Overtaking, lane use and manoeuvres
This domain tests your judgement about when a manoeuvre is legal and when it is simply tempting. Overtaking questions are usually about restraint: recognising the markings, the junction, the crest or the crossing that forbids the move, and aborting in time.
Overtaking
Overtake on the left by default. Before you move, check the mirror, check the blind spot, signal, assess the closing speed of oncoming traffic and confirm nobody is already overtaking you. Check the markings and any sign. Return to the right only when the vehicle you passed is fully visible in your interior mirror. If there is any doubt, stay behind.
You must not overtake at pedestrian crossings or on their approach, at junctions, on bends, on crests, on bridges or in narrow sections, where a continuous line runs, where a sign prohibits it, or when the vehicle ahead has slowed for a pedestrian or a hazard.
Lane use
Keep right except when overtaking or preparing to turn left. Do not straddle lanes. On roundabouts, choose the lane before entry. Reversing is the lowest-priority manoeuvre: get out and look, or use a guide, and never reverse onto or off a main road where it is prohibited.
Being overtaken
Hold your speed and your line, keep right and do not accelerate. If the overtaking vehicle misjudges the gap, slowing slightly may create the escape space it needs.
Worked example
You are behind a lorry doing 30 km/h on a road with a continuous centre line and a blind crest 60 m ahead. The lorry is slow and the frustration is real, but the line and the crest each prohibit the move independently. The correct answer is to stay behind until the line breaks and you can see a clear, sufficient gap. The exam is testing whether you will follow the marking rather than the impulse.
Traps that cost marks
Overtaking a vehicle that has slowed for a pedestrian; misjudging the speed of an oncoming motorcycle; pulling back in too early; passing on the right; and starting an overtake you then have to abort in the oncoming lane.