ride on the cycle lane and edging to the left too early;
    • be careful with cyclists on your left; look at your left mirror before you turn;

  • slow down and change gears

    • 1st if you are about to stop or 2nd gear if road is clear;
    • closed junctions: 1st gear and lean forward to look for road conditions; [don’t be lazy and not leaning forward];
    • it’s ok to treat open jucntions as closed junctions and go on 1st gear; safty is priority;

  • give way to pedestrians; watch carefully for their intentions;

    • are they signaling you to go first;
    • have they started crossing? have they finished?

  • watch out for cyclists

    • do not ride side-to-side with cyclists; either overtake if possible or hold behind;

General

  • Do not stop in the middle when you turn right. Have to finish as long as you have started.
  • Stop for cyclists coming out of no where.
    • No one blaming you for stopping for children. Have to stop, or you will ran them over.
  • look ahead and anticipate;
  • start off
    • giving gas at the last 10 percent of clutch;
    • build up speed a little bit before changing to 2nd gear; slow on raising the clutch;
    • no gas when changing gears at high speed (e.g., from 2nd to 3rd gear);
  • Keep being focused when waiting for green light. Waiting on green light is a major fault. Do not get distracted.
  • Cherwell Dr is narrow and busy; for safty reason, you could go lower than 30m/h, e.g., 25m/h.

去程的右转 from Parks Rd

  • use the right lane; indicate at the second right turn;
  • do not go too left; might block traffic on your left;

Turing right-Banbury

image-20221123151850099

image-20221123151934946

回程的右转

  • be aware of the pedestrian island and the pole

Turning right-Keble

image-20221123150328162

bp petrol station (Cherwell Drive)

image-20230118111835357

  • Coming down from Northway, Marston Lane: Use the left lane to turn left; No need to indiate left when turning left HERE. (This is a T junction, your intention is quite clearly shown by your position in the lane. Besides, there is a side lane going to a shop, indicating could be misleading that you are going to the side lane.)

    image-20221124091048775

  • Coming from Headington London Rd to Cherwell Drive:

    • use the left lane to go straight;

      • have a look at your right mirror watching out for merging cars at the first set of traffic lights;

        bp petrol station_3

    • middle and right lane both go to Marsh Ln which joins Northway later on;

      • if you are going to Northway, use the middle lane b/c right lane will merge to the middle lane shortly after you are on Marston lane.

        • have to go ahead a bit, don’t cut the way of the left lane; if there is a large car, you either let them turn first (if it is a bus or truck) or you go ahead more to give more space (if it is a SUV or a mini-van);
        • Always go ahead even if there is no car on the right lane;

      • when you are waiting for the traffic light, you pay attention to the lights for turning left (which are are the right side and in front), lights here are separate for going straight and turning left!

      • Usually the lights for going ahead change to green first. Do not go at this time! Wait until the lights for turning right changing to green before you proceed.

        image-20230103120903022

JR hospital (Cherwell Dr)

Take the right lane to go ahead, left lane goes to JR hospital.

image-20221124095558359

Lesson 12 - Nov 30, 2022

General Stuff about large roundabouts

  • Things you should do on a large roundabout:
    • before joining: choose lane; have a look at your exit and get a general idea where you will exit;
    • on the roundabout: count exit; lane discipline, do not ride on two lanes; double-check your road markings (showing destinations) that you are on the correct lane;
    • every time you pass an exit, you are likely to go on one lane to your left automatically, so you are on the outter lane when you are about to exit; (you start from the right and gradually move your way to the left when you leave)
  • Lane 1–left/outer lane; lane 2–middle lane; lane 3–right/inner lane.
  • Even if you are turning right, you take the middle lane when joining the roundabout if it’s an option;
    • starting from the right lane is ok too, but need better lane discipline, new lane will merge and you must make decisions which lane will need to follow
      • if you are about to exit soon: drive on the left of the newly merged lane so you are edging outwards gradually;
      • if you are not exiting: you may drive on the newly merged lane, but in this way, you are staying in the inside and it will be difficult for you to exit.

  • Lane discipline before your exit

    • If you are on the middle lane before you exit, you will end up to the right lane on your exit road;
      • This is NOT ideal as you will have to move to the left lane when it’s safe; left lane is the driving lane, right lane is the overtaking lane;
      • You could use the middle lane to carry on on the roundabout as well.
    • If you are on the left lane before you exit, you will end up to the left lane on your exit road;
      • this is recommended.
    • If you are on the right lane (lane 3) before you exit, then you have missed your exit already, you must NOT exit. You have to go around the roundabout for another lap and try to exit when you are in the correct lane;

  • Changing lane is difficult on the roundabout as you have to be sure it’s safe to do so. But it will be difficult if you target lane is full of cars in busy traffic.

    You can change lane on a roundabout but only if you are absolutely sure that it is safe to do so. E.g., emerging lanes after an exit, if no one changes lane to the right, then no one is using the right lane ever.

    If you missed the exit, you cannot cut into other lanes at the last minute, it’s a major fault and it’s extremely dangerous when you are in a hurry and not looking carefully! [✘]

    • Note that it’s normally easy to adjust routes if you had taken a wrong exit or whatever.
    • But changing lanes could potentially lead to serious accidents which will make you fail your test for sure.

  • Road markings

    • when you join the roundabout, you follow the short dashed lines which are merging lanes guiding you on to the roundabout;
    • when you finish joining and on the roundabout, you follow the separation lines (equal length lines and gaps) which separate lanes;

    image-20221201115855308

Cowley roundabout

Overview

image-20221221095334180

image-20230123213442462

Exit from dual carriageway

  • first exit to the left lane; if you missed it, you have to exit to the right lane;
  • then exit to the right lane

image-20221228072502268

1. From Eastern By-pass Rd A4142 (North to South)

From Eastern By-pass Rd A4142 (North to South), to Cowley Oxford Business Park, 4th exit, turning right.

LDA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8bxxlwXhZY

image-20221214230421278

  • Read the sign
    • thick stubby lines are for dual carriageways;
    • two thick lines side-by-side: 1st one is exit, 2nd one is entrance; sometimes the exit is a longer line, entrance is a shorter line; you should ignore the second short line;
    • Gap indicates the exit before it is the last exit before coming back on ourselves (U-turn).
  • Don’t go on the bridge and do not exit the dual carriageway too early (wait for the arrow indicating exit, the first exit is for turning left). Go on the bridge meaning you are staying on the dual carriageway.

image-20221130081452798

image-20221201090405932

  • Having exited from the By-pass, take the right hand lane approaching.

  • Turning right, 4th Exit, taking the middle lane on the roundabout, indicate right.

    • Entering: right lane;

    • On the roundabout: after passing the 1st exit, right lane will split into middle and right lanes. Choose the middle lane to follow through;

      image-20221127110334237

      image-20221127110628759

  • 1st Exit

    You could take either the middle or the right lane. [just go with the middle lane]

    • middle lane is easier, it takes you right to the left lane as you exit;
    • right lane is trickier, the lane split into two, and you have to maneuver to the middle one; and you exit onto the right lane at your exit, and you need an additonal lane changing to the left.

    image-20221201081248961

  • 2nd Exit to Tesco Superstore

    image-20221127110808758

  • 3rd Exit to Ring Road South, Swindon, Midlands

    After the 3rd exit, remain in the middle lane, this lane will lead you to merge to the left lane automatically, be prepared to exit.

    image-20221127111900164

    image-20221201094209400

  • 4th Exit

    • The lane has the road marking “CLEY”, indicating Cowley.

    • Check left mirror, indicate left, exit the roundabout.
    • Be aware of vehicles merging from the right.

    image-20221201092515179

2. From Garsingston Rd, Watlington Side

From Garsingston Rd (Watlington, Blackbird Leys) to A4142 Ring Road North towards London (Hospital and Headington), 4th exit, turning right

LDA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8i2G5in4wQ

image-20221214231258893

  • Entering: right lane;

    • note that lanes are quite narrow, have to stick to the right curb.

      • make your car curved;

      image-20221221111523671

      • left lane: retail park, ring road (S);
      • right lane split to mid lane: CLEY;
      • right lane: ring road (N);

  • On the roundabout: right lane;

  • Just when you enter under the bridge, your lane split into two lanes;

    • choose the middle lane to follow through; so that when you passing the Cowley (penultimate) exit, you will be taken to the left lane;

      image-20221220212342424

  • After passing the Cowley exit, check mirrors and indicate left, exit to Ring Road North on the left lane (if going from middle lane);

  • Note that you are on a slip road now with a speed limit 50m/h, you have to accelerate a lot! So when you join the dual carriageway, you have built up your speed.

    • going too slow on slip road is dangerous–when you join the dual carriageways, you are slowing down the traffic and risk tail crashing.

    • you must not change lane on slip roads, you have to wait until the end of slip roads and merge to the right to dual carriageways;

      image-20221228090200419

3. From Cowley Oxford Business Park

There is a hotel on the road–Premier Inn (Purple), roundabout sign is partially blocked by bushes.

image-20221217120541812

Lane choosing:

  • left lane: left only to Ring Rd London;
  • right-middle lane: ahead to Watlington;
  • right-right lane: to Ring Rd South and Retail Park;

From Oxford Business Park to Watlington, 2nd exit, straight ahead

  • Entering: right-middle lane

    • because left lane is left turn only to Ring Road (N) London

      image-20221221113550781

  • As you drive on, when you going under the bridge, the road markings will take you to the left lane automatically;

    • easy in general;

      image-20221217121340445

    • Under the bridge road markings

      • Left: Watlington;
      • Middle: Retain park;
      • Right: Ring Road South;

From Oxford Business Park to Tesco Retail Park, 3rd exit, turning right

BRM 2:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djcb5Z85LUM

  • Entering: right lane because it’s a right turn;
  • Under the bridge, move to the middle lane
    • middle lane marked “Retail Park”

From Oxford Business Park to Ring Road South towards Newbury and Swindon, 4th exit, turning right

LDA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEcuDViYkVc

BRM 3:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djcb5Z85LUM

  • Entering: right lane;

  • Under the bridge, go with the right lane

    • right lane marked “Ring Road (S)”, end up with the right lane on the Ring Road;

  • After you get out of the bridge and passing the Watlington exit, right lane split into middle and right lane—take the middle lane, follow through, and exit onto the right lane on Ring Rd South towards Newbury and Swindon;

Faults today

  • Drive on top of the mini-roundabout turning right. Too much right. [✘]
  • Be aware of roadworks. [Awareness and planning]
    • Roads will get narrower. Be prepared to stop to give way or you might meet traffic lights.
    • Cyclists might have to go down to the cars’ lane to avoid roadworks. Have to give way to them. Hold back.
  • Meet oncoming vehicles.
    • Do you parked cars on your right? If so, you have to go, otherwise no one can pass.
  • Look to the end of the road, do not copy the car in front. They might make a mistake, take a different route than you, …
  • When leaving a roundabout and joining the dual carriageway, you don’t want to speed up faster than the cars on your right as they might want to merge to your lane;
  • On dual carriageways, do not slow down unless you are already on the slip road (sometimes you got slip road on the right).
    • Very dangerous to slow down on the right lane [✘] , because it’s the fast driving lane.
    • Use the left line of your lane as the reference point.
  • Changing gears from 3rd to 2nd, brake and slow down first, then changing gears. Do not use the engine to slow down totally.
  • Roundabout
    • have to count the exit and discipline your lane.
    • do not signal too early. Signal when you have passed the previous exit than your exit.
    • Mirror when exiting.
  • London Rd
    • There is one Zebra Crossing before Co-op. It usually has heavy traffic with blocked view. You can’t see clearly if there are people waiting to cross.
    • You have to cross at 1st gear and stop to make sure no one is crossing.
  • 镜子的调整
    • two wing mirrors should be identical, be able to see the most of the front door handle, not the whole of it.

Lesson 13 - Dec 9, 2022

  • From A4142 Cowley towards Ring Rd North towards London, 4th exit.

    Take the middle lane, indicating right.

    Middle lane exits onto the left lane; right lane exits onto the right lane;

General driving:

Steering and braking/giving gas, brake early and consistent pressuring, do not tap on the pedals;

overly cautious; if road is clear, just go;

change lane on dual carriageways: do not slow down; two squares

Driving routes:

  • speed up on dual carriageways;
    • when entering from the slip road, usually start with 30m/h, when you see 50m/h sign, you start build up speed.

  • Sandhill turning left

    • do not brake on dual carriageway, you have a buffer road

      image-20221214215111128

  • Churwell Dr and Windmill Rd

    • do not stop to give way, the road is wide enough for two cars. They are major roads.

Next lesson: watch videos about Littlemore roundabout

Littlemore Roundabout

image-20230118130121912

BRM Driving School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg

  • No traffic control when you join;
    • have to give way cars on the right;
    • wait for a safe gap;
    • if there is a queue on the roundabout, you can’t join, or you will block the exit; just stay back when there is a queue;
    • traffic lights only apply to cars on the roundabout;

  • lanes do not guide you to your exit, you have to exit to the outer lane by yourself; use your own judgement;

  • When there are separation lines, follow the lines; when there are gaps, you change lanes to exit gradually as you approach to your exit;

  • On the roundabout, you must pay attention to your right lane. Many people want to merge to the left lane. If you didn’t see them, it’s easy to crash.

  • When you are changing lanes or exiting, you have to pay attention to cars behind on your left;

  • Two options middle or right, always choose the middle lane, because you have one lane fewer to change when you exit;

  • Assuming you are on the left lane before an exit that you didn’t plan to take

    • you just take it; it’s safer to do so because cars on the right might leaving and if you stay on the roundabout, it’s easy to lead to an accident;
  • How to avoid riding on two lanes when there are no road markings?
1. From A4142 Cowley

image-20221214152719739

From A4142 Eastern By-Pass Cowley to Iffley/ Rose Hill, 3rd exit, turing right

image-20221214144936906

image-20221220221528451

image-20221214181503420

image-20221214182155652

Lane choosing:

  • Left lane: to Oxford Rd (turning left) and Ring Rd (straight ahead)

  • Middle lane: to Ring Rd only (straight ahead)

  • Right lane: Iffley only

Procedure on the roundabout

  • Down from Cowley RA, you need to drive for a while. You first see a bridge, then you see slip road for joining from Sandy Lane (lots of cars will join from here, so you want to move to the right lane early. This helps other people to join the dual carriageway and help you to approach the roundabout), then you see a sign as follows (this is your cue to move to the right lane), then you see Roundabout signs.

    image-20230118121309377

  • Two Roundabout signs. When you see the 1st sign, indicate right, move to the right lane. Keep you speed up untill you see 30m/h sign. After the 2nd sign, you see speed limit of 30m/h; slow down to comply with speed limit;

    • The 30m/h speed limit sign is right before the lane split, which is very close to the RA. Have to keep up the speed before that.

  • Entering: indicating right and use the right lane marked “IL’EY”;

  • On the roundabout: use the right lane until the 2nd exit;

  • After 1st exit and when approaching the 2nd exit, use mirror-signal maneuver routine, signal left, move to a proper lane (usually before the traffic light waiting line), be prepared to exit;

    • note that signal to change lane is necessary;

    • move one lane to the left when you are turning right to Newman Rd;

      BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 3:18

      • If you intend to go straight but mistakenly end up with the right turn, you can stop in the box, indicate left, and wait for a safe gap to join the left lane to go straight;

    • move two lanes to the left when you are continuing straight;

      BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 5:20

    • only change lane when it’s safe; otherwise go around the roundabout again;

From A4142 Eastern By-Pass to Ring Road towards The Midlands/ Swindon/ Newbury, 2nd exit, straight ahead

The exit also leads to Sanford, Abington, Reading, etc.

image-20221214173303503

  • Entering: left (or middle lane)
    • recommend using the left lane: have to be careful because there are no road markings when you enter, note that it’s easy to drift to the middle lane if you come in too quickly; you have to keep it all the way to the left!
      • exit onto the left lane on the Ring Rd;
    • if using the middle lane, you exit onto the right lane if you don’t change lanes on the roundabout;
2. From A4142 Heyford

From A4142 Heyford to Ring Road towards London, 2nd exit, straight ahead

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 8:30

  1. Recommend using middle lane (easier option)
  • Entering: middle lane (left lane is left only! don’t go there);
    • note that when you first enter, there is no road marking; use different shade of tarmac as your road marking;
  • On the roundabout, follow you lane and after pass the 1st exit, go to the left lane to exit onto the left lane on the Ring Road;
  • If you somehow on the left lane at the 1st exit, just turn left;
    • it’s safer to follow through, because people on your right might be leaving and if you force to drive on on the roundabout, you might cause a serious accident;
  1. Use right lane ( [✘] NOT recommended, sometimes you have got traffic preventing you from going to the middle lane)
  • Entering: right lane;
  • On the roundabout, follow your lane;
  • After passing the 1st exit, move to the middle lane and exit onto the right lane on the Ring Road;

From A4142 Heyford to London Rd/ Littlemore, 3rd exit, turning right

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 12:00

  • Entering: right lane
  • On the roundabout: right lane
  • After passing the 2nd exit, have to move to the left lane, but the difficult part is you don’t have much time or distance to do that b/c the 2nd and 3rd exits are so close;
    • have to be very careful for cars behind on your left;
    • might need to slowly change to the middle lane when approaching the 2nd exit, so you have enought distance and time to move to the left lane when you approach the 3rd exit;
3. From Oxford Road/ Littlemore

From Oxford Rd to A4142 Eastern By-Pass Cowley/ London, 3rd exit, turning right

most common one on the driving test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA59HozGDoo

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 22:35

image-20221214151537267

  • Entering: right lane;
  • On the roundabout: middle lane; middle lane can go either straight ahead or turning right.
  • After passing the 2nd exit, use mirror-signal maneuver routine, move to the left lane, be prepared to exit;
  • 注意第一个出口很近；第二个出口要走接近半圈儿；第三个出口离第二个出口很近；

From Oxford Rd to Rose Hill, 2nd exit, straight ahead

  • Entering: left lane
  • On the roundabout: left lane
4. From Rose Hill (Iffley)

image-20221214170532353

image-20221214174647532

Before joinging the roundabout:

  • The traffic light doesn’t apply to you, but does affect your timing when to join.
    • If the traffic light is red, one car can wait at the waiting line; if you are the 2nd car, you wait until it turns green; otherwise if you go forward, you will block the exit to A4142;
    • when the traffic light is green, have to give way to cars on your right, wait for a safe gap before joining;

Lane choosing:

  • left lane is left only;
  • right-middle lane: straight or turning right;
  • right-right lane: turn right;

From Rose Hill to Oxford Rd/ Littlemore, 2nd exit, straight ahead

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 13:30

  • Entering: right-middle lane; you see first two lanes, left lane with a left arrow, right lane with straight arrow; if you are going straight, you have to choose the right lane from the beginning and go to the middle lane afterwards;
  • after passing the 1st exit, move to the left lane; be prepared to exit;

From Rose Hill to A4142 towards The Midlands/ Swindon/ Newbury; 3rd exit; turing right

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MFSU-rGRg&t=1406s 15:30

  • Entering: middle or the right lane; middle is easier;
    • Cars on the roundabout are coming from Ring Road, they might use a high speed coming in; be careful;
  • On the roundabout: follow your lane
    • if you start from the middle lane, exit onto the left lane;
    • if you start from the right lane; exit onto the right lane; when it’s safe, move over to the left lane;

Lesson 14 - Dec 15, 2022

Cowley roundabout, littlemore RA, Business Park RA

Cowley roundabout

  • From Cowley Garsington to Ring Road South, 4th exit, turning right, exit onto the right lane;

littlemore RA

  • From Ring Rd London to Iffley

Business Park RA, go straight, 2nd exit

  • Treat as Kassam Stadium RAs, either hug the curb or stay close to the center. Don’t go in the middle, which will straddle two lanes.

General driving

  • if having traffic ahead, anticipate where you are going to stop/ give way and react early;
    • box on junction: better to wait bebind for a clear road ahead;
    • pedestrian crossing sometimes has cycle waiting box, have to wait at the line behind the cycle box;

Signs

image-20221227140309471

  • red circles: must not do;
  • blue circles: must do;
  • triangles: be aware of hazards;
Sign Meaning
image-20221222203432245 National speed limit for the type of road and class of traffic applies:
- motorways and dual carriageways (每个方向有至少两条车道): 70 mph
- single carriageways (每个方向只有一条车道): 60 mph
- build-up areas (w/ street lights): 30 mph
- residential areas: 20 mph
image-20221227135555182 Slippery road.
image-20230116223456988 Narrow road sign. Narrow from the right side.
image-20221227140059057 Traffic signals ahead
image-20230207164503944 mini-roundabout, blue circle;
image-20230207164329831 big roundabout, red triangle;
image-20230207163915367 I have priority.
image-20230207164054556 Must give way to oncoming vehicles.
Priority must be given to vehicles from the opposite direction.

Lesson 15 - Dec 23, 2022

Practice headington roundabout from Northway (4th exit to Headington, 3rd exit to A4142), Cowley and Littlemore RA.

Dual Carriageways:

  • speed control, do not slow down

Decide where to stop when approaching junctions:

  • if green traffic light ahead, go ahead to the junction and you won’t block it;
  • if red traffic light ahead, and there is “KEEP CLEAR” road marking, hold behind;
  • if red traffic light ahead, and there is road barrier preventing cars pulling in and out to opposite lane, you could go ahead and wait at the junction; no one can go even if you hold back, so you might as well just go ahead and help traffic to flow;

Joining Northway from Marsh Lane

image-20221227124512949

  • Take the right lane to go straight ahead joining Northway towards Headington;
  • On the bridge you will see National speed sign 40m/p, but do not change gears and go 40m/h, it is a sharp bend, you need to control your speed, safe is priority; just go as 30m/h, 2nd gear;
    • 2nd gear will give you more control and speed up faster;
  • On the slip road, build up speed to 50m/h, signal right, find a gap to join;

image-20221227083501697

image-20221227084259909

General Driving

  • turning right: the waiting box can hold 2 cars.
    • Sometimes the first car stopped too behind, as long as you are not blocking pedestrain crossing, you can go to the box and wait there.
    • When start off from the box, have to give gas and move off fast.
    • Have to look around to give way to all oncoming vehicles.
  • Junctions
    • use 1st gear
  • In traffic, keep distance, don’t tag too close
  • Bend: 2nd gear
  • Gear control
    • gears should accord with speed;
    • 2nd gear has more power to speed up;
    • when you start off, 1st gear then 2nd gear, don’t start off on 2nd gear, easy to stall;
  • Dual carriageways
    • slip road to join
      • have to build up speed and merge more decisively; can’t take too long to join, you will run out of road and will be dangerous if you couldn’t join in time (stuck in the middle);
      • when you have two lanes when joining a dual carriageway: don’t speed up faster than the car on your right;
      • Two-lane slip road, e.g., Cowley RA
    • don’t stay at another car’s blind spot;
  • Pull over
    • must find an ideal place first then indicate left or right
      • you can pull over on the right, just find a spot that suits you, easy for you to maneuver;

Lesson 16 - Dec 27, 2022

Joining Northway from Marston, 2nd gear (sharp bend, need more control); Cowley RA; Reserve bay parking;

General:

  • Read road markings; observations;

  • when reaching a RA, first read the exit and grasp a feeling of which direction you are going;

  • use sat-nav to see which direction you are going;
  • Joining Northway from Marston, use 2nd gear for sharp bends;
  • Start off on downward slopes: do not need to get biting point;
  • Start off from the right side: do observations from right to left; last left blind spot check;
  • mini-roundabout: pay attentions to the indicator of the car on your right;
    • if they are indicate left, and there is a blocker on your left, then you may go;

Major faults today:

  • Severe undue hesitance;

  • Oxford Business Park RA from Cowley RA to Templars Squares, 2nd exit, going straight, didn’t look at road markings, took the left lane which is left only, and tried to go straight, very dangerous;

  • Cowley RA from A4142 to Watlington, 1st exit, turning left, should exit dual carriageway to the left slip road, but missed it; didn’t read road markings.

  • When exiting from Northway to Marston, turning left, I drove to the opposite lane; should stick to the left curb;

  • After exiting from Northway and driving to the Car Park, turning left, I went too fast; 拐弯的时候离左侧路边太近，注意左侧有自行车道！

    • 需要减速。

    • Car park entrance is just behind the 30m/h speed sign;

      image-20221228090805378

Oxford Business Park RA

Entering from Cowley RA: from South to North (city centre).

  • 3 lanes: left is left only, middle is straight only, right is right only; image-20221228083622318

From Templars Squares/ Littlemore RA rose hill heading to Cowley RA, from North to South.

  • 2 lanes: left lane: left and go straight ahead; right lane: turn right image-20230104114604844

image-20221228074950481

Maneuvers—Bay Parking

General:

  • watch out for your surroundings;
  • very low clutch, very slow speed 2m/h, more control; slow is essential.
  • forward bay park to your right, need to signal right; reverse bay park to your left, it’s ok to signal left, but not required;
    • staring point is center to the opposite side of which side you are going;
  • Do not pursue perfection.
    • If already in the bay, just let it be if it is not in the center.
    • If not in the bay, adjust when you go forward.

Forward Bay Parking: park on the move; always do a right forward bay parking (closer to your reference point);

  • starting from the left side of the road; having more space to get in;

  • Very slow, 2m/h, low clutch;

  • Reference point: 2.5 fingers; after finding your reference point, full lock to your right;

    image-20221228082027172

  • Where to stop: mirror frame above the front line about 4 cm.
    • You can’t go beyond your parking bay, which is a major fault b/c you will crash the other car.
  • Reverse from a bay: first reverse straight for half a car length, then start turning the wheel;

Reverse Bay Parking: park from a still position; always reverse to the left (b/c left is close to your reference point—1/4 of the handbrake); the pic below just shows the relative position of you target bay and your starting point, but it is a reverse to the right.

image-20230103222813110

  • Starting from the center-left side of the road, which will give you plenty of room to reverse and adjust if necessary;

  • Reverse gear and start with observation;

  • Reference point: 1 quarter of hand brake; after finding your reference point, you stop, and very slowly start moving for 1cm, fully lock to your left. While you are on move, watch behind, left and right blind point;

    • you will end up 3 bays behind you.

    image-20221228081837922

  • Keeping looking your surroundings until you are about to enter fully. Then you look ahead, left/right mirrors to make sure you are inside your bay.
  • Have a final look to your behind while you straight your wheel.

Lesson 17 - Jan 02, 2023

Reserve parallel parking 侧方停车; pulling up on the right-hand side of the road and reversing 2 car lengths 右侧停车并向后退两个车位

General driving

  • hand brake totally down!!

  • when pulling in to stop, do not go as a sharpe angle, or you will hit the car behind;

  • pulling into the car park around the Northway Exit to Marston, if you have a clear way, don’t go to 1st gear, use 2nd gear; you don’t want undue hesitation and weak road awareness;

  • anticipate and road awareness are my main problems;

  • when you are inside a car park,

    • indicate if it’s going to help people understand where you are going;
      • e.g., pedestrians coming out of a car, they need to know if you are pulling in a bay or you are going out of the car park;

    • always indicate right when you do forward bay parking; not necessary to indicate left when you do reverse bay parking;

    • do not ride on top of bays, even if they are empty;

Reserve parallel parking

Maneuver

General:

  • always parralle reverse parking to the left;

  • angle on $\rightarrow$ get there $\rightarrow$ angle off (1-2-1)
    • angle on $\Leftarrow$ take 1 turn to the left, car will be about 45$^\circ$ to the curb;
      • if you turn more to the left, you will have an angle > 45$^\circ$, this is tricky, you might get stuck, won’t be able to pull in without hiting the curb;
      • if you turn less to the left, you will have an angle < 45$^\circ$, this is no problem, you will just need more space vertically (b/c you need to reverse more in order to pull in); better to be < 45$^\circ$ than have a large angle;
    • get there $\Leftarrow$ keep reversing until you have a triangle
      • this step your car should be in, angle doesn’t change, ramains to be 45$^\circ$;
    • angle off $\Leftarrow$ when you get your triangle, take 2 turns to the right to get your car straight;
    • keep reversing more, 1 turn to the right, adjust to straighten your car and get an appropraite gap from the car in front;

  • It is ok to block the drive way when you do reserve parallel parking;

  • don’t stare at one point, you keep glancing your surroundings;

  • very low clutch, right foot covers brake to control speed, you might need to slow down when you are pulling in to the curb; (curbs usually have slopes for drains)

  • if you are too wide from the curb, it’s no problem, you just reverse more and go forward and pull to the left to correct it;
    • it’s ok within 0.5m a gap;
    • but my problem is I tend to get too close to the curb, and sometimes even risk hitting the curb when I straighten the car;
      • either stop and go forward, turning left a bit so your tail comes to right a bit;
        • go forward then come back again would be a minor fault; but still a pass; you can afford to do 15 minor faults; so it’s OK, don’t be compulsive;
      • or you do more than 2 turns when you straighten your car at first;
        • do NOT try to turn more to the right after your initial 2 turns to the right when you feel you are too close to the curb, b/c this way, your car nose will hit the curb when you about to finish your straightening;
      • or you do your 2 turns to the right early, leave a bigger triangle (the bottom of your triangle is approximately how wide you will be from the curb when you finish straightening your car, maybe shrink a little bit);

  • it’s a big problem if you hit the curb hard.

  • if you fail to do you maneuvers at first try but you correct it at one time, it’s just a minor fault;

  • full lock: 1.5 turns

  • every time you stop, you need to do observations, mirrors and blind spots check, before you start again (it is indeed lots of observations in maneuvers);

  • don’t need to worry lines and driveways when you do parallel parking;

Operation:

Starting point: 0.8-1.0m gap to the car in front, keep your car straight; the width of the gap doesn’t matter that much, but still matters;

  • If too tight, will risk hitting the car to the left;
  • if too wide, will need more space to get in;

  1. parrellel to the car, the back of both the cars lined up [looking back]

    • if you reversed back from a long way, it’s better to stop and reset here;

      image-20230102231706288

  2. keep reversing until about 1/2 of the rear passenger door $\rightarrow$ take the steering wheel 1 turn to the left; [looking back and right blind spot]

    • if you are <1.0m gap (narrow), you’d better reverse until 1/4 of the rear door; turn left late; otherwise you might crash the front car;
    • if you are >1.0m gap (wide), it doesn’t matter; you just need more space to do the reverse;

  3. keep reversing back, until you see a very small triangle of the road (looks like the rear door handle touches the curb, 车身和路边的角度<45$^\circ$), turn two rounds to the right; [right, left blind spot, observe surroundings, looking back, when the road is almost disappering in the left mirror, you focus on the left mirror]

    image-20230102225735355

    • if you see you are about to hit the curb,
      • you turn more than two rounds (fully lock to the right);
      • or you go ahead a little bit to the left (so you car tail go to the left a bit), then reverse back;
    • the bottom of the triangle is roughly how far you will be from the crub when you finish; although it may shrink a little;
      • 想要离路边远一点：留下的三角形大一些；
    • another potential reference point: the rear door handle hit the curb?
    • 向右打两圈儿之后，往后倒车的过程中，车身和路边角度减小直至平行。

  4. keep reversing until your car body is 98% straight, you turn left 1 round to straight your car [look back]

  5. keep reversing until 2 car length. [look back]

Pedestrains, cyclists, and cars, road awareness and observation

  • make sure your surroundings are clear;

  • if there are cars coming from behind you and they stop $\rightarrow$ you put on left signal and carry on your maneuver b/c no one can get pass you when you block the whole way;
    • generally you don’t need to put on a left signal b/c your reversing light will indicate your intention;
  • if there are cars coming from behind and they go around you $\rightarrow$ you pause and let them pass, then continue your maneuver;

Pulling up on the right-hand side of the road and reversing 2 car lengths

You first pull in forward to the right as normal, then you reverse about 2 car lengths.

When you reverse, it’s all about observation and keeping your car straight:

  • keep looking at your surroundings; pay attention to your right mirror (make sure you don’t go on the curb);
  • if cars coming behind you, it should be fine, you don’t them;
  • if cars coming towards you, you must stop; otherwise the other car might assume you are reversing to a driveway and give way to you;

Emergency Stop

First brake then clutch $\rightarrow$ hand brake $\rightarrow$ neutural gear $\rightarrow$ observations $\rightarrow$ start off

  • note here is handbrake first then neutral; under normal conditions: you first go neutral, then handbrake up;
  • when you start off, do the same routine as normal: mirror, blind spot check $\rightarrow$ indicate $\rightarrow$ blind spot $\rightarrow$ handbrake down;

Lesson 18 - Jan 04, 2023

General

  • clutch control
    • first brake then change gears to match;

Maneuvers

  • start point
    • forward bay parking: to the left
    • reverse bay parking: center to left, 1.2-1.5m to the left
    • parallel parking: 0.8m gap; sometimes curb has two lines, you must use the inner crub as reference point, otherwise it will be too wide a gap;
  • observation
  • Parallel parking—how to correct
    • too wide: correct after you pull in so you correct when you go forward; reverse back and pull in sharply (b/c you only have a very short distance to correct) when you go forward;
    • too narrow: correct before you pull in b/c you won’t be able to pull in w/o hitting the curb; you go forward and turn left a bit, then carry on with pulling in reversely;

Hollow Way and The Slade mini-roundabout

image-20230119070643057

Note C1 is left turn (going straight actually) and C2 is right turn to A.

  1. Back to DTC from Horspath Driftway, from B to A, end of the test

    Only need to focus on C2 b/c C1 does not affect your driving course.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVmJGIJFUrM 27:30

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_29CTqxjJzs starts at 35:45

    A blocker came from the left A, and the right car indicating right $\rightarrow$ Go

  2. From C2 to A

    • this is the only situation where you ride on top of the center. Half on half off, b/c you don’t want to black the way for cars on C1;

  3. Coming from Hollow Way A, out of DTC, start of the test

    • 1st exit, turning left, from A to C

    • 2nd exit, turning right, from A to B
      • slow and keep clear of the center
    • when you start off:
      • 2 consecutive cars indicating left;
      • 1 car indicating left and 1 gap after;
      • 1 gap before and 1 car indicating left; meaning the next car still needs time to get to the mini-roundabout which gives you time to pass;
      • 1 car indicating left and 1 blocker;
      • have to judge taking account of you speed, if you are stopping 1st geat or you are on 2nd gear moving;
        • if 1st gear stopping, must have a larger gap;
        • if 2nd gear moving, 1 car indicating left might do the work;

Emerging right without traffic control

  • should be more decisive when turning; if you are able to walk through, you should be able to cross; don’t need a huge gap;

Joining Northway

  • 3rd gear at first, when you reach the last bend before the slip road (there is usually flood when it’s raining), you get to 2nd gear; then build up speed;
    • Don’t get to 2nd gear right after you are on the bridge. That’s too early.

Leaving A4142 to Headington and hospitals, from North to South

  • merge to the right lane early when you see the two red squares;
  • do not slow down on the right lane after changing lanes; [✘]
  • only slow down AFTER you are already in the slip road;
  • the light changes fast, if you are 5-10m/h, and the light changes to amber, you have to stop abruptly;

Leaving A4142 to Headington and hospitals, from South to North

  • mind cyclists from both left and right;
  • mind vehicles on the right;

Headington RA from Northway to A4142

  • when you see the 30m/h sign, you go at 31 or 32, don’t slow down to below 25;
  • after you do mirror and signal, you brake and slow down to 20m/h, change to 2nd gear afterwards;

Cowley roundabout from Oxford Business Park to Ring Road South

  • Indicate AFTER the retail park exit! I tend to indicate after Watlington;
    • confusing indication is dangerous, might mislead other road users and cause accidents;

Oxford Business Park RA

  • from Templars Squares/ Littlemore RA to Watlington (North to South) $\rightarrow$ 2 lanes; use left lane to go straight to Watlington;
  • from Cowley RA to City Center (South to North) $\rightarrow$ 3 lanes; left is left only; use middle lane to go straight;

Lesson 19 - Jan 10, 2023

Major faults

  • too close to parked cars

General

  • changing gears early, sometimes foget to change gears;
  • pedestrian crossing in the middle of the road, pause for him;
  • traffic light always beside the waiting line, don’t stop too far away back;
  • follow routines when driving; roundabouts;
  • emerging:
    • turning left: curve to the left;
    • turning right: curve to the right;
  • pulling in give way
    • if it is a bus, your position will be a lot like parked cars; have to indicate right when you pull away;
    • it it is a car, you position will be half in half out; do not need to indicate when pulling away;
  • Maneuvers
    • starting point for bay parking
      • forward: left of the road;
      • reverse: center left of the road;
    • reverse bay parking: pause when you get to your reference point;
    • pull away from parking space: go straight 1/4 of car length then turning the wheel;
  • wet weather affects while you are driving, not the space while you stop;
  • turning right: I tend to sverve when there is oncoming vehicles. Do not turn left.
  • mini-roundabout:
    • if cars on the right stopped and left cars are moving, you can join the roundabout; they are blockers;
    • do mind that if the left car is doing a U-turn, if the car moving very slow and turn quite a lot, then probably a U-turn, you will have to pause;
  • you want to pull over but there is a car tailgating: you gently brake and force them to slow down to reduce the chance of collision; but still have to pull over eventually;
  • Kassam Stadium Roundabouts
    • consecutive roundabouts have short distance between them, but still need to speed up to 3rd gear and slow down to 2nd gear to show a good control of gears.
  • Bend: foot off the gas.
  • Cowley RA first exit, turning left
    • coming down from A4142, have to move to the left lane as soon as you see the slip road. Don’t wait until the arrows show, at that time, it’s already too late.
  • Headington RA from Northway to A4142
    • usually it’s slow traffic, don’t need to overtake b/c cars are building up speed;
  • “KEEP CLEAR” road markings usually have space before, you can go ahead if it’s clear, just do not cover the road markings where “KEEP CLEAR” is written;

Heyford Hill roundabout

BRM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FiWbNw_KWg

  • Left lane is separated from middle and right lanes by barriers.

image-20230112151103274

1. From A4074

image-20230112105321706

image-20230112105329388

Lane choosing:

  • Left lane: A423;
  • middle lane: A423 & A4142;
  • right lane: Sainsbury’s Superstore only.

From A4074 to Ring Rd A423 towards Swindon and Newbury, 1st exit, turning left, indicating left

video starts from 10:20

  • Enter: left lane;
  • On the roundabout: left lane;

From A4074 to Ring Rd London A4142, 2nd exit, turning right, indicating right, 2 o’clock.

Video from 5:00

  • Entering: right-middle lane;
  • On the roundabout: Middle lane, signal right.
  • Follow you lane through, indicat left when you pass the 1st exit.
  • You end up onto the right lane of the dual carriageway, need to build up speed and move to the left lane; left lane is the driving lane, right lane is for overtaking.
2. From A4142 Littlemore

image-20230112110421433

image-20230112110849811

From A4142 to Reading A4074, 2nd exit, turning left, 10 o’clock.

video starts from 4:00

  • Entering: left lane, indicating left and exit onto a slip road;
  • After you are on the slip road, cancel left signal! B/c if you leave the signal on, people would think you are turning into Sainsibury’s.

From A4142 to Ring Road A423 towards Newbury and Swindon, 1 o’clock, going through the roundabout

video starts from 7:30

  • Entering: middle lane; mind the traffic light, they change quickly;
  • When you join A423, you see natinal speed limit sign, that is 70m/h;
3. From A423

image-20230112112120981

image-20230112112127872

The thin line connecting your road with your entrance meaning a separate road leading you to your exit w/o joining the RA. It’s like a shortcut.

From A423 to Reading A4074, 3rd exit, turing right;

video starts from 8:20

  • Entering: Right-middle lane; right lane is also possible, but middle lane is easier;
  • On the roundabout: middle lane; very important you don’t exit to A4142 (1st exit) and Sainsbury’s Superstore (2nd exit);
  • Exit onto the left lane on A4074 if choosing the middle lane to start with; right lane leads to the right lane when exiting;

From A423 to Ring Road A4142, 1st exit, turning left

video starts from 12:20

  • Entering: left lane, and you go on a shortcut lane which separate you lane from the roundabout;
  • Note that the traffic light on your right doesn’t apply to you! Do NOT stop when you see red light.
    • Another indicator for the light not applying to you: no white waiting line crossing the road here;
  • Watch out for pedestrian crossing light right after you enter into A4142.

Lesson 20 - Jan 13, 2023

  • Emerging to left and one car coming from right indicating left: wait until the car passes.

    • Do NOT trust an indicator so much [✘] , people often have wrong indicators or have old signals from before which is misleading.

  • Stop sign at Quarry: stop completely, handbrake up;

    • 1m/h is not stop;

  • Emerging to left from Wharton Rd, Quarry: facing bus lane right away, must avoid it;

  • When leaving A4142 to Quarry, you first meet traffic lights. If it is red, the exiting will be easier; but it can be green, then you have to keep up the speed until you are on the slip road. The slip road can be really short.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_29CTqxjJzs starts at 7:30

    8:50 meet stop sign, handbrake up.

    image-20230118155328103

  • Do not drive too close to the left;

    • tend to be too close to parked cars; bollards; pedestrian islands;

  • Bay parking: get to your position when you turn into the parking lane; so you don’t need to adjust afterwards;

    • E.g., you are making a left turn before a forward bay parking: get into the left side of the lane;
    • when do reverse bay parking or parallel parking, stop at where you are about to reverse, don’t go forward too much, avoid reversing a lot;

  • Mind the mini-roundabouts in Blackbird Leys;

    • important to look out for blue mini-roundabout signs; b/c they are otherwise difficult to spot from a distance;

      • it will be a major fault if you don’t look to your right and slow down [✘] when approaching a mini-roundabout;

    • they are 3-way mini-roundabouts;

    • approach at 2nd gear, if you have clear ways, might go at 15-17m/h; if you need to give way, pause;

      • if you have clear ways and you stop out of no where, which is suprising to cars behind, this will cause accidence;

    • mini-roundabouts in lieu of T-junctions in areas with a high flow of traffic.

      image-20230116091757291

      • position A: look out for position B, if they are slowing down, they are giving way to position C which provides you a blocker; then you need to go;
      • position C, giving way to A
        • going to B straight ahead: indicate left;
        • going to A: indicate right;
      • position B, giving way to C
        • going to C straight ahead: indicate right; starts from 4:00
        • going to A: indicate left;

  • Roundabout general

    • if the car ahead has really muddy back window, they can’t see you $\rightarrow$ need to hold back further than usual;

  • Trash truck: need to be aware of people coming from behind the car;

  • At junctions, when you change to 2nd gear, clutch back up so you have max control of the car.

  • Exit to Headington and Hospitals from A4142, from South to North.

    • note the give way line and pedestrian and cyclist crossing when you turn left, must give way to them and all vehicles on your right;

      image-20230117081304225

Lesson 21 - Jan 17, 2023

From London Rd exit to Islip: only 2 counter down markers, and the slip road is quite short $\rightarrow$ you have to slow down on dual carriageways. Slow down from 70 to 50m/h on dual carriageways, then brake a lot, and change to 2nd gear at about 12 or 13 m/h to proceed.

  • 20 m/h go as 2nd gear
  • uphill go as 2nd gear
  • cyclist on country road: do not overtake on a bend.
  • watch out for giving way signs, who has priority to go;

General driving:

  • Lime Walk:

    • where to pause when giving way: if the gap on your left hand side is too small while the opposite lane has enough a gap, you just pause and let the other car pass.
    • there is no way you can pull in, moreover, your trying to pull in will make your butt sticking out; it won’t help traffic flow.

  • When making turns, watch out for side road, you don’t want to indicate to turn into the side road. Cars on your left might go in front of you, causing collision.

    • Don’t indicate too early. You can indicate when you are about to make the turn when it’s controlled crossroads/junctions.
    • There are usually side roads before controlled crossroads/junctions. Indicating too early is miselading.

  • When turning right at uncontrolled junctions, need to be on the right to the center of the road.

    • don’t do

  • Littlemore roundabout

    • when approach from A4142 do not slow down; move to the right lane early when you see the slip road;
    • indicate right before the right lane split into middle and right lane;
    • don’t indicate too early; only indicate after you pass your penultimate exit; otherwise will confuse other drivers;
    • 往左车道移动的时候，可以斜着走。
    • when you try to move from the middle to the left lane, indicating is not that important. No one will benefit from your indication.

  • mind driving speed; don’t speed;

    • from high speed to low speed limit: you slow down before the sign and enter at the new lower speed;
    • from low speed to high speed limit: only speed up after you enter into the new speed limit;

  • Maneuvers

    • always finish looking directly behind.

  • Dual carriageways

    • do not go to the right lane if not absolutely necessary; right lane for turning right or overtaking; there is no such thing as avoiding traffic on the left lane; don’t make your life difficult, just follow it through;
    • Signal off when you finish joining.

  • Joining A4142 from DTC, ALDI

    • left lane and end up onto the left lane on A4142;
    • left lane is left and right; right lane will lead to the right lane one A4142;

  • When emerging from a side road, there is no edging forward. You wait for a safe gap and go. If you edge forward, you nose will stick out and block oncoming vehicles.

Lesson 22 - Jan 19, 2023

Practiced Kassam Stadium RAs again.

General

  • Appropriate gap from cars ahead; I tend to leave too large a gap when front cars are slow, when there is traffic ahead;
    • If the car ahead starts indicating left, he might either take a left turn or pull over; you need to slow down and decide what to do;
      • if it’s safe to go around, just go around;
      • if it’s not safe to go around, pause behind to give way.
  • Check left mirror
    • when you move back to the left after overtaking parked cars;
    • check left mirror for cyclists when you start off in traffic lights;
  • Ease off the gas when you pass parked cars on narrow roads, but do NOT stop;
    • SUV cars sticking out, have to give extra gap and slow down;
    • Cherwell Drive: be aware of parked cars on the left when going downhill back to Marston; but do not stop; just ease off the gas, pass at 12-13 m/h.
    • Drive to the condition. Do not need to drive to the speed limit all the time if it is not safe to do so, e.g., sharp bends, narrow roads.
  • Decide if it is worth overtaking:
    • if you need to speed to overtake $\rightarrow$ do not overtake;
    • if you will rush to move back to your lane $\rightarrow$ do not overtake;
    • cyclists riding fast, usually just hold back;
  • Lane discipline
    • on the left lane: don’t go too close to the curb; don’t ride on cycle lanes;
    • on the right lane: don’t position too much to the left; try to drive in the middle;
  • Balckbird Leys (BBL) Car Park: go to the left and position center or center left.
    • forward bay parking: go to the middle row and position to the left;
    • reverse bay parking: just use the left row, position center, about 1.2-1.5m from the left parking bays, need to leave a bit more room for maneuvers.

  • When getting out of Balckbird Leys Car Park and turning right and turning right, need to look at where you are turning to.

    • Need to look forward to the way you are turning to. There are usually immediate parked cars on the left blocking your views, so have to look in advance before you turn and after you get out of the car park.
    • If you get out of BBL car park from the 3rd row, it’s very easy to hit the curb.
      • You go forward more and then make the turn.
      • You keep close to the right and leave more space on the left so you avoid the curb.
      • If you hit a curb hard, it’s a serious fault.

  • Kassam Stadium RA

    • Speed limit is 40m/h, if you have a long distance from the next RA, go 4th gear; if you have a short distance from the next RA, use 3rd gear; need to brake first to 25-26 m/h before changing to 2nd gear;
    • approaching speed: 17-18 m/h;

  • Middle lane on RAs

    • Littlemore RA:

      • from Rose Hill to A4142 Heyfore, 3rd exit;
      • from Heyford to A4142, 2nd exit;

    • Oxford Business Park RA from South to North towards city center: middle lane;

    • Cowley RA

      • from A4142 to Oxford Business Park, 4th exit, turning right; enter at right lane but it splits into middle and right real soon, take the middle lane when it splits.

    • Grenoble RA W2: middle lane;

      Left lane goes to Oxford Science Park, take the middle lane; always have a look at your right mirror for cars on your right.

      image-20230120104408298

  • Going back to DTC, turning right

    DTC

    • turn before the island, look for the box, don’t go too much forward, it will make the turn more difficult.

Old Rd & Windmill Crossroads

image-20230120115421902

  • From The Slade to Windmill Rd or the other way around, going straight
    • need to ride on the cycle lane;

  • From Old Rd to Windmill Rd, turning right

    image-20230207154501728

    • Need to turn right early, avoid the box for the opposite direction. If there are cars turning right in the box, and you go too much to the left, you risk colliding them.
      • when you reach the cycle lane, start to turn right, you ride on top of the turning right box on Windmill Rd, but NOT on the Old Rd [✘] .

  • When you come from the Slade to Windmill Rd, you meet two turning right boxes which you need to stay clear of.

    image-20230120115508382

    • Don’t go to the turning right box!

    • Don’t overtake cyclists here!

    After the crossroads, you meet the Orthopaedic center, and there is a box for oncoming cars to turn right. Keep clear of the box too.

    image-20230207152628322

Lesson 23 - Jan 25, 2023

Faults today: didn’t indicate when turning. Missed a few indications.

  • Headington RA from Northway to A4142,
    • indicate right.
    • on the RA, do not go too much to the right; lane discipline;
  • Lane discipline: when waiting in the box to turning right, car shouldn’t be curved a lot, might risk sticking out and oncoming cars have to go around to avoid you.
  • After entering Quarry, you meet uphill narrow roads; better to go at 1st gear;
    • when you need to go very slow (narrow roads) and need more power $\rightarrow$ 1st gear
  • Stop sign at Quarry
    • 1st thing is to stop
    • if there is clear way, then turn left, while keep an eye on the right for coming vehicles;
    • then indicate right to turn right
  • mini-roundabout, if road is narrow, in order to keep clear of the center, you can go at 1st gear so you have more control of your car;
  • Littlemore RA: I almosted stopped on the RA at green light b/c I see a bus ahead. But the bus does not affect me. So have to go.
  • Joining dual carriageway: hold back if the car hebind is not letting you in;
  • Parked cars on the left on dual carriageways: you indicate right and go to the right lane; do not straddle on two lanes;
  • Pedestrains on quiet roads: if they come from behind a parked car, just stop for them and let them go first unless they gesture you to go.
  • While waiting for traffic lights, use either handbrake or footbrake, you can’t let you footbrake unless you have lifted handbrake. Can NOT roll back! [✘]
  • 拐弯儿的时候不要拐到马路对面。
  • Forward bay parking: don’t keep looking at mirrors, focus on what’s ahead of you.
  • Don’t stare at traffic lights when approaching. [✘]

Lesson 24 - Jan 27, 2023

  • The Slade and Hollow Way mini-roundabout;
    • From The Slade turning right to DTC, 2nd exit, turning right; two on my right are indicating left, but the 1st car has already on the move, Instructor intervened by chaning to 1st gear so I can start off faster; the 3rd cars had to brake for me b/c I was too slow.
      • If you see a queue on the mini-roundbaout, just go at 1st gear, so you could start off faster;
      • This direction is the only half on and half off driving techinique.
    • From DTC to Horspath Driftway, 2nd exit, turning right. The car on my right was indicating right, meaning I should give way, but the car is a learner driver, and he hesitated. While he was in hesitation, a blocker came and the car on my right stopped. His stop (the stop of the car on my right) is a strong cue for me to go!
      • Go around the center following the arrows, no riding on top.
  • Kassam Stadium W1 to Oxford, make sure it’s safe before changing lanes
  • DTC merging to right: while waiting, it helps to use handbrake so you can prepare biting point and right foot on gas, as long as you spot a gap, you can start off ASAP.
    • Just be sure to look to the right and left, don’t be fooled by cars giving way;
    • cyclists have super priority, when seeing them, just let them go first;
    • Be patient is rule of thumb!
  • When in traffic, pay extra attention where you can wait, avoid yellow boxes and pedestrian crossings. Don’t follow other cars.

Lesson 25 - Feb 2, 2023

Tried Sat-Nav for the 1st time. Have to look at yards distance, indicate at 80 yards (100 yards=91meters).

  • have to keep an eye on the routes for which direction you are going to next. Plan in advance!
  • It is ok to miss a turn, sometimes a turn comes sooner than you anticipate. 100 yeards is very short. But never turn without mirror check and signal. Better to miss than turn at last minute and put people in danger.

Went through Quarry and practiced DTC mini-roundabout.

  • At the mini-roundabout
    • From DTC taking 2nd exit, turning right; Important to have a look at whether the car on your right is stopping to give way. Sometimes there exists a blocker, but the car on your right is still going, in this case, you have to pause, give up your priority, and wait for a clear gap to go.
      • To go around the roundabout, your position needs to position in the middle of the lane. If you are too much right, you cannot go around it.
    • From The Slade to DTC, 2nd exit, turning right; half on half off.
      • If you go too much on top of the center, you risk hitting cars who are about to join the mini-roundabout.
      • If you are too much off the center, you will block the way of the left lane which is going straight ahead.
  • Meeting oncoming vehicles, have to see further ahead. Don’t just copy other cars. The fact that car ahead went does not guarantee you will have a clear way too. Have to make the independent decision yourself.
    • I copied the car ahead and tried to go, but another car came, I had to brake and ended up being too close to the bus which is pausing.
  • Reverse bay parking: stop at your reference point and do observation and resume.
  • From BBL back to Barns Rd, after the mini-RA, I moved to the left lane without indicating. You stay on your right lane, because you are turning right at the end of the road.
    • Even if you want to move to the left lane, have to do your routine—mirror and signal check.
  • Headington RA, have to pay attention to lane discipline. Do not go too far to my right.
  • Turning right when driving home, used 2nd gear, clutch down, while giving lots of gas $\rightarrow$ this could be very dangerous if I released clutch fast[✘] , b/c if I did this, car will shoot off and I would lose control of the car.
    • Every time start off from nearly stand still $\rightarrow$ use 1st gear. Merits are $i$) you don’t stall, and $ii$) you can start off fast.
      • 1st gear can go as fast as 15m/h when giving gas, which is more than capable to give you the proper speed 13-14m/h to go through mini-roundabout and crossroads.
    • If you feel you need to rush to get through a crossroads $\rightarrow$ better option is to wait in the box. Better to make a minor fault of being overly cautious than making a serious fault of dangerous driving!
  • Turning right back to the DTC: get to the right turn box early.
  • Emerging to right: need to cross 2 lanes, have to look both left and right very carefully. Need to be patient, yet do not be overly cautious either.
  • When taking a U-turn at the DTC, go to the mid of the driveway if possible, don’t hit the curb.

Lesson 26 - Feb 7, 2023

Practice Risinghurst and Littlemore. Made major faults at Risinghurst, missed the 30m/h speed limit sign totally. There is a quite long distance in A40W (London Rd) London direction where 30m/h applies.

Also there are several times I forgot to change gears when starting off from stand still.

Risinghurst

Going to Risinghurst needs to go to Sandhills first.

Exiting to Sandhills from A40E:

  • Indicate left early to let people know you are exiting early.
  • Use 1st gear b/c it’s a sharp bend with cyclist lane;

Emerging right from Sandhills to A40E: turn right to join dual carriageway, there are 3 lanes—use middle lane; (emerging right from Horspath Driftway to A4142, there are 2 lanes—use the left lane)

image-20230207145751152

Exiting to Risinghurst: You see the Risinghurst sign first.

image-20230207150536863

Then you see the 30m/h speed limit signs, needs to brake quite hard!

image-20230207150616698

Then you see a very short slip road. The left lane is a bus lane with solid line. You cannot go there until you reach the dashed line slip road. Because the slip road is short, you have a 30m/h speed limit which makes it possible to slow down before the slip $\rightarrow$ join the slip road $\rightarrow$ turn left.

image-20230207151048799

  • Emerging to left from Risinghurst to A40W towards Headington RA. Sandhill exit has traffic lights, when the lights are red, you will have a gap to join the dual carriageway. Avoid the bus lane.

General:

  • you can wait in bus stops when waiting for traffic.

  • If there is a queue and a pedestrian crossing, you need to decide where you want to wait. If you have enough space ahead, providing a gap and ensuring your car body does not cover pedestrian crossing, then you can go ahead. If there is not enough space ahead, just wait bebind the pedestrian crossing.

  • Emerging to right, must have a last look at the right before you emerge.

  • Littlemore RA

    • From Rose Hill to Oxford Rd, 2nd exit, straight ahead: entering at the middle lane, after the 1st exit, only move to the left lane if it has space. If there is a queue in the left lane, then just go to the middle lane, do not block the exit to A4142 by stacking traffic in the left lane.
      • Left lane is left only, but sometimes people use the lane mistakenly, and force to go ahead. When they force their way to go ahead, you must stick to your middle lane.
      • There was a motorcyle on the left lane after the 1st exit, I had no choice but taking the middle lane.
    • From A4142 to Iffley, 3rd exit, turning right.
      • On the dual carriageway, move to the right lane when having slow moving truck ahead. Will need to get to the right lane anyway. Keep up the speed after you overtake and while approaching the RA. (don’t slow down on dual carriageways, especially on the right lane)
      • At the RA, moving to the left lane gradually, don’t cut into it sharply. At the traffic light after the 2nd exit, should be on the middle lane, after the traffic light, move to the left lane.

  • Heyford Hill RA: don’t go too slow. It’s a big RA, need to go a bit faster than usual.

  • Changing lanes on dual carriageways and on roads with two lanes: must do observation and indicate first!

    • Between Towns Rd (Templars Squares) after the mini-RA, must indicate right then move to the right lane.

  • Kassam Stadium RA (Grenoble RA W1)

    image-20230207162927087

    • If taking the 2nd exit back to OXF, will then join A4074 through a sharp bend, need to do slow down to 2nd gear. After joining the dual carriageway, you will get to Heyford Hill RA, taking 2nd exit, turning right to A4142—use middle lane.
    • Joining A4074 is a lot like joining Northway, there is a sharp bend at the slip road, need to go at 2nd gear, so you can speed up fast.
  • U-turn at DTC: get to the middle of the driveway and do not go too further ahead.
    • keep an eye on the curb, do not turn too much to the left such that you risk hitting the curb.
  • People walking toward their cars, they might want to get into the car. Give way to them.
  • People standing inside parked cars, they are in the middle of the road—give way to them.
    • When the traffic is ligjt, pedestrians tend to across roads. Must give way to them if they are in the middle of the road.
  • Meeting oncoming vehicles: pay extra attention to oncoming trucks, where you are going to give way, if you have any place to give way. If you don’t have the space, you must go then.
  • After emergency stop, you do observations first. Then you change to 1st gear, and do start off accordingly.
  • If having a clear way ahead, do not go too slow below the speed limit.

Lesson 27 - Feb 16, 2023

  • Risinghurst not braking enough, just changed to 3rd gear without braking. 换挡位不是最重要的，最重要的是要减速啊！30m/h speed limit sign.
  • Do not forget to change gears but also do not change gears without changing the speed first.
  • Major faults today
    • emerging to left, didn’t see the car on the left [observation fault]
    • didn’t see pedestrains crossing. [observation]
    • At Headington RA, changed to 1st gear when changing lanes to the middle. Should have used 2nd gear. The car behind had to brake for me. [行驶中轻易不要换到1档，除非是要停车让行或者等红绿灯，或者下高速slip road (Sandhill, Islip) 要拐弯，需要非常慢。]
    • When joining A4074 from Kassam Stadium RAs, swerved to the right, and the car on the right had to steer away from me. [在高速路上最重要的是看好右边!]
  • Coming from DTC towards the mini-RA, if there is a bus, must decide if want to go around. If so, don’t get too close to it. - If the bus is pulling away, then you could wait behind.
  • Important lesson today:
    • do NOT look at mirrors too much, focus more on the road. If being obsessed with mirror checks, will miss out on what’s happening on the road.
    • important to control the car.