Refer afriend!

Refer a friend - receive a FREE 1 hour lesson - ask your instructor now!Welcome to your Driving Connections Newsletter. Over the coming issues we'll be looking at a whole range of topics from dealing with emergency vehicles, to buying your !rst car and much much more!To start out we have a series of articles for you on the basics - MSM,PSL,ADA routines

Part 1 MSM by Tony Byiast (ADi Dip DI)I am sure that one of the !rst things your driving instructor taught you was theMSM routine. I'm also sure that if you asked your grandfather what the MSMroutine stood for, he would be able to tell you.There is a very good reason why the MSM routine has been around for so longand why it is one of the most basic routines you need to learn as a safe driver.

MSM stands for Mirrors, Signal and Manoeuvre.

Mirrors.I will start by trying to explain why the mirrors are so important during normal driving. Your instructor should have already told you that the interior mirror is made of "at glass, this is to give you a true re"ection of what is happening behind you, the exterior mirrors, both right and left, are made of convex glass to help cover the blind spots and to give you a wider !eld of vision, this makes following vehicles seem further away than they are, in fact they are nearer than you think.

OFFSIDE DOOR MIRRORCONVEX GLASSINTERIOR MIRROR VIEW

FLAT GLASS

OFFSIDE DOOR MIRRORCONVEX GLASSINTERIOR MIRROR VIEW

FLAT GLASS

Manoeuvre.A manoeuvre is simply anything that would cause you to change direction or speed.The way I tend to think about the MSM routine is to use it in reverse order, instead ofmirror signal manoeuvre I use manoeuvre signal mirror.I shall explain, any time you see a hazard ahead of you that could possibly cause you tochange direction or speed you know you might have to make a manoeuvre, if you'regoing to change direction either to the left or right or change speed by slowing downor breaking, you need to consider if a signal would bene!t other road users particularlythose following you, the only way you're going to make that decision is by knowing whatis happening all around you, your decision to signal or not, or whether to brake or not willdepend on what is happening behind you i.e. you need to look in your mirrors and assesswhat is happening behind you.So, you see a hazard ahead of you which demands a manoeuvre, to decide whether anyother road user will bene!t from a signal, you need to know what is happening behindyou. I hope you can see that you don't just use the mirrors to stop your instructor frommoaning at you or because it will help you pass your test, there is a genuine reason forusing the MSM routine and I hope you'll use it all the time you're driving.As always, if you need further explanation of the MSM routine just ask your driving instructor.

The interior mirror is used to check the speed and position of following vehicles.The left mirror, is used to check your position from the left-hand side of the road, which should be about one metre from the curb or the edge of the road, also to check for cyclists on your left specially just before turning left, if there is a cycle lane on your left then a double check would be advisable.The right mirror is used to check your position from the centre of the road, and to check if any other road user is overtaking you, especially motorbikes.The right and left mirrors should be used to check your road position when travelling in multiple lanes which should be in the centre of your lane, having the same gap in both mirrors will ensure this happens. When checking your mirrors always try to do so in pairs, starting with the rear view mirror then the left or right mirror depending on which way you intend to steer.

Mirrors need to be checked well before changing speed,direction, or indicating.When your driving instructor asks you to check your rear view mirrors hedoesn't just want you to look in them, he actually wants you to see what ishappening behind you, there is a very good reason for this, if you areapproaching a hazard which may cause you to steer either to the right or tothe left, you need to know what is happening behind you to see if anythingwill be a#ected by your steeringto the right or left.Imagine you are approaching a red tra$c light, you should have decided thatyou have enough stopping distance to stop before you get to the stop line atthe tra$c lights, however if a motorbike or other road user decides toovertake you and stop in front of you, you will have less stopping distanceavailable and might hit it up the back, having used the mirrors e#ectively youshould have been aware of the situation and left a bigger gap.

Signals.Signals are used to bene!t other road users, if you know, or you think that the signal willbene!t other road users then give one. Signals should be used to inform other road usersof our intention to change direction. They should be given in good time, not too early sothat following vehicles might think you are stopping on the left or turning left into adriveway and not too late so that they won't be on long enough to bene!t other road users.Prior to signalling you should ask yourself two questions, will other road users bene!t frommy signal? Or will by giving a signal confuse other road users?An example might be. When passing a stationary vehicle you might decide that thefollowing vehicle would bene!t from a signal to the right, this would inform the followingvehicle that you intend to steer right around a stationary object, however, if there was ajunction immediately to your right opposite the stationary vehicle, and there was a vehicleemerging, that emerging vehicle might decide to pull out in front of you, thinking thatyou are going to slow down and turn right into the side road, the signal would beconfusing, therefore do not give one.