NaTIS Code 1 Learner common mistakes
NaTIS Code 1 Learner · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
At a four-way stop where two vehicles arrive at the same moment, the candidate answers that the vehicle on the left goes first, or that the vehicle travelling straight always has right of way.
The 'give way to the right' habit learned at roundabouts is carried over to a stop street, and 'first to arrive goes first' is the only rule the candidate has memorised, without the tie-breaker.
What to do instead
Learn the three-step stop-street rule: first to arrive proceeds first; if arrivals are simultaneous, give way to the vehicle on your right; if you and the opposing vehicle arrive together and one of you turns right across the other's path, the right-turner gives way. Rehearse with four toy cars or a sketched diagram until the order is automatic.
Selecting 120 km/h as the limit on an undivided rural road with no speed sign, or 80 km/h in a built-up area, because 'that is the speed in town'.
Candidates memorise the freeway figure and treat it as a general maximum, and they assume urban limits are higher than they are; they ignore that a sign can only lower the default.
What to do instead
Memorise the defaults: 60 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h on rural roads outside built-up areas, 120 km/h on freeways, unless a lower sign applies. Remember the limit is a maximum, not a target, and that a posted sign always overrides the default.
Reading a blue circular sign with a white arrow as a prohibition ('no left turn') and a red-ringed circular sign as an instruction to follow.
The candidate learns individual signs as pictures instead of learning the colour-and-shape code, so any unfamiliar sign is guessed from the arrow it contains.
What to do instead
Learn the code before the symbols: red ring or red circle = prohibition or restriction; blue circle = compulsory instruction (you must do what it shows); red triangle = warning; rectangle = information or guidance. Classify an unfamiliar sign by shape and colour first, then read the symbol.
When a traffic officer is directing traffic at a robot showing green, the candidate answers that the green light gives right of way and that they may proceed against the officer's signal.
Candidates treat the robot as the highest authority on the road and have never been taught the hierarchy of road controls.
What to do instead
Memorise the hierarchy: a traffic officer's signals override traffic lights, which override signs, which override road markings. If an officer signals you to stop, you stop even on a green light; you may proceed through a red only when the officer directs you to.
Answering that you may cross a solid white line between lanes to overtake a slow tractor or truck, because 'it is going very slowly'.
The candidate confuses 'solid means be careful' with the actual rule and believes a very slow vehicle is always an acceptable exception to a barrier line.
What to do instead
Solid white line = barrier line: no crossing and no straddling, even to pass a slow vehicle. A broken white line may be crossed if it is safe and visibility is clear. A solid line is crossed only when turning into a property or when an officer directs you.
In an emergency-stop question, selecting 'use the rear brake only' or 'grab the front brake hard', because the candidate believes the front brake will throw the rider over the handlebars.
Fear of a front-wheel lock or of going over the bars leads riders to under-use the brake that provides most of the stopping force; others simply squeeze both levers as hard as they can.
What to do instead
Apply both brakes together, progressively and firmly: the front does most of the work, the rear stabilises. Keep the bike upright and the bars straight, squeeze rather than grab, and ease the front slightly if it locks. Practise emergency stops from 30-40 km/h in an empty car park until the sequence is automatic.
In a curve, the rider fixes their eyes on the edge line, the oncoming vehicle or the gravel shoulder and then drifts towards it; or brakes hard halfway round the bend.
Under stress, vision narrows and the rider stares at the perceived threat; a motorcycle follows the gaze. Braking mid-corner also stands the bike up and runs it wide.
What to do instead
Look through the corner to the exit, head and eyes level with the horizon, and let the bike follow your gaze. Set your speed before the corner, brake upright and in a straight line, then use gentle constant throttle through the bend. Practise 'slow in, look out, roll on' on a quiet loop.
Answering that mirrors are enough before a lane change, or checking the mirror only after the bike has already started moving across.
Car habits carry over; motorcycle mirrors are narrow, vibrate at speed and leave large blind areas, and the candidate has never been taught the shoulder check.
What to do instead
Use the sequence every time: mirrors, signal, shoulder check (lifesaver) over the relevant shoulder, then move. Do the check before you change direction and again before turning across a lane. Mirrors show what is behind you; only the head check shows what is beside you.
Skipping the pre-ride check, or checking only the fuel, and then riding with a slack chain, soft tyres, a worn rear tyre or a front brake lever that pulls back to the bar.
The check is treated as a formality for the yard test, and faults on a motorcycle develop gradually, so the rider normalises them until something fails at speed.
What to do instead
Run a fixed checklist before every ride, T-CLOCS: Tyres (pressure, tread, damage), Controls (levers, cables, throttle), Lights and electrics, Oil and fluids, Chassis (frame, suspension, chain tension and lubrication), Stands. It takes about a minute and catches most of the faults behind single-vehicle crashes.
Choosing a fixed following distance, such as 'one car length per 10 km/h', or keeping the same two-second gap at 120 km/h in rain or at night.
The candidate memorises a number without understanding that the gap must grow with speed, wet roads, darkness and limited visibility, and that a motorcycle needs more room to stop on a wet surface than a car.
What to do instead
Count time, not length: at least 2 seconds in dry conditions, 3-4 seconds in rain or at night, and more behind trucks or on gravel. Pick a roadside object, count 'one thousand and one, one thousand and two' after the vehicle ahead passes it; if you reach the object before you finish counting, you are too close.