Nepal DOTM Category B Car common mistakes
Nepal DOTM Category B Car · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating a flashing red traffic light as a 'proceed with caution' signal and driving through without stopping.
Candidates confuse it with a flashing yellow or a green signal, because in Nepal flashing red is often seen at night or at malfunctioning intersections, and they assume it means 'go slowly'.
What to do instead
Memorise the rule: flashing red = full stop, yield to all traffic and pedestrians, proceed only when safe. Flashing yellow = slow down and proceed with caution. Practise identifying both in the official signs and signals list.
At an uncontrolled T-junction, assuming the vehicle on the wider road always has right-of-way and pulling out without checking.
Many candidates learn 'main road priority' from everyday driving but forget that at an uncontrolled T-junction the vehicle on the terminating road must give way to traffic on the through road-yet they fail to check for vehicles turning into the terminating road.
What to do instead
Apply the general rule: at an uncontrolled T-junction, traffic on the road that ends must give way to traffic on the continuous road. Before emerging, stop, look both ways, and confirm no vehicle is turning into your road. Study diagrams of T-junctions in the highway code.
Following the vehicle ahead too closely on a hill road, especially when it is a truck or bus, and being unable to stop when it brakes suddenly.
Candidates underestimate stopping distances on gradients and forget that heavy vehicles brake earlier and more slowly; they also rely on the two-second rule without adjusting for downhill slopes or gravel.
What to do instead
Use the four-second rule on hill roads and double it in rain or gravel. Keep a larger gap behind heavy vehicles so you can see past them. Learn the formula: thinking distance + braking distance, and increase following distance by at least 50% downhill.
Skipping the pre-trip check of tyres, brakes, and lights because the vehicle 'drove fine yesterday'.
Candidates treat pre-trip checks as a formality for the test and do not internalise that daily checks catch slow leaks, worn brake pads, and burnt-out bulbs that cause breakdowns or accidents.
What to do instead
Create a checklist: tyres (pressure, tread depth, cuts), brakes (pedal feel, fluid level), lights (head, tail, brake, indicators), fluids (oil, coolant, washer), and mirrors. Perform it before every drive and verbalise each step during the test.
Driving with fog lights or high beams on in clear daytime conditions or in rain, causing glare to other drivers.
Candidates think more light is always safer and do not know that fog lights are only for visibility below 100 m and that high beams in rain reflect off water droplets.
What to do instead
Learn when to use each light: low beams in rain, fog, and at night; high beams only on unlit roads with no oncoming traffic; fog lights only when visibility is seriously reduced. Turn off fog lights when visibility improves.
At the scene of an accident, moving an injured motorcyclist who is lying on the road before checking for spinal injuries.
Candidates panic and want to 'help' by dragging the victim to the side, not knowing that improper movement can cause permanent paralysis.
What to do instead
Follow the DRABC sequence: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Only move a casualty if there is immediate danger (fire, traffic). If you must move them, support the head and neck in line with the spine. Call 100 (police) or 102 (ambulance) and keep the victim still and warm.
Believing a learner's licence permits driving alone on any road at any time, and not carrying the licence and vehicle documents.
Candidates confuse the learner's permit rules with a full licence and do not know that a learner must be accompanied by a licensed driver with at least two years' experience and display L plates.
What to do instead
Memorise: a learner's licence is valid for six months, requires a supervisor aged 18+ with a valid licence of at least two years, and the vehicle must display a red L plate. Always carry your licence, bluebook, insurance, and tax receipt.
On a steep downhill, coasting in neutral or holding the clutch down to save fuel, then relying only on the footbrake.
Candidates think coasting is economical and do not realise that engine braking is lost, causing brake fade and loss of control on long descents.
What to do instead
Select a lower gear before descending and let engine braking control speed. Use the footbrake in short, firm applications, not continuously. Never coast in neutral. Learn the rule: 'same gear down as up'.
Misreading a road marking such as a solid white centre line as a 'no overtaking' zone only for the opposite direction, and crossing it to overtake.
Candidates mix up the meaning of solid and broken lines and do not know that a solid line applies to both directions unless accompanied by a broken line on your side.
What to do instead
Learn: solid white line = do not cross or straddle; broken white line = may cross if safe; double solid = no crossing either way; solid plus broken = only the side with the broken line may cross. Practise with the official road marking chart.
When an emergency vehicle approaches with siren and flashing lights, speeding up to stay ahead or stopping in the middle of the road.
Candidates do not know the legal obligation to give way and panic, either freezing or trying to outrun the ambulance.
What to do instead
Pull over to the left as far as safely possible, stop, and wait until the emergency vehicle passes. Do not stop in an intersection or block a junction. If you are in an intersection, clear it first, then pull over. Remember: give way, don't race.