Common driving faults

🔄 1. Roundabout judgement and positioning

Roundabouts were the most common area of difficulty this week. Problems included attempting to enter when approaching vehicles had priority, missing safe opportunities to proceed, choosing incorrect exits and drifting out of the correct lane. Some situations required instructor intervention to prevent a collision.

💡 Advice: Look to your right and across the roundabout to assess approaching traffic. Never assume another vehicle is leaving until its intentions are clear. Choose your lane early, maintain the correct position and take safe opportunities without unnecessary hesitation.

🅿️ 2. Parking and manoeuvre accuracy

Parking difficulties appeared frequently this week, particularly with forward and reverse bay parking. Common problems included finishing at an angle, positioning too close to bay markings, oversteering and starting manoeuvres from unsuitable positions. Some learners also needed guidance to correct their final parking position.

💡 Advice: Plan your starting position carefully and keep the vehicle moving slowly enough to make controlled steering adjustments. Use suitable reference points, maintain observations throughout the manoeuvre and check your final position before finishing. Take your time rather than rushing because another vehicle is waiting.

🚦 3. Speed awareness and control

Several learners struggled to maintain speeds appropriate for the road. Some exceeded 20 mph limits, while others travelled considerably below the limit on faster roads. Delayed acceleration after junctions and roundabouts, inconsistent speed control and approaching hazards too quickly were also recorded.

💡 Advice: Check speed limit signs regularly and adjust your speed before entering a lower limit. When joining faster roads, build speed positively when conditions allow. Look well ahead for junctions, bends, pedestrians and other hazards so you have enough time to reduce speed smoothly and safely.

↩️ 4. Incorrect or missed signals

Signalling mistakes occurred regularly, particularly at roundabouts. Learners missed exit signals, used the wrong indicator, signalled too early or cancelled signals before completing their manoeuvre. These mistakes can leave other road users unsure of a driver’s intentions.

💡 Advice: Check mirrors before signalling and consider whether your signal could mislead other road users. At roundabouts, signal to leave after passing the exit before yours, where appropriate. Make sure your signals are correctly timed, clearly communicate your intentions and are cancelled when no longer needed.

👀 5. Observation and safety checks

Missed observations were another recurring problem. Examples included moving off without completing shoulder checks, failing to maintain observations while reversing and missing mirror checks before reducing speed. There were also situations where attention was directed towards navigation rather than immediate hazards.

💡 Advice: Make observations before acting. Check the appropriate mirrors before changing speed or direction, complete shoulder checks immediately before moving off and maintain effective all-round observations throughout reversing manoeuvres. Always prioritise immediate hazards over following directions.

🎯 This week’s takeaway

This week’s lessons highlighted how important it is to recognise hazards early and make safe decisions, particularly at roundabouts and junctions. Several situations required instructor intervention. Looking further ahead, maintaining observations and giving yourself time to assess approaching traffic can help prevent small mistakes from becoming dangerous situations.

🔄 1. Roundabout positioning and lane discipline

The most repeated issue this week was positioning on roundabouts. We saw cars drifting towards the wrong lane, moving across too early, taking the inside too tightly and exiting in the wrong lane.

💡 Advice: Plan the lane before entering, follow the road markings and maintain your lane all the way around. When going straight ahead on a normal roundabout, think about following the outside or “pizza crust” line rather than cutting across the middle.

🚦 2. Speed awareness and control

Speed came up repeatedly this week. This included exceeding 20, 30 and 40 mph limits, approaching roundabouts and speed bumps too quickly, and not reaching a new lower limit before passing the sign. We also saw drivers travelling unnecessarily slowly on higher-speed roads.

💡 Advice: Keep scanning for speed-limit signs and react early. For a lower limit, reduce your speed before you reach the sign. When the limit increases, build speed after passing it when conditions allow.

👀 3. Mirrors, blind spots and observations

Missed observations were another common theme. Examples included signalling before checking mirrors, moving off after changing gear without blind-spot checks and observations dropping away during reversing manoeuvres.

💡 Advice: Make observation routines automatic. Mirrors should come before signals or changes of speed and direction, and whenever you prepare to move the car, make sure the relevant blind spots are checked immediately before moving.

🅿️ 4. Parking and manoeuvre accuracy

Forward bays, reverse bays, parallel parking and pulling up on the right all produced similar issues this week: inaccurate setup, too much steering, approaching too quickly and needing corrections to finish in the correct position.

💡 Advice: Slow manoeuvres down and concentrate on the setup. Give yourself enough space before turning, use small steering corrections and keep the observations going throughout the whole manoeuvre.

↩️ 5. Signals and forward planning

We saw several missed, late or incorrect signals this week, particularly around roundabouts. There were also occasions where road markings or signs were noticed too late, leaving the driver in the wrong lane.

💡 Advice: Look further ahead so you have time to process signs, markings and other traffic. Use signals at the correct time and remember that a signal should inform other road users rather than confuse them.

🎯 This week’s takeaway

A lot of this week’s faults came back to giving yourself more time. Slowing the approach slightly, looking further ahead and completing routines in the correct order makes lane choice, observations, signals and positioning much easier.