“When moving off downhill, gravity provides the power to get the car moving. This makes the manoeuvre even easier than on a level road. But you have to make sure that you don’t roll the car too quickly, especially on a steep hill.
To keep full control, press the foot brake before you release the handbrake. This will stop the car from rolling away out of control. When you release the footbrake, the car will start to roll, you can then bring up the ckutch and press the gas pedal if necessary.
Remember that, although you might initially be concentrating on your feet, you still need to think about your safety checks and so the observation part of the prepare, observe, move routine remains unchanged.
If the hill is quite steep, it might be better to move off in second gear, this is because the car will roll up to second gear speed quickly and won’t need the power of first get started.
The downhill start method is clutch down, select the appropiate gear, press the foot brake and keep it pressed to hold the car. Release the handbrake, make your observation checks, signal if required, then release the footbrake, bringing the clutch up smoothly.
Take care when releasing the footbrake on a slightly gradient. You might need to release the foot brake all the way, but on a steeper hill, it might be neccesary to keep some pressure on the foot brake while bringing up the clutch.
The key points are:
– Gravity provides thr power needed to move off.
– Press the foot. brake before releasing the handbrake.
– Second gear might be best on steeper hills.
– Remember your all round observation before you move off.
– Bring the clutch up as the car starts to move.
– You might have to keep your foot on the brake as you move off.”
