5 easy steps for driving in reverse
Whether you need to reverse into a parking spot, exit a narrow dead end or you need to back up to make space for someone else, driving in reverse gear is inevitable. If you don’t feel that confident driving in reverse, don’t stress. Just check out these 5 easy steps for driving in reverse to make it easy for you.
5 STEPS:
1. The first step is quite logical. You need to put your car in reverse gear to make people around you aware that you are going to be reversing.
2. Adjust your mirrors. Adjusting your mirrors will let you have better control on your car’s exterior. Some people don’t touch them at all while others like to lower the passenger side mirror so it covers the last wheel. It all comes down to personal preference and experience. With time you’ll learn your car dimensions and need to adjust the mirrors no longer.
3. Either turn around or don’t. The big dilemma when driving in reverse: should you look in mirrors only or should you turn around so to look through the last window? Turning around is how they teach you in driving school but is it really that necessary? While looking through the last window will usually give you a better feel about real distances, it leaves your driver’s side uncovered which means that you’ll have to constantly turn back to see how you’re doing on that side. In this case you should just choose the option you are most comfortable with.
4. Drive slowly. The reverse gear is usually the strongest one on your car; this means it’ll also give you the strongest kick and will start way faster than your first gear. Having that in mind, you should dose your power reasonably.
5. ‘Right is left and left is right‘. While many people say this when mentioning driving in reverse, it is true only if you picture your car turning the front all the time. Going in reverse and turning the wheel to left will make your car go left, because you want your back to go left. In response to your back going left, your front will go right, but that’s only because the steering turns the front wheels.
If you are someone who often struggles with parking as well, check out our easy guide to parallel parking.