🚗 Mastering Gears When Approaching Roundabouts #drivinginstructor #drivinglessons #learnerdriver

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:02]Now, a lot of people get worried about their gears when approaching a roundabout. And to be honest, you're probably thinking about it all a bit too soon.

[00:00:12]Now, I'm going to be approaching this roundabout. And I'm not going to need to change gear until I'm basically there because as I'm approaching the roundabout, the car can slow a lot more than you think it can. But that means then we need to get the gear to go.

[00:00:31]Brakes to slow, gear to go. But I'm not going to stall. I'm still in gear five at the moment. Now I'm going to go right on this roundabout. So I'm going to mirror signal right. Get into lane. I'm still braking in gear five. This is my point of turn now, though. And I'm going to select gear two because this car's coming round.

[00:00:50]I'm now going to select gear one because I've had to stop.

[00:00:55]Off we go. Gear two before we need to turn right. One, two. Checking my mirrors. Signal and spiraling out. Now, your gear selection must be based on your assessment of the hazard. So, in this occasion here, we've got the roundabout. So, I'm going to be assessing whether the roundabout is quite open or closed, as to how my speed will be coming in, and also how busy the roundabout is. So, as a general rule, I would always start no more than 20 m an hour and third gear for roundabout. So, if this roundabout was clear of cars, I'd be in third gear, 20 m an hour, and I could continue if the roundabout was clear. Now, because the roundabout had a few cars coming round, I slowed down and selected second gear and then had to stop and come into first. So, make sure that your assessment of the hazard is the priority. and then you select the gear that's appropriate to the speed that you're going to use to deal with that hazard.

[00:01:54]>> Now, people worry far too much about their gears when they're so far away from the roundabout still.

[00:02:06]So, let's have a look at this one. We're going to continue ahead. So, I'm going to check my mirrors. It says for me to be in the right hand lane. I'm slowing down. I've got a couple of cars, so I'm going to go gear two. I'm happy with where they're going. So now coming round mirrors signal and off we go.

[00:02:32]So as you're coming into the roundabout, start assessing the flow of traffic and see how much you need to slow down. Then when you get to your point of turn, select the most appropriate gear that's going to keep you moving.

[00:02:50]And it's the same with the junctions.

[00:02:53]So, I'm going to be doing a right turn box junction here. I'm going to check behind and to the right. Pop my signal on. I can see I've got space in this right turn box here. I'm slowing down. And this is looking like gear two can probably see me through.

[00:03:12]That's all good to go.

[00:03:22]Now, we've got a national speed limit here. So, I'm going to really build my speed and come at the next roundabout quite fast.

[00:03:34]So, I'm at 55 miles an hour and I've got a roundabout coming up as we'll see just around the corner.

[00:03:43]Here's my sign. So, I'm going to start my hazard routine. Mirrors, signal right, I'm going right, third exit, and I'm going to start slowing down. I'm in gear five. Now, I'm assessing this roundabout, thinking, you know what, my view isn't that great. So, I'm going to come to second gear.

[00:04:00]I'm happy with that. And I'm going to go exit three. So, there's one, two. Check me left signal. And off we go again.

[00:04:13]Now, had that roundabout have been more open and I could see clearer that there was a safe space for me to take, I might have stayed in three, but I don't make that decision until I'm there. There's no point in me worrying about the gear when I'm not even at the roundabout yet.

[00:04:30]So, we'll have a look at this next one.

[00:04:33]And I'm going to come from gear six this time, even higher.

[00:04:40]So, I'm doing 60 miles an hour.

[00:04:43]And let's see when I change my gear for this roundabout here. We have partnered with the brilliant My First. So, if you're looking for a great insurer, then follow the link below and get a 50 discount on your car insurance.

[00:04:57]So, here's my roundabout sign. I'm going to go right. So, mirrors and signaling right. Slowing down again. I'm not sure my view on this one.

[00:05:08]Okay, I'm going to go gear three because that's looking quite clear and open for me and I'm happy to take that.

[00:05:19]Mirrors, signal left.

[00:05:29]Now, when you're approaching these hazards, if you prefer, you can change down the gears sequentially.

[00:05:38]So, I'm doing a lot of block changes.

[00:05:42]If you would prefer, you can go down the gears one by one.

[00:05:50]So, let's come through the gears sequentially this time. So, I'm going to start slowing down. Gear five, clutch back up for that engine brain. Still slowing down. So, gear four, clutch back up. Mirror signal right. Still slowing down. I'm now at about gear three speed.

[00:06:08]So, clutched back up from three. I'm happy with that on the roundabout. So, I'm going to stay in gear three. And off we go.

[00:06:27]So, if that makes you feel more comfortable, you can do it step by step that way as well.

[00:06:38]But the main point is is that the gear is completely dependent on what on what speed you're going to be continuing back to that accelerator at. So that all depends on the junction. If you start assessing that junction as soon as you can see it, as early as possible, that's going to give you a lot of relief when it comes to your gears.

[00:07:07]So, as you watch me drive here, think about yourself being in the driver's seat and what gear you would be choosing at the point of turn.

[00:07:22]So, let's go left on this roundabout here.

[00:07:28]So, I'm in gear five at the moment, and I'm slowing down as I'm coming in. What gear would you choose? I'm going for three because this is a very open junction, and I can continue happily at third gear for that one there.

[00:07:46]Let's do another example just up the road here.

[00:07:51]Another important note to make when it comes to roundabouts is that they're designed to keep the traffic flowing.

[00:07:57]So, as much as possible, you want to try and time your entrance to keep the car moving. We don't want to stop if we can help it.

[00:08:07]So, we've got another roundabout coming up here. Most learners would already start thinking, "Oh god, what gear am I going for? What gear?" We don't need to worry about that yet. All we're focusing on is slowing down for the hazard and assessing it. So, I'm going to turn left. What do you think? This is looking quite busy, isn't it? Yeah. So, let's go for gear two. And let's see if we can keep it rolling in gear two. We might be able to. There's another car. So, now I'm going to come to gear one. And I really didn't have to stress because I'm controlling my speed and I'm assessing the junction the whole time. That is the important thing. My gear I choose as a consequence of what I can see.

[00:08:51]So, this roundabout here, I'm following the road ahead. Let's see if I even need to change gear at all. So, let's start assessing. It's looking clear as far as we can see. I'm slowing down to make sure my car is still happy enough to continue in gear three because my revs are still high enough. So, for that one, I didn't need to change gear at all. Let's have a look at the next one.

[00:09:19]I'm going to take the second exit, follow the road. So, again, I'm just going to start assessing and see. It's very open roundabout. So, let's have a look.

[00:09:29]Do I need to change gear? Nope. My car's still got plenty of going that in gear three.

[00:09:40]So, because my revs were still above one and a half thousand, I still had enough go in my accelerator when I put my foot down. If I'd have come below that, I would have then started thinking about coming down a gear so that when I come to the accelerator, I had enough power.

[00:10:04]So, in conclusion, stop worrying about the gears before you've worried about the junction. Assess the junction and then decide what gear is going to be suitable once you arrive.

[00:10:17]>> Thank you very much for watching.

[00:10:19]>> Now, we love your comments, so if you've got any comments, leave them below.