For drivers wannabe

Below are the main things wanna be drivers need to take note of.

There are two types of driving licence in Singapore.

Class 3 - all transmission cars
Class 3A - automatic transmission cars only

Before you start your lessons either in centres or privately, it is best to have a feel of driving first. For that, you may have to treat your best friend who owns a car to Swensens or equivalent . If you are confident of handling a car, you will not waste time in re-taking a certain lesson again after you enrol.

Things you can learn through your best friend

1. What to do when entering a car.

This is important even though it don't look like it is, seriously. When a tester sees that you look like a season driver and know what you are doing, your test will tend to be a breeze. Things to do are

- put on the seat-belt and adjust it
- adjust the driver's seat
- adjust the mirrors

Do all the above adjustments even though it already fits you. The reason why is simply to show the tester that you do check for all those things before you drive which is a good and recommended habit.

2. Learn the basics of how to move a car

For auto

- both hands on steering wheel
- use right leg to step on brake pedal
- use the left hand to change to gear to D (drive). Right hand still on steering wheel
- use the left hand to release handbrake
- put left hand back on steering wheel
- release foot brake
- use right leg to step on accelerator

Unless you are a stunt driver, never use your left leg for anything when it comes to automatic cars. Using left leg to step on brake and right leg to step on accelerator is the worse if not moronic way to drive.

Putting both hands on the steering wheel before you move off is very important, trust me. Try to move off with only one hand on the steering wheel during a test and see what happens.

For manual cars,

- both hands on steering wheel
- right leg step on brake
- left leg step on clutch pedal
- use the left hand to change to gear to 1st. Right hand still on steering wheel
- use the left hand to release handbrake
- put left hand back on steering wheel
- gently release clutch pedal until you feel the engine change and hold it there
- release brake and use right leg to gently step on accelerator pedal
- release clutch pedal as step on accelerator until the car moves without stalling

3. Check car reliability

The only thing you need to check is the foot brake. Move off a little and then step on the brake to get a feel of how good or bad is the braking. This applies even when you got your driving license, especially when you drive someone else car or a rental car. Failure to do so may result in the car either skidding or the car behind banging into your car or your car banging into the car in front.

I rate the importance of this point as 10/10

4. Learn how to turn the steering wheel while making a turn

There are many ways to do this. Some *cough* can even do this with one hand. But to do this correctly and according to requirements to pass the test, the cross hand method is the only method until you get your license.

To turn right, use the right hand to turn the steering wheel while the left hand to guide the steering wheel. Once either hand reach the 2 o'clock position, release that hand from the steering wheel and grab the steering wheel at 10 o'clock position.

To turn left, it is the total opposite.

5. Learn what to do before making a turn

This is also 10/10 in terms of importance, before or after you got your licence.

- check rear view for incoming vehicles on the side of the turn you plan to make.
- check your side mirror for incoming vehicles on the side of the turn you plan to make.
- signal your intention and signal correctly!
- check blind spots on the side of the turn you plan to make.
- make the turn

6. Learn how to straighten up the car after a turn

The important thing is to keep to a lane. If you make a U-turn, your car must stay within the second lane from the right after the U-turn. Your car cannot cross over the line on the right side of that lane. For a filtering turn, the car must not cross over to the second lane from the left.

As it is illegal to learn on the roads without a qualified instructor, that is all you can learn through your best friend
For the list of Swensens, check here