Your First Drive: Starting the Car and Moving Off

The first few minutes in the driver's seat set the pattern for everything that follows. Good drivers do the same short routine every time before they move: set up the seat and mirrors, check the car is safe to start, start the engine correctly, and move off only after looking all around. This article walks through that routine step by step, for a manual or an automatic car.

Before you get in

• walk around the car, especially at home and near schools. Look for children, animals, objects and flat tyres (Rule 10);
• check that the lights, indicators and number plates are clean, and that nothing is loose on the roof (Rule 31); and
• as a learner, make sure the red L-plates are fixed front and rear, and that your supervisor holds a valid licence for the car (Rule 20).

The cockpit drill: before you start the engine

Driving schools in India teach "pre-driving checks" as part of the official syllabus. A simple order to remember is doors, seat, steering, mirrors, seat belt:

1. Doors: all doors shut properly. Check the warning light on the dashboard.
2. Seat: slide it so you can press the clutch (or brake) pedal fully to the floor with your knee still slightly bent. Set the backrest fairly upright, so your wrists rest on top of the steering wheel with your shoulders against the seat. Set the head restraint so its top is level with the top of your head (Rule 28).
3. Steering: adjust the height or reach, if your car allows, so you can see the instruments and hold the wheel comfortably at about "quarter to three".
4. Mirrors: set the inside mirror to show the whole rear window, and the door mirrors so you just see the side of your own car in the inner edge (Rule 02).
5. Seat belt: fasten yours, and check that every passenger has done the same; children in suitable child seats (Rules 16 and 28).

Then put your phone away, on silent or in a holder, and set the navigation before you move (Rule 14).

Starting the engine

Manual car:

1. check the handbrake is on;
2. press the clutch fully down and move the gear lever to neutral. Wiggle it from side to side to be sure;
3. turn the key, or press the start button, and release it as soon as the engine starts; and
4. check the dashboard: warning lights should go out within a few seconds. If the oil, battery, brake or temperature light stays on, do not drive (Rule 21).

Automatic car: selector in P, foot firmly on the brake, then press start (see Driving an automatic car).

Moving off: mirror, signal, manoeuvre

The official driving syllabus teaches the mirror–signal–manoeuvre (MSM) routine. Use it every time you move off, turn or change position:

1. Prepare: in a manual, clutch down, first gear, a little accelerator, clutch up to the biting point (see Clutch and gears). In an automatic, foot on the brake, select D.
2. Look: check ahead, then the inside mirror, then the right door mirror. Finally look over your right shoulder into the blind spot, where a two-wheeler can hide.
3. Signal: indicate right if anyone, including pedestrians, could benefit.
4. Look again just before you go. Traffic already on the road comes first (Rule 10).
5. Manoeuvre: release the handbrake, move off smoothly, and steer gently into your position on the left of the lane (Rule 01). Cancel the indicator.

If a vehicle, cyclist or pedestrian appears, stop where you are, keep the handbrake ready, and start the routine again. Never pull out and expect others to slow down for you.

Your first stop

1. choose a safe, legal place well ahead (Rule 10);
2. mirrors, and signal left;
3. ease off the accelerator and brake gently; in a manual, press the clutch just before you stop;
4. stop close to and parallel with the left edge; then
5. handbrake on, neutral (or P), and cancel the signal.

Where to practise first

• start in an open, quiet space such as an empty ground or a wide residential road early in the morning, with your supervisor beside you;
• practise moving off and stopping many times, including on a slight slope (see Hill start), before you go into traffic; and
• build up slowly: quiet streets, then busier roads, then junctions and roundabouts. India Drive Safe recommends at least 50 hours of varied, supervised practice (Rule 20).

Common mistakes

Remember