The Cockpit Drill…Manual & Automatic - HNDSSM
What is the Cockpit Drill I hear you ask? This short video will explain everything you need to know about the Cockpit Drill, watch to the end and see exactly how to demonstrate this procedure immediately before you move off on your test.
It’s a simple procedure carried out only once every time you sit into the driver’s seat before moving off. Particularly if you share a car or you know someone has driven the car before you and has made an adjustment to suit their preferred seating position.
The main reason we advise and recommend you carry out the Cockpit Drill is simple. YOU are responsible for the safety of you, your passengers and everyone around you, Therefore the slightest distraction can be enough to cause an accident reaching down to adjust your seat for example.
H - Handbrake: is fully engaged and applied
N - Neutral or Park is selected: The first thing you want to check the gear is in (N) Neutral or (P) Park in Automatic. In a manual car the gear stick moves freely from side to side when in Neutral.
D - Doors: are closed and secured. There are a number of ways to check this. If there is an internal activated or perhaps the dash board is displaying a warning sign. Another way is to visually using your side mirrors look down the side of the car for a nice smooth profile.
S - Seat: is positioned correctly.
5 x things to consider, distance, height, back rest, head rest and overall comfort.
Distance….First sit with you shoulder blades fully into the back of the seat. Without looking down, full extend your left leg while pressing the clutch (break Automatic) until your foot reaches the floor. You want a slight bend on you knee insuring you are not stretching or over reaching when fully pressing down on the controls.
To adjust the forward and back identify the leaver or bar located under the seat while pulling the upwards and holding the steering wheel with the other hand pull the seat forward and back.
Height…First thing to do is identify the location of the leaver or button allowing you to raise or lower the seat. Sitting again with your shoulder blades into the back of the seat and your head and eyes forward raise or lower the seat accordingly. Once you can see above the dash board of the car and easily determine without stretching where the front left or nearside corner of the car is. For example you need to be confident when stopping at a Stop line knowing you are not too far from the line and avoiding getting marked for positioning or worse again failing for going past it.
Back-rest….There will be a separate leaver or button allowing you to tilt the seat forward and back and used to adjust the back of the seat giving you comfort and proper observation in a 360 degree rotation from left to right.
Head Rest…Your ears should be in line with the centre of the head rest and tilted for comfort. Pressing the locking button at the base of the head rest will allow you to move the head rest up and down.
S - Steering Wheel: Important to have your shoulder blades fully back into the seat and your arms and hands extended in front of you. If your wrists are not resting on the wheel you might need to adjust the steering wheel up or down forward or back using the leaver located directly under the steering wheel. (Make sure you can see the dashboard controls/instruments in the process).
Remember to double check the steering wheel is locked back in position before moving to the next step.
S - Seatbelt: Locking the seatbelt into position across your body without any twists or kinks adjusting it on the main frame (B Pillar) up and down for comroft.
M - Mirrors: Three mirrors to set the centre mirror and both side mirrors left and right.
Important to note: the centre or main mirror is the ONLY mirror to give you a true image of what you seeing behind you. The glass used in both side mirrors is called convex glass allowing for a wider field of vision but makes everything look further away than it is.
Let’s do the centre mirror first. Once more sit with you shoulder blades firmly into the back of the seat and your eyes looking straight forward. With your left hand holding the left side of the frame of the glass (without touching the glass) and adjust the frame so you can frame the back window of the car.
Left-side Mirror: Identify and locate the button to adjust the tilt the side mirrors. Again sitting forward with you shoulder blades into the back of the seat tilt you head slightly forward and to the left keeping the handle of the front passengers door the bottom right of the mirror.
Right-side Mirror: Similarly to the left mirror switch the button to adjust the right mirror and tilt your slightly to the right and positioning the drivers door handle to the bottom left of the mirror.
Make sure to position the button back to the centre just in case it might get knocked accidently while driving.
Take the time to make sure everything is set correctly before you mover off. In your test quickly, efficiently and effectually demonstrate the Cockpit Drill moving quickly through HNDSSM reassuring the tester you have everything in order and in position therefore not getting distracted unnecessarily during your test.
One other piece of advice in relation to your test is don’t re-adjust your left side mirror for the left reverse manoeuvre. Although you won’t fail your test for this but you will get a Grade 2 mark if you forget to re-adjust it before you move off after you have completed the manoeuvre.
