Hello, I'm Chris.
Approaching a red traffic light on a hill in a manual car can make new drivers feel quite anxious.
In this video, I'm going to show you how to deal with traffic lights on a hill successfully
talking you through every step.
Before tackling traffic lights on an uphill, practice hill starts somewhere where there isn't any
pressure from other drivers.
How to do a hill start is similar to how you normally move off on a flat road,
except you'll need a bit more gas and having the biting point will be essential.
To do a hill start I'll press the clutch down, change into 1st gear,
Now the car will need a bit more power than normal, so I'll set the gas up a little higher.
Getting the revs up to about 2.
I'll now hold my right foot still as I raise the clutch to the biting point.
I know when I've got the biting point as the back of the car dips down slightly
and the engine sound changes.
Without the biting point I'd definitely roll backwards which is something I don't want
as there might be a pedestrian or another vehicle behind.
Make sure it's safe, no signal needed as there's no one around, release the parking brake
keeping my feet still for a couple of seconds and slowly raise the clutch up with
a little more gas.
Before you change up a gear, make sure you speed up more than you normally would
or the car will struggle up the hill.
Let's try one more hill start on this quiet road and then we'll go to the main road.
Clutch down into 1st gear, set the revs up to about 2 as it needs a bit more power to go,
now I'll raise the clutch up to the biting point, felt the back drop down there
check all around, blind spot, no signal needed, no one around,
feet still
clutch slowly comes up with a bit more gas.
Raising the speed and up to 2nd.
When you move off on an uphill, be careful not to raise your foot off the clutch too soon
and make sure that you give it enough gas or you'll probably stall.
Let's try the same again but in traffic on this hill.
Now you might feel a little bit more pressure to go quickly when doing a hill start at traffic lights
or you might feel anxious about rolling back because there's other drivers behind
but stay focused on what you need to do and just remember how you did the hill starts
on the quiet road.
I'm turning right at the traffic lights.
They're currently green but they might change.
Change to 1st gear and now creeping forward up to the cycle area.
Now clutch down, brake gently,
parking brake on and into neutral.
If you're a fairly new driver then you might feel more comfortable to leave it in 1st gear
ready to go, but as you get more confident, then using neutral when waiting
is a little bit better for your clutch and you can rest your leg.
But how do we know when to prepare to go?
Well, the other vehicles have stopped and the pedestrians have a green man.
When the pedestrians have a red man then I can start to get ready as I'll be next.
Of course, wait until you have a green light before moving.
I'm going to prepare to go now,
clutch down, into 1st gear,
gas set,
get the biting point,
parking brake down,
clutch steady,
clutch slowly comes up.
Off gas, clutch down, getting into position.
And softly brake.
Get the gas and the bite to creep
and then clutch slowly comes up with more gas to go.
Let's go round again.
I can see that the traffic light is red so there isn't any point speeding up to it.
I'm just easing off the gas
and letting the hill slow me down.
Now I'll brake gently and clutch down.
Once the cars stopped,
parking brake on, into neutral and now I can rest my feet.
The brakes slowed me down much quicker than on a flat road because I'm driving uphill.
It's always a good idea to be able to see the other vehicles tyres and a little road
in case they roll back or breakdown.
I'm watching the other traffic because once they've stopped, it's either going to be me next
or the pedestrians.
It's the pedestrians next.
Once they have a red man, I can then get ready to go.
Clutch down, into 1st gear,
setting the gas,
getting the revs up to about 2,
finding the biting point,
handbrake down, feet steady and then the clutch slowly comes up.
Lights changing already,
getting into position,
light braking,
clutch down,
waiting for the last cars,
gas and biting point to hold the car steady,
a little bit more gas, clutch slowly comes up.
Let's try that one more time as it all happens very quickly.
The vehicles have finished going across and now the pedstrians,
have just got a green man.
Now I'm confident that I can prepare the car quickly because I'm really used to the car
but if you're not as confident then you'll probably want to get ready to go a bit earlier than I do.
The pedestrians have a red man, so I'm next.
Clutch down,
1st gear, setting the gas,
biting point,
parking brake down,
clutch slowly comes up.
Creeping forward into position, clutch down, braking softly.
Now I'm going to use some clutch control to creep forwards. Steering right slightly.
Now clutch down, brake softly. Parking brake on whilst I'm waiting.
It's hard to see oncoming vehicles so I'm just creeping round carefully.
Looking right for any pedestrians and ahead, looks all clear,
clutch slowly comes up with a little more gas.
Well that's the end of our video on hill starts at traffic lights.
Really hope you found it useful.
If stalling the car is a problem for you then have a look at our other video for
tips on how not to stall as it might help.
Thanks a lot for watching.
And as usual, it's highly recommended that you take driving lessons with a fully qualified instructor.
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Keep safe on the road and see you on the next video.