The manceuvres of reversing, turning and parking. Before carrying out a manceuvre in a particular place, there are three questions you must ask yourself:

Only you can answer this last question. For instance, if you are an experienced driver, it may not worry you to reverse downhill for a reasonable distance. But if you are not so experienced you may feel unsure. The car you are driving and its steering wheel may also influence your answer. But only when you can answer yes to all four questions, you can be sure that the place you have chosen for your  manceuvre is a suitable one.

Many manceuvres need reverse gear at some stage, so let us look first at the process of going backwards. Using reverse gear is obviously difficult for new drivers because of the altered direction of travel and the front wheels becoming the rear ones. When you drive forwards, you can see the car turn with the steering. In reverse, you have to wait for the steering to take effect.

The first secret of manceuvring is to get the vehicle to move slowly enough to have the movements of the steering wheel, the greatest possible effect. The steering wheel should be turned only when the car is in motion, however slow, but not when stationary. If your car has a small turning circle, you will be able to change the angle of the front wheels quickly. The greater the amount of steering lock, the more important it is to move the car slowly. The second secret of manceuvring is to remember, all the time, which way your front wheels are pointing.

Reversing is not easy to master. Practice should begin with driving backwards in a straight line and then go on to turning corners and more complicated manceuvres.

To reverse, you need to turn slightly in the seat depending upon your build and the car you are driving. When reversing straight back or to your left, hold the steering wheel with your right hand near the top (12 o'clock) and your left hand low on the wheel so that the rim may either slide through it or be gripped as necessary. If you find this position difficult because of your physical build or some other factor, hold the wheel with your right hand and sit so that you can steady your left arm on the back of your seat or along the back of the front passenger seat.

One difficulty about steering reverse is to know just when to begin the steer and when to straighten up. The steering wheel should be moved sooner than it is necessary. This, coupled with a slow speed, gives you time for unhurried control and time for checks to front and rear.

Always check for other traffic before you drive backwards. Make quite sure that there is nothing in your way. Check all round - forwards, behind, over both shoulders and in your mirror. If you are in any doubt, get out to make sure. Keep a good lookout while moving backwards and always be ready to stop.

Besides asking yourself the four questions at the beginning of this chapter, remember also:

Every motorist has to turn round in the road at sometime in his driving career. Here are three different ways of doing it.

• Find a side turning on your nearside into which you can reverse.

• As you drive past the side turning, look down it and weigh it up. Then stop just past it.

• Make sure the road is clear behind you, reverse round the corner. Stop close to the kerb, far enough back for you to be  able to position properly for a right turn as you.

• Drive forward, applying the junction routine before driving out into your original road.

Finally, be careful if you let your car overhang the kerb, it can be dangerous to pedestrians and there is a risk of hitting trees, lampposts, etc.

Don't park on a road if there is somewhere else to leave your car. If you must use a road, choose a safe place. Before you leave a car anywhere, ask yourself the first three questions at the beginning of this chapter.

Road signs and markings will give some of the answers. These will tell you the places to avoid and restrictions imposed, if any. The question of safety will be answered by knowledge of the Highway Code, which gives a list of places where you should not park, and by your own observation and common sense.

In a properly arranged car park, there are markings to show you where to put your car. There are also arrows and signs to show the lanes you should take inside the car park. Always try to 'park pretty'; that is, squared up in the middle of the marked space. Do not forget to open up the parking lights, if the surroundings are dark.

Unless you find a space at the end of a row, you will have to fit your car into a gap between two other vehicles. If the cars on either side are well parked, you just have to centre your car between the lines. But if they are not carefully parked, make a check on the gap left. You obviously need space for the doors of your car and equally the adjacent cars to open.

First, two general points: If there is a kerb, try not to touch it when you park. Scraping the sides of your tyres will weaken them, with possibly disastrous results later. Secondly, don't leave your car so close to another that it will be difficult for you or other to get out again.

If there is plenty of room between parked vehicles, you can draw into the side of the road and stop parallel close to the kerb. But where the space between cars is not big enough for this, you will have to back in. You need a gap at least one and a half times the length of your car.

The most important step in this manceuvre is to go far enough forward before you stop. Drive past the gap and stop about half a length past the vehicle behind which you are going to park, parallel to it and about three feet away. When you have made sure it is safe to reverse, you can then back into the gap.

We have dealt with parking in some detail because it calls for care and skill acquired by practice. If parking worries you, then practice it until you are really skilled.