Real Bolton Test Route – Driving Test Tips on How to Avoid Failing on this Route – Speed Limit Hints

In this video I give a commentary drive on a Real Bolton Driving Test Route with guidance on speed limits, large & mini roundabouts & much more.

Plus plenty of hints & tips on how to avoid failing the Driving Test on this route.

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in this video I’m going to give you a run through of a Bolton test route so this is the Bolton driving test center here in a quite Sunny greater Manchester here today um so I’m going to give you a full run through of the route I’m going to give you some tips and advice via a commentary drive as we go around I’m going to show you where they do the maneuver as well um and there’s a few little tips and hints on the way about areas which could trip you up and fail you and maybe where have had a few students over the years uh fail on this particular test room so hope it helps okay here we go on another Bolton driving test route again here in sunny greater Manchester right so I’m in gear one quick check around there’s no one else in the car p with me so way I [Music] go keep relatively close to the curve on the left hand side remember it is a two-way entrance and exit I’m going to turn right out of the test center and check both ways a couple of times just got a white car just come around from the roundabout yeah go after that that’s fine and I’m going to turn left at this mini roundabout notice the markings are not very good it’s got a cal from the right that’s going ahead just waiting for now the one on the right is just waiting for that one that just turned right from that road on the left so that’s why I went there okay all right then I’m going to take this next road on the right just before the Mars shop you see it just on the corner there it’s been shook for a while but it’s still got the the Mars Frontage it’s a 20 mph Road this one see just the 20 just on the left there so we’re now on Division Street okay A lot of times they have just to pull up and park on the left on this road so I’m just going to pull up just on the left here there’s no one around so I’m not going to indicate let’s get it relatively close to the curb around about a grids width then just neutral and handbrake and then just wait for further instruction most of the time here they tell you just to drive on again okay check around your blind swaps over your shoulders again if there’s anyone around indicate which there is a few here the car just coming up behind me but it’s a long way back so I can drive off all right now the road at the end if you look at it at the moment looks there’s no Road heads it looks like a t Junction but it’s not if you notice I get closer the Roll Just naturally here bends round to the right there’s a giveway on the left it’s a oneway road on the left so You’ notice the lines down the middle of the floor just went around the bend so it’s important there what they say on the test they’ll say follow the road ahead unless Road markings or signs tell you otherwise so the road markings there clearly tell you um that the road bends to the right right now this cycle if you notice he didn’t really check his blind spot before he joined the road he’s joining the road now so he’s I’m doing around about 16 17 and he’s doing similar so it’s a difficult one to try and overtake this cyclist on when I’m unrestricted by my speed limit so I’m just going to hold my distance back from it there’s a couple of oncoming cars and some par Vehicles oh there you go he did check his blind spot there the end of this road I’m going to turn left if you notice a 30 mph sign so Division Street this became r street so I’m going to be turning left onto L Street couple of checks right left right again yep all clear right so I’m now on L Street said 30 up to gear three now look at the road ahead again there’s no Straight Ahead looks like a t Junction but again the markings in the middle just bend around to the right so I’m just going to follow the road around to the right just drop down into gear two for that bend I’m just going to pull up just on the left here going to signal cuz there a car behind me that’s just going to go around me shortly and just neutral and handbrake again okay once it’s clear again check around your blind spot areas I’m going to indicate this is the car behind but again it’s far enough back that I can drive off just indicating out of courtesy so this has now become High Street noticed up ahead traffic lights are on red so I’m just easing off my gas just dropping it into gear two there just in case the lights changed with my clutch up going to carry on a head which is always the case if the examiner doesn’t say left or right we go just change just dropped into one just ready for us to move off right carrying on so we’re still on High Street get it up to 30 road I’m just up to gear three around about the mid low 20s for now because it’s congested but it’s not too bad it’s going to ease off and drop into two the cars ahead of me are slowing down I’m just trying to leave a bit of space if that van wants to turn no it chose not to that’s fine I just thought i’ give it some space if he wanted to but you know gave him the choice and he didn’t fancy it so it’s no problem really okay the traffic lights I’m going to turn left not really there though yet I’m not going to signal yet I’ll just wait till I’ve moved off um if you notice there’s a little entrance on the left there so potentially people might think I’m turning in there so I’ll just I’ll just wait to put my signal on until I’ve moved till the lights have changed okay lights are on green see if I get through they’re normally not on Green green very long these all right I’ll do my signal left there see if I can get through yeah lights are still on green that’s fine okay so I’m turning left onto dery Street yeah right it’s one of the main roads that leads in and out of Bon Town Center can get a little bit manic this road so uh let’s just see how we go with it it’s quite a lot of um shops quite a lot of businesses down here so can get a lot of cars in out side roads pedestrians par Vehicles lots of potential hidden dangers down here there is also a bus lane down here it’s one of the timed bus lanes vehicle that I’m just going to check my Center on my right mirror just drift around slowly no there Parts on double yellows there shouldn’t really be part there somebody at the Crossing ah there we go so somebody the cross minut it could have changed so it’s a puffing cross in this one it’ll stay in red as long as the camera on top are happy that there’s people still on the crossing once they’re happy there’s no one there goes red and Amber and then green always have a little look right and left just to look for any late Runners there yeah as I was saying there’s a bus lane down here which is time so it’s only a bus lane uh Monday to Friday between the hours of 7: to 10: a.m. and 4: to 7:00 p.m. so it’s like midweek rush hours essentially so I’m driving at the moment this is like a a typical example of like an 11 minutes past 11 test route for Bolton um so I can drive in it at this moment because I’m after 10 a.m. see this blue side just on the left there so we’re going to stay within the markings notice there’s a bus up ahead stopped in a bus stop so I’m just going to give it a minute see if it drives off just checking my center right mirror it has drive off so I’m just going to slow down and allow it to move off I’m not going to overtake there we go cuz I’m in the correct Lane anyway it’s no point me try to go round and then back in might not get there in time look the end of the bus lane just coming up there I’m staying in the dotted line cycle Lane not quite sure what this white car’s doing oh okay ah they were trying to get ahead of me right okay notice that white car that just came up on the right hand side he wasn’t in the bus lane like he should have been like like I was driving he was in the right hand lane and he suddenly started to speed up cuz he saw the end of the bus lane and thought o I’ll get ahead of you before the light so not going to get involved with any aggressive there I was keeping up initially with the bus uh traffic wise and if he was that desperate to pull back in seriously just don’t get involved that’s their problem not yours just don’t get yourself uh sort of involved in it looking ahead was waiting for the lights to change you notice the the bus is still in the bus stop up ahead there’s a few Vehicles trying to take we’ve got another bus there so lights have changed let’s just just see how this goes what’s this black car doing so he Fan’s doing it as well does he there’s another one who was in the wrong lane notice the bus is driving off so black guy’s going to have to hold back anyway everyone seems to be in a rush and they just trying to get ahead of people a bit of aggressiveness just just don’t get involved in it’s always best when you’re learning to drive just if people are that desperate to get ahead of you would you rather them be ahead of you than or behind you I don’t know why you I’d rather than be ahead of your out of the way all right so see the bus is breaking up ahead car front of is indicating the bus is pulling into the bus stop there also a white van waiting to come out just going to hold back and just see how the situation plays out bus is still indicating left so check my center right mirror yeah I’m committed there you indicated just as I sort of went to go but I was sort of already committed there so best just to carry on rather than stop just paus just to see if the bus was going to immediately Drive cuz sometimes they do um but then he saw me go he then waited so I thought it was okay to go another puffing Crossing just being used there again the cameras are happy there’s no one on the crossing so way we go so this is now become St Helen’s road so I told you it was a little bit manic there’s been a few things going on on this road already just going to have to give that white car touch more space he’s not very part very close to the curb there we go so just increasing it up to 30 mph anyone at the Crossing no nobody pressed the button that time so no danger of that changing right I’m going to turn right at these traffic lights so check me center right mirror putp my indicator on just trying to hug this side white line here with my right hand tires is already two cars in the middle so I’m just going to hold back and just wait here to see if one or two of those both go in the light stays on green yellow one’s going lights still on green so I can enter the middle all right yeah and the arrows on now anyway you notice the green filter on the other side so if there’s a gap you can go without the need for the arrow but if the arrow comes on all it tells you is the opposite traffic traffic sorry I’ve already gone to Red so as long as your exit Road’s clear you are fine just to turn there even if there oncoming TR because you know their light has already gone to Red if your green filter Arrow comes on so I’m just going to pull up on the left in a safe place if they set a safe place here if you notice we’ got couple of par Vehicles I’ve got the bus stop there so I’m going to make sure I can park after the bus stop right indicate down just going to roll now look where the lowered curves are I’m just going to try and go next to a raised curve just after this lowered one here so no I’m not blocking any driveways there we go all right neutral and handbrake and then just cancel my signal I’m just going to drive on again when it’s safe okay check around all clear indicate check my right blind spot again off we go yeah again there’s a couple of ve couple of pedestrians on the right there was a vehicle behind me but it was a long way back so just again just indicate our courtesy on that busy road right now this one this is little situation catches people out sometimes there’s to many roundabouts very close together so this is the first one you’d only wait if the car’s opposite were indicating to turn right which the white car is not so assuming around the circle and then away to go right so there’s another one just coming up here so I’m going to stay in gear two this one I’m looking ahead for anyone turning right no but there’s also a road on the right which is pretty well hidden so I’d recommend just slowing down and leaning forward just to see if there’s anyone in there which that wasn’t right then I’m going to take this next road on the left mirror so this is hton Lane and now once I’ve turned in it’s a 20 mph Road this one this is Chip Hill Road very strange sort of uh Road name I know but chip Hill Road this is a 20 mph Road okay right now on this test route what they generally do is they they ask you to do the pull up on the right maneuver so just going to demonstrate that one now so I’m going to pull up and park on the right before that sort of blue turquoisey colored car so there’s actually no one around me Che my right blinds as well so I’m not going to bother signaling just going to Glide over bring it around parallel to the curb and then just stop it briefly there so try and get it again within about a grids width of the curb as you do right so at this point the Edam will advise basically what the SL is Right want to reverse back for a distance of two car LS keeping the car within a reasonable distance of the curb so reasonable distance qualifies as a grid okay so what i’ advise here normally is just lowering the right hand mirror a touch just so you can see the curve a bit better yeah it looks okay I don’t I look quite straight and parallel so I’m not going to bother doing any steering just check around Yep looks okay for me to go at the moment off I go so the key is keeping it nice and controlled every now and again just check over your left and right blind spot you’re looking at your right hand mirror to keep your distance from the curb you’re looking ahead for any Vehicles check the left and right blind spot again yep still okay yeah checking my right mirror y distance for the curb still okay again check all my left and right blind spot yeah nothing really going on it’s quite a quiet Road at the moment you keep going back generally till they say stop you can always take it upon yourself and stop if you think you’re two carms so I think it’s about there I’ll stop about there right just do neutral handbrake and always remember to put your mirror back up after you’ve finished the maneuver itself right man’s design is just to fall in front just going to back up a touch more just to give them a little bit more space there we go so it does make my drive off a bit more difficult now they decided to stop there right right just checking over my blind spots again just got a car coming up from the left hand side just going to put an extra bit of steering on cuz of this guy just in front of me B my left indicator on just trying to lean around this guy to see if I can see anything coming looks clear at the moment I just see the black car there’s a couple of cars just coming down the road so I’m just going to wait in this little space here no it’s somebody else learning so show a bit of courtesy to somebody who’s learning when we’ve all been in these situations before going to go after this blue one just check my center and right mirror blind spot yeah nothing going on and away I go let’s see what this car does yeah they’re just slowing down there’s just about enough room for both of us there best thing to do just slow down just so you can evaluate the space right when we get to the end here I’m going to turn left notice is a 30 mph sign just on the right there so I’m going to be turning left onto wig road so got another giveway Junction those double row of dotted lines yeah all clear the not straight away just on the left there you’ve got a 40 mph sign so you go from 20 to 30 straight away to 40 mph so looks pretty clear at the moment so get your speed promptly up to 40 mph my car that’s gear four can be different in other cars right lights run Reds so cuz I’m downhill at 4 break a little bit early going to wait till the th revs 4 to two come off my clutch and then wait till a th revs again and then I’ll just Bob it into game one and then I’ll put my handam breake on right yeah so Wigan Road um one again one of the other main roads that leads in and out of Bolton Town Center it’s a 40 mph Road uh it’s quite a long long straight road this one there’s a few houses further up but it stays now at 40 mph on this test route for for for a good little while now so what you should do when it’s 40 mph what there should always be is look reminder signs every few hundred yards or so on lamp post they’re the small 40 mph signs in the red circular signs it’s it’s a good idea just to keep a little eye on the lamp post just to keep reminding yourself more than anything that is still F to mil hour just keeping my distance from the car in front the truck sorry something in front of this not going very quick so I’m just Bing me time to build my speed up towards 40 you know it’s just where the speed camera sign is on the left that is one of those little FY reminder signs yeah there we go they put the speed up now so I can pick up to 40 yeah we’re up there now we got dotted line cycle Lane on the left hand side so leave it clear if there’s no reason to go in it you are allowed to park in a dotted line cycle Lane if they ask you on the driving test you’re also allowed to drive in it if you need to avoid say a car ahead of view that’s turning right um obviously I’d recommend you check for cyclist check your Center and your left mirror and obviously drop speed and drop gear before you do so because obviously there’s going to be a little bit limited on Space if you’re trying to go on the inside of a vehicle turning right right so we have a roundabout coming up right so this roundabout the only way you can go is ahead because left and right takes you on to the m61 motorway so you can only go ahead at this roundabout which they may advise or they may not you could also be following a sign that says Wigan and Lee which goes ahead so ahead is the second exit all right so I’m dropping to 1 th000 revs again I’m skipping gar three I’m going for to two off my clutch it looks quite busy at the moment so I’m dropping into three uh into one sorry so this moment make sure you’re looking ahead and right alternately you’re looking for when the vehicles ahead move and you’re looking for gaps on the right trying to predict when the cars ahead are going to move or also when you can go just helps you predict gaps but the truck’s going to go now there’s a gap looking right y that’s also a gap for me right now cuz you’re going ahead I’m aiming for the lane on the outside and a to get my left TI just over next to this curb and the grass on the left hand side you can go up to gear three on this one it’s quite a wide one so at this point check the center left Mir indicate down right now look at the double solid line on the floor there you cannot go over that till it becomes dotted so it’s dotted now signal left again check my mirrors left blind spot drift in and then cancel my signal a lot of students fail there because they go over that solid line too early you’ve got to wait for it to come go from a solid to a dotted line right now we have another roundabout coming up here there’s quite notorious in the area this Checker bent roundabout going to follow walk done if you notice the sign just on the left there so I’m going to be turning left first exit now again 4 to2 1,000 revs the roundabout is just around this little corner so I’m just going to drop my left signal on now you see the hatch markings just on the left there so I can just drift in just now they ending here we go notice my signal cancelled just going to reapply just a reminder there that it’s still 40 mph okay so again here make sure you’re looking ahead and to the right alternately just waiting for this car in front of me to go yeah was clear for them to go but I’ve got a couple of vehicles coming from the right just going to have to wait for a couple of white Vehicles there’s one of them and there’s two of them off I go cancel the signal now I’m on the exit Road otherwise it would stay on here cuz the road bends left for a little period of time so I saw a faulty sign just on the entrance to the roundabout I’ve got another little reminder sign there just before this red car on the left just reminding me that it’s still 40 mph yeah like like I said this is it’s quite a long long stretch of 40 mph on this test route so I’m now on Manchester Road the A6 not quite up at 40 yet if you notice there’s three cars ahead of me that all getting a little bit close together the first car is is again somebody who’s learning hoping the uh if they’re on a lesson I’m hoping their instructors just encourage them just to speed up towards 40 mph cuz causing the uh traffic to congest a little bit together but we’re not on a driving test cuz you can if you’re not doing the speed limit you can be failing for going too slow as well it’s a common misconception that people thing if they go slower on a driving test it’s safer The Examiner won’t fail you news flash they will will fail you if you go significantly lower than the speed limit because it’s all it’s just as dangerous as going too fast for different reasons but it’s just as dangerous um because what if you know you’re congesting cars behind you so you’re bringing cars very close together potentially then for an accident you’re frustrating drivers behind you which can lead them to try and overtake and not in the best of areas maybe their judgment because the frustrated is going to be sort of impaired um and it could cause an accident of somebody trying to overtake but it’s not actually safe to do so whereas if you just do the speed limit people are fine people will keep the distance back from you all good NY right now coming up they generally ask you to either go ahead or turn left following the sign for bolt and the sign’s just hidden by that camper van on left you know as it says left you can move into the lane where the bus stop is right now it’s not the crossing here this is not where you turn this a lot my students confuse this so it’s not the crossing that’s there this is the traffic lights where you turn left here so I’m going to turn left like said Center left mirror just stop before the cycle Lane yeah whoever decided to put a pestan Crossing like maybe 30 40 yards from an actual traffic light very very strange so yes when it’s designed for Bolton it’s not the gestion Crossing where you turn left cuz ironically there is actually a road just near that Crossing on the left but it’s just a little turning into like a little block of houses or loal block of Apartments um yes so it’s the traffic lights which are further down after The Pedestrian cross and that’s where you turning left we go so remember I’m turning left good idea to check your Center left mirror again just for any cyclist on the inside right so I’ve turn left here still for on to St Helen’s road now then I’m going to take the next road on the right some s s posted for so the uh Royal Bolton hospital just signs on my left there so center right mirror just get yourself into this Lane to turn right drop get to two yeah I can make it before those oncoming cars notice it’s a 30 mph old sign on the left there so just turned right onto plotter Lane so it’s now 30 m hour power vehicle there just check my center right just creep to the middle of the road just to show the oncoming cars that I’m coming then left Mir back in yeah there’s plenty of Road Road space there always good just to if you think this road space just check your Center mirror move to the center of the road early just to show the oncoming cars that you are going to be coming through what it gives them the opportunity to see you and then adjust their position probably just a little bit closer to the curves that’s always the space you look at you look at the space between the part vehicle and the oncoming vehicle then look at also the space between the oncoming vehicle and the curve just to see if they can move over that a little bit more so it’s not like you’re forcing them off the road you’re just essentially forcing everybody to use not forcing everybody um it’s not prompting everybody to use the roads Bas but forcing everybody’s probably probably the wrong words say you there right I’m going to take in the next road on the left coming up shortly this will be turning from plot Lane onto Smathers Lane so Center left mirror so slowing must speed down to drop down into gear two slowly off my clutch and then go it’s a little bit uphill so it’s good to get back on the gas quite early for this one three again no signs so I know it’s still 30 miles hour now it can get a little bit narrow this one you know do some Hedges on the right hand side um it’s actually a bus route this one as well so you do sometimes get buses come down in a quite large vehicle so it can get quite narrow um so if there’s any large vehicles coming obviously just take a little bit of speed off you know go R doing 30 do you know mid 20s maybe something like that just be Waring not to throw the car left into the curve if you see a big vehicle coming the other way all right so just keep focus on your bit of Road every now again baby just glance at your right mirror then you can see how close to the middle line you are all right and then the left mirror just shows you how close to the curve you are as well right so it’s downhill I recommend just tapping the brake what they normally do here is I just take the next road on the right just around the B so center right mirror there’s the road there turns right onto sapling road which is a 20 mph Zone you just see the sign just on that left lamp post there 20 m mil hour there’s no one followed me in I have to check in my central mirror all right so again there should be reminder signs on lamp post to remind me that it’s still 20 uh there’s one just on the left hand side there if you can see just near the red car on that lamp post yeah there’s nothing room for me and the van that’s fine sometimes this road see there’s always par vehicles on this roads at times you may have to give way to an oncoming car here in like a meeting traffic situation yeah there we go he had a little look he had a good run to be fair to get across there The Pedestrian fair play to him another 20 sign just on the right there that lamp post right so I’m going to go down to the end of this road and turn right if you notice it’s a 30 mph of Road I’m turning onto there are signs on the left and the right here so Center and right mirror indicates up it’s sometimes quite hard to see this one youve got the park little park on the right hand side nor Morris Green Park makes it difficult to see yeah just creeping up that now looks fine you got those green railings on the right there in the hedges sometimes block your view so I’m now on moris Green Lane right then I’m going to take not this first left here the second left is where this silver cars coming in notice the silver cars pretty much start in the entrance so just going to drop into one because it must be is there any kind of obstruction no it’s a tight Road anyway I’d recommend gear one for that one anyway particularly if there’s a car coming out or you can see a car ahead of you that’s struggling to go into it’s quite a tight road that one the turn coming in so yeah it’s a good one to just go a bit more slower into that road right there was no 20 signs coming in all the side roads if I look at the side roads they all say 20 mph down here so this is actually a 30 mph road but because of the situation at the moment it’s quite populated with par vehicles uh this is lever Edge Lane so I’m just going to keep it at 20 M hour for now got the vehicles ahead of me not really doing much speed as well um the vehicle ahead of this silver one is another is is a somebody learning I think yeah they are so probably just take taking the time down this road which is fair enough just held back there to let that white car through cuz that looks a bit tight in that space yeah so again I’ve not really had a chance to get above 20 mph yet just because of the traffic flow ahead you see the camera bouncing around there there’s a quite a few old surface is are the best down here there’s a few speed bumps as well every now and again [Music] right so you notice now the road looks a little bit clearer now so I’m just going to drop H move it up into gear three just up above 20 mph now so so it’s a good one here you got constant speed bump so it’s a good idea maybe just to slow down before each speed bump I’m just going over one here there’s nobody at the zebra Crossing if you notice they the right and the left the car ahead of is breaking I think the road just got a little bit narrow there they were just waiting for the oncoming cars to be fair the road probably would have been okay but again the just the learning is to just being a little bit cautious it’s fine so still in gear three just above 20 mph I may have to slow down in a minute cuz the car head of is slowing down a touch yeah I’ve just gone below 20 now so just just drop it into two just while they’re slowing down yeah just keep me this distance back um you I mean most of you watching this video if you’re learning to drive you understand what it’s like if a car gets really close behind you it could be quite intimidating so not going to fall into the same trap or the same issue that a lot of uh lot drivers do on the road where they don’t give learn as much space right Mobility scooper just on the left now if you notice I’ve got an oncoming vehicle ah he’s moved onto the payment there that’s fine I was just prepared just to hold back there cuz I couldn’t overtake them if they stayed on the road because of the oncoming vehicles but in the end moved on to the payment there so that was okay any kind of situation like that just hold back slow down drop a gear if you need to just give yourself a bit more time to analyze right there’s a mini roundabout coming up so I’m going to turn left Center left mirror signal down give away if anything opposite is turning right which the blue car opposite if you notice just check the road on the right is clear as well which it is right now actually I’m just going to wait here if you notice theend exit to the roundabouts blocked at the moment just check again a head and right yep that’s fine yeah if you notic there’s this red car PCH right on the corner it’s actually on double yellow lines sat there on his phone brilliant yeah right on the exit to a roundabout Parts on yellow lines making the the basically well just essentially just blocking the exit near enough stoling back to wait for this blue car just to finish his parking yeah he’s in there now that’s fine oops silver one decides to start pulling out I’ll just wait here now cuz he’s half out in the road anyway shouldn’t have done that but there you go sometimes people do yeah you right so we’re on richon Lane now this is the last minute or so of this test route this drives you down towards where the test center is so again it’s another road it’s downhill quite a few par Vehicles then there’s a hidden mini roundabout here the markings aren’t great you got these par vehicles on the left if you look at the blue sign just Towers above the par Vehicles here so you can see it looking for anyone opposite turning right to give way to what’s the white car doing that’s not indicating so that’s fine and notice the zebra Crossing just on the exit there always remember that so you’ve got the mini roundabout followed very closely by the Ze Crossing and there’s room for one car to stop after the roundabout but before the Z Crossing okay right I’m going to turn right round about just waiting for the bus there that’s turning right looks okay now carad waits for meent is just on the left here so it’s going to turn left into [Music] it all right so because I’ve already done my maneuver on test I don’t have to do a reverse base I’m just going to guide it just ahead head into this play that’s ahead of me here cuz I’ve already done my reversing maneuver okay thanks for watching hope you found that video helpful going to do this video as one of a series of routs regarding some Bolton test center routs um here in sunny greater Manchester um so stay tuned for the next one this is one of a number that I’m going to try and do so again thanks for watching please tune in for the next one and like And subscribe to my channel for all future and far more videos on far more topics regarding learning how to drive thank you very much bye for now