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Greenlane / New Market and Parnell - Driving Lesson Notes

4/7/2017

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Night driving through New Market - Simulated Driving Alone (15minutes)

Release Hand brake before moving out of car park
Aux Controls - windows started to fog up
Green Light - check before moving (Ped X, cyclist and cars)
Poor Positioning - too close to Bus and late reaction time, don't rush to be next the bus, just stay back the road is getting narrow.
Lane change - slow reaction time, searching ahead. Bus

Greenlane (30minutes)

Narrow Roads - Keep left
Straight Roads - Check your center mirror every 10-15seconds and check side streets
Right Turn - Cut Corner - Rear right wheel hit center line cats eye /reflector
Right Turn - Turning Bay - Shoulder Check when entering
Curved Road to the right with side street on left, Check for traffic
Keep left - too close to middle of road
Islands in the middle of the road - adjust you positions and speed control as you move around them
Left Turn - Hit Curb - rear left wheel (sharp corner)
Parked Cars - Shoulder Check for Cyclist, when moving back to the left.
Left Turn in to a 2lane road, failed to notice safe lane, moving when it was unsafe

Parnell (15minutes)

Greenlight - Driving straight on duallanes (Left lane turning left), check the left lane incase they are driving straight.
Right Turn - Turning Bay Check your blind spot and Indicate before moving in.
Roundabout - failed to follow instructions and when left

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Glen Innes Simulated Test / Driving Lesson Notes

21/6/2017

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Feedback notes / errors from a restricted simulated test at Glen Innes.

Right Turn - slow reaction time when entering flush median.
Driving on dual road - late reaction to parked car in left lane.
Don't hold the steering wheel hard.
Motorway on/off ramp - Indicate longer ~ reaction time / speed up and should check.
Left Turn - Too wide
Shoulder Check - when moving around parked cars
Left Turn - there is a cycle lane on the left check for cyclist before turning
Hill Start - Don't roll back, angle the car left for left turn and stop where you can see
U-Turn - Indicate right and check right shoulder
Lane Change - when moving over white lines indicated and shoulder check
More search required - Every intersection check both sides
Posted 30km Roadworks Sign- MUST slow down to 30km
Narrow Roads - left and right turns too fast and wide. Drive to the road conditions
Left Turn into a dual lane road - stay in your lane
Following Distance - Buses will more like to stop double your following distance, same with truck, stay back so you can see
Roundabout - slow reaction time, be ready before and indicate out of the roundabout.
Merging - Indicate and check
Speed Control - Don'r rush - long straight downhill roads.

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Driving Lesson Notes - Lesson 1

19/6/2017

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Summary Driving Lesson Notes
Vehicle Control - Starting the car

Move your seat forward and up
Put on your seatbelt
Move your center mirror, so you can see behind you. You are the whole car now.
Push the brake with your right foot and then push the power button
Wait for the ready light to be on.
Let go of the brake. (Don't have to push hard)
Adjust the side mirrors if required.
Indictors are on your right. Move it down (right) move if up (left)
Look ahead, Don't worry about keeping the steering wheel straight
Push the brake with your right foot, only a millimetre down use your toes just like tapping. Keep your heal on the ground and move it to the right. Only push a millimeter down. Keep your foot between both speed and brake paddles. Keeping your foot on the ground move if left and right like you are waving with your foot.
In the middle you have your handbrake and gears. Look at the dashboard, the red (!) means the handbrake is on. Pull up the handbrake lever only a few millimeters and then push the button in and push the whole lever down. The red (!) should disappear, the hand brake is off.
The foot brake in general controls the front brakes and the hand brake controls the rear brakes. Incase the footbrake fails you can use the handbrake to stop the car in an emergency. Pull up the handbrake.
The gears P-R-N-D-1-2 .
P - Only go into Park when the car is stopped at the left side of the road (not waiting at lights, at intersections or in a queue)
R - Reverse will make the car go back, it will normally make a beeping down and will display R on the dashboard
N - Neutral - No gear (Think of it like a ball it will just roll) When you need to tow or push the car off the road
D - Drive will make the car go forward. If it is in Drive the car will try to always go forward.
1-2 or L/S - Lower gears for going forward, normally used for towing another vehicle or going really steep hills. Lower gears have more power and use more fuel. You get power but loss speed
Put both hand on the wheel and turn all the way to the right and then all the way left. Don't twist your hands. Use your left hand to turn left and right hand to turn right. Push and pull, try to keep one hand on each half of the wheel
Look up at center mirror can you see the ground between us and the parked car behind us? Look back, turn your head. Everything in the mirrors are always closer. Check the side mirrors can you see the cars back there? Its had to judge distance in the mirrors. If you look in the center mirror and can see the ground between us and the other vehicle you have twice the room you need.
Turn head 90 degrees to the left and now to the right. lift your chin up. look in the center mirror keep your head up and now look to the right/left. This is your BLINDSPOT or SHOULDER CHECK. Think of it like you are running/riding a bike and want to see if there is anyone next to you.

Moving - Steering, Braking and Acceleration

Don't do anything sudden. The car is straight look ahead, not inside the car, look outward. Think of it like walking. Where do you look, at the ground or where you want to go?
For now the steering wheel is straight
Indicate right, move Indicator down, don't turn the wheel
Push the brake down softly. Move the gear lever from Park (P) to Drive (D). Keep your foot on the brake. Put the hand brake down the (!) red light is off. Anyone behind us or next to us? I'm looking for cars, people and animals.
Just lift you foot off the brake and then push down again. Nothing sudden. We don't want to feel the car stopping. We will roll up to the next lamp post and then stop. Anyone behind us or next to us? Look over your right shoulder / Blind spot. Indicate right, check and let of of the brake roll 1-2 meters forward indicate left and brake.
Check and if safe this time we will goto 20km-30km, you will need to push the accelerator / speed only a millimeter, the car will speed up. The car is a ball it will roll down hill and get faster, uphill it will get slower.

Turning and Steering/Hand Position

The car will never go straight, It will pull to one side, because the road is curved. We can only drive is a circle, the car has to curve around corners, we cant turn at 90 degrees. We will goto the end of the road and do a U-Turn, the more you turn right the more you have to turn left. Be ready to turn the wheel back.
If you can see the ground between us and them (other cars) you have lots of room.
At the end of the road we will do a U-Turn - Indicate / Mirror and Shoulder Check. Aim for under 20km. Just let the car roll.
Left Turns - Angle the car to the left / Right Turn move forward and then make one big turn. 20km is a safe and comfortable speed for turning.

Gap Selection and Observations - searching ahead and around you

Always aim to stop, aim for 20km as you slow if you can see 3 lampposts / street lights on each side of the road and it is safe go. If you cant see 3 lamppost on each side (100meters) it is unsafe. Stop and crawl forward centimeters.
Stop Sign - Full Stop and then check
When approaching intersections look early and off the road, 10 cars aways (rough guess) start looking to see if it safe.

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Refresher Driving Lesson Notes: Glen Innes

8/6/2017

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Refresher Driver Lesson - Feedback Notes - Key Points

1. Vehicle Control - Aux Controls

Hazard / Warning Lights

Red Handbrake Warning Light

Rear Demister / Defogger

Front Demister / Defogger

2. Release the handbrake before moving off. Don't Rush
3. Know where your blindspots are and why you need to check them

Blindspots - Turn your head 90 degrees, quick look

Know where is your Blind Spot / Shoulder Check
U-Turn - Shoulder check required
Parallel Parking - Indicate and Check your blind spot
Lane Changing - Nothing sudden, check and then move, Don't Brake Suddenly, shoulder check when moving into flush median / turning bay
Full STOP at Stop Sign and then check both sides before moving
Right Turn - Position
Stopping at Traffic Lights - Don't be to close to the vehicle infront
Intersections - Check both sides ( Ped-X, Green-light, Roundabout and Cross Roads)
Narrow Roads - reaction time for oncoming vehicle and positioning
Roundabouts - searching ahead and positioning the vehcile and check both sides and infront
Left Turn - angle the car
Overall speed too SLOW (38-40km)

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Results for Restricted Wiri Simulated Test

7/6/2017

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Just need a few lessons to get comfortable:

Turning left while keeping left
Turning right from a 2 lane and staying in the same lane, through the whole turn.
Parallel Parking - just need to recheck right side and stop less than 30cm from curb.
More shoulder checking - Blind spot checks required when moving left/right on straight roads.
Hand Position - Don't twist your hands and keep them up
Hill Starts - Better clutch/gears and handbrake control required (proper shoes?)
U-Turn - Indicating right is required
Searching at intersections - always check both sides

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Greenlane / New Market and Parnell - Driving Lesson Notes

Glen Innes Simulated Test / Driving Lesson Notes

Driving Lesson Notes - Lesson 1

Refresher Driving Lesson Notes: Glen Innes

Refresher Driver Lesson - Feedback Notes - Key Points

Results for Restricted Wiri Simulated Test

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