Reversing

James M Sandbrook of
Wairakei Place, Tokoroa.

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Reversing

The most accidents that I have had that were caused by me were reversing, and although all were minor damage to the car they could have been avoided I would imagine.

Reversing is not hard, but sometimes we can go back just a little too far, back up too fast, not see something and hit it, so we need to be careful as we are going in the reverse of where we are seated. Meaning that we are seated forward but are going backwards.

A good thing to do is to walk around the vehicle to see what could possibly be hit, and with that knowledge in mind we know what we have to avoid. A good look around the vehicle just before reversing is a good idea.

I do this all the time. My thoughts are that someone may laugh and think that I look silly but if I hit something with the car I am really going to look foolish for not doing a proper check first.

Our tools are our eyes, the mirrors and if there is a reversing camera a screen.

With all the different mirrors to look at, the screen if there is one, it means kind of flickering from one to the other and also just twisting your head around and actually looking through the back or drivers side window.

The average driver must reverse many times a year, and people like me who drive for a living, we reverse a lot, more than the average person and therefore we have a greater chance of hitting something.

From personal experience I believe that one must take a lot of care and attention to reversing.

We have a supermarket here in my home town and many times I have started to reverse and a big van, ute truck or car comes zooming passed the back of the car giving me very little warning, and with a vehicle on both sides one must back out a fair amount before the passing vehicles can be seen.

It is not that hard once you get used to it. Please remember, practise makes you perfect, well, pretty close anyway :-) If we take the time to be careful and visually check around the vehicle it becomes a habit that will stay with us the rest of our lives.

If you find a parking lot where there are no cars, maybe a business one that public can get to on the weekends when no one is working. You can use small cones on either side of the parking lines, and can practice over and over again until you feel confident enough to do this out in public. If you hit the cones with the car you will know that you need to make adjustments in your parking until you get it right.

If you are a young learner you can ask a parent to come with you and they can offer advice and help, I am sure that they will be happy to see you practice in a safe environment and you can’t hurt the family car or any people.

The important thing to remember is that the accelerator react to the pressure that you put on it, so get plenty of practice just putting pressure on the accelerator and moving forward and reverse, fast and slow, and then at a crawl. Doing this helps you get a feel for the pressure that you are using and how the car responds to the pressure you put on the accelerator. Remember, this is not the movies where they seem to do amazing turns etc and miss everything, this is real life.

You don’t want to take off to fast and hit another car. Just remind yourself that you can do without the hassle of an accident. Being cool is being careful, safe, and looking out for all the people in your car and around it.

One of the things I hit while reversing was a large rock. I was working shift work and I backed up and didn’t even see the rock as it was half buried in long grass. Another time I backed out on my driveway and a dark car was to one side but far too close to my driveway and I scraped it and put some scratches on the car. I should have looked more.

I tend to first look through my rear window, the middle mirror above the windscreen and then the right side mirror and the the left side mirror. The idea is to check all mirrors, listen for moving vehicles (so have your music turned off and people quiet in the car) - Remember, you are in charge of everyone in the cars lives so take charge, ask them firmly to please be quiet while you back out of the driveway or parking spot.

Please remember that children are small, often shorter than your rear window, so you cannot see the child. If you have a camera at the back it pays to look at the screen in the car for any children behind the car.

To be extra careful if you are in a driveway of a family that has small children then walk around the car first before you get into the car.

Children at a young age are not that wise as they have not yet experienced much, so to the child of the ball rolls forward the child runs and picks it up without realizing that he or she has put their own life in immediate danger if they run onto a driveway with a car about to back out of it. Because this is not the child’s fault, we older people need to keep a look out for children and be extra careful when we visit people who have small children.

Article: Many cars have big blindspots

Article: Reversing Cameras Save Lives On Driveways

Article: Driveway danger for young children

I often reverse bit by bit while constantly scanning for vehicles and people, or smoothly but slowly, keeping all my senses on alert, especially my eyes and mind.

Once you have reversed many times it becomes habit, but we should always be aware that someone, or a child, or someone on a scooter, skateboard could come out of nowhere and then we have to hit the brakes.

You should note that when you get into another vehicle everything changes due to you not being used to this car, its length, size, where and how many mirrors are in the car etc. Take care, and be careful, its for your own good and others. Please always remember that you are responsible for pedestrians and those in the car when you are driving. They are all in your care.

Keep your wits about you in all weather conditions and you will do fine. Take care, please enjoy your driving experience.

All the best from

James M Sandbrook.

17th of march, 2021.

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