What is coasting

A good driving instructor will be able to assist. Keep applying pressure until you reach an appropriate speed for the turn. Most left turns are made around 5 mph to 10mph in 2nd gear. Around 10 meters from the turn, depress the clutch and select 2nd gear, then gently take your foot off the clutch but remain covering it as you may need to depress it due to not knowing what is round the turn.

Keep the brake and clutch covered whilst taking the turn. When coming to a stop in your car, to prevent coasting, as above, cover the brake and clutch. Keep gently applying pressure to the brake. Good braking techniques such as progressive braking makes for safer driving, and reduces wear on braking systems and tyres.

You do not need to change down through all the gears as this is an old technique that is no longer used in modern driving tests. As you reach around 4 to 5 meters from where you intend on stopping, depress the clutch and select 1st gear. Keep pressure applied to the brake.

If you remain stationary for around 5 seconds or more, apply the handbrake. You can remove your foot from the foot brake now if you wish.

Coasting is not directly illegal or against the law. Circumstances of a situation however could lead to prosecution due to coasting. If you are involved in a car accident and you were coasting at the time by having the gears in neutral, if it was found that the coasting participated somewhat to the accident, it could be deemed that the driver had a lack of control of the vehicle due to coasting. More braking is required and this will wear the brake pads and brake discs of your vehicle at a much higher rate.

Coasting is basically the same as a stationary car with an idle engine. An idle engine uses a small amount of petrol to keep the engine active.

When slowing down in a modern car by keeping the clutch up and in gear cuts the fuel injectors and uses no petrol at all. Thank you so much. This has helped a lot. As an HSE officer, new at my company, i have taken charge of monitoring our milk truck — scania type. Many people believe that driving down a hill in neutral is beneficial because it saves fuel.

Although technically you are not using any fuel, you are instead, putting yourself in immense danger. Coasting can easily happen when turning corners or emerging from junctions as to do so; you are forced to change down to a lower gear quickly. Often, drivers do not give themselves enough time to both change gears and completely release the clutch before making a turn.

This means it forces their car to turn the corner with the clutch down, therefore coasting. Immediately after changing gears, it is crucial to release your clutch slowly before changing over to a slight acceleration to turn. Another typical situation where coasting may occur is when coming to a stop or while parking. It is common for drivers to put their clutch down too far in advance before becoming stationary.

They may put their clutch down when approaching the parking space and then start to brake, only involve the clutch when you want to come to a solid stop. If your vehicle is either in neutral or the clutch is down, it dramatically decreases the amount of control you have over your car.

Although you can still steer, you cannot accelerate or brake as quickly in emergencies putting you in immense danger.

This means that the vehicle is not moving through use of the engine and is not in your control. As mentioned previously, coasting often occurs while turning a corner or emerging from a junction.

If there is traffic approaching on the opposite side of the road and you turn too wide, you could find yourself coasting onto the side of the road with ongoing traffic at speed. Rather than damage your car, coasting start to wear out internal parts quicker than they should. Coasting forces your car to drive with the engine disengaged, so rather than using the engine along with the help of the brake to slow down and stop, full reliance is on the brakes only.

Eventually, your brakes will start to wear out and will need to be replaced immediately. You are likely to find yourself having to regularly replace both the brake pads and brake discs more than you need to. Coasting can also happen unintentionally, such as when turning corners or or coming to a stop.

Sometimes drivers do not leave themselves enough time to change gears and completely release the clutch before turning. This forces the car to turn while the clutch is down, which is coasting. Coasting is potentially dangerous as it means you will have less control over the car.

Keeping the clutch down when making a turn, for example, is called 'free-wheeling' which means the engine is disengaged. When the engine is engaged you benefit from engine braking which increases the control you have over the car. Coasting also means you would be unable to accelerate quickly in a potentially dangerous situation.

The first step in avoiding coasting is identifying that you're doing it. Your DRIVE driving instructor will be keeping an eye on this and will tell you if you're coasting.