Pulling Up on the Right on Your Driving Test in 2026: How to Do the Manoeuvre Properly

Of the four manoeuvres the DVSA can ask for on the practical driving test, pulling up on the right is the one learners practise least and the one that produces the most avoidable faults. It feels wrong, because for your entire time behind the wheel you have been taught to keep left. Then an examiner asks you to cross the road, park facing oncoming traffic, reverse two car lengths and rejoin the flow.

Done properly, it takes about ninety seconds and is one of the easiest marks on the test. Done badly, it produces the classic cluster of faults: no signal, poor observation before crossing, stopping at an angle, reversing without looking, and a rushed move-off into traffic. This guide breaks it down step by step.

What the Examiner Will Actually Say

You will hear something close to: “At a safe and convenient place, I would like you to pull up on the right-hand side of the road, please. Then when you are ready, reverse back for around two car lengths, and when it is safe, move off and continue on the left.”

Two things matter in that wording. First, safe and convenient — the choice of spot is yours, and choosing badly is itself a fault. Second, around two car lengths — nobody is measuring with a tape. Controlled and roughly right beats precise and jerky.

Step One: Choosing the Right Place

You are looking for a road that is quiet, reasonably wide and free of obstructions. Avoid:

• Junctions, and anywhere within about ten metres of one
• Anywhere with double yellow lines or restrictions
• Opposite a driveway or dropped kerb
• Near a pedestrian crossing, school entrance or bus stop
• On a bend or a hill crest where drivers cannot see you
• A road so narrow that your parked car blocks the flow

You do not have to take the first gap you see. Examiners expect you to drive on until a suitable spot appears. Driving past two unsuitable places and choosing a good one demonstrates judgement.

Step Two: Crossing the Road Safely

This is where most faults happen, because you are crossing the path of oncoming traffic.

1. Mirrors. Interior, then right door mirror. Check what is behind and whether anyone is preparing to overtake.
2. Signal right in good time so following drivers understand you are moving right, not turning right at a junction.
3. Check the blind spot over your right shoulder. Cyclists and motorcyclists filter, and a mirror does not show them.
4. Assess oncoming traffic. If a vehicle is approaching, wait. Do not cut across.
5. Cross smoothly and straighten alongside the right-hand kerb.
6. Stop close and parallel — roughly a hand’s width from the kerb, wheels straight, handbrake on, neutral.

Then cancel your signal if it has not self-cancelled. Sitting with a signal flashing while parked confuses everyone.

Step Three: Reversing Two Car Lengths

Now you reverse while facing oncoming traffic, which is the part that makes people tense. Keep it simple.

1. Select reverse and take a proper look all around before moving: over your left shoulder, through the rear window, right shoulder, and both mirrors.
2. Look mainly through the rear window as you reverse. That is where you are going.
3. Move slowly. Clutch control at walking pace or slower. There is no time pressure.
4. Keep glancing forward for approaching traffic. If a vehicle comes towards you, stop and let it pass. Stopping to give way is good driving, not a fault.
5. Steer only to correct. Small inputs. Your goal is to stay close and parallel to the kerb.
6. Stop after roughly two car lengths — about eight to ten metres. Handbrake on, neutral.

Step Four: Moving Off and Rejoining the Left

This final part is the second big source of faults, because you must now cross the road again, this time joining traffic from the wrong side.

1. Full all-round observation. Both mirrors, both blind spots, ahead and behind. Take your time.
2. Signal left if it would help another road user understand your intention. If the road is completely empty, a signal may not be necessary — examiners assess whether your signal is useful, not whether you produced one automatically.
3. Wait for a genuine gap. Both directions. Remember you are crossing oncoming traffic’s path.
4. Move off smoothly and settle into a normal position on the left.
5. Check the mirrors once you are established.

Why the DVSA Includes This Manoeuvre

It exists because people genuinely do it in real life — parking outside a house on the right, or on a quiet road where there is no space on the left. The Highway Code allows it, but it carries real risk: you are parked facing traffic, your rear reflectors face the wrong way, and you must cross the carriageway twice. The DVSA wants to see that you can do all of that with proper observation rather than habit.

How to Practise It Properly

Do not practise this in a car park. You need real roads with real traffic and real parked cars, because the whole skill is judgement about when it is safe. Ask your instructor to include it in at least three separate lessons, in different conditions: quiet residential, slightly busier, and once in the dark or the rain if your test is in winter.

Practising near your own test centre is even better, because it teaches you which local roads are actually suitable. Examiners tend to ask for manoeuvres in the same handful of areas around each centre, so if you have already pulled up on the right on those streets, the request will feel routine.

Frequently Asked Questions