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Show me Tell me Questions from The Smart Way Driving SchoolThe Show Me / Tell Me Questions
The official name for the "Show me/Tell me" questions is "The Vehicle Safety Check" questions.
This part of the test was introduced in September 2002, and the idea is to encourage
drivers to learn a little bit
about checking that their cars are safe before they head off on the road.
For a standard car test:
You will be asked 2 questions from a total of 19.
It is very important to remember that you
will score 1 minor fault for getting one OR both of them wrong.
You CANNOT be failed for not answering these question, for forgetting the answers or for getting them wrong.
For a B+E (car and trailer) test:
You will be asked 5 questions. You will score 1 minor fault for EACH of the questions
you get wrong and
if you get them ALL wrong you will score a SERIOUS fault and the test will be a fail.
The following videos are from the Driving Standards
Agency. They show an examiner with 3 students demonstrating the "Show me/Tell me" questions.
Video 2 - Outside the car
Video 3 - Inside the car
Note that in your test the examiner will not want you to
explain why any of the answers are correct, nor will be be worried about any technical names or jargon.
He will happily accept you pointing to a particular switch and calling it "That Thing", or refering to bits on the car as
"the wotsit"
so long as you are pointing to the correct item. IT IS NOT A TEST OF YOUR ABILITY AS A MECHANIC!
The DSA videos are very good and a quick way to learn the basics of the show me tell me questions, however for your convenience
we have listed out the questions with pictures specific to the vehicles used by The Smart Way
below.
Some of the questions require you to be able to open the bonnet. For instructions on to do this, select your car from the group below.
Ford Fiesta Smart ForFour (automatic) Fiat Punto Vauxhall Corsa Land Rover Freelander
The questions are:
This question is a "Tell Me". You will not be
asked to demonstrate it, however you will be required to open the bonnet as above and point out the dipstick.
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
This question is a "Tell Me", however you will be required to
open the bonnet as above and point out the coolant tank.
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
This question is a "Tell Me", however you will be required to open the bonnet as above and point out the screen wash tank, as per the
picture below:
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
Explain that you look at the tank, you can see the screen wash level and you ensure that the tank is reasonably
full (there are no high or low level markers).
This question is a "tell me", however you will be
required to Open the bonnet as above and point out the brake fluid tank
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
and then explain that you look at the tank as in this picture
and you can see the brake fluid level. You ensure that it is between the high and low level marks.
To test the headlights you would firstly put the key in the
ignition and turn so that the dashboard lights all come on but not starting
the engine. Locate the light switch for your car as in the photographs
below:
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
Click the image to enlarge. Turn this switch to the lights ON position as shown below. Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
Click the image to enlarge.
Then, quite simply you get out of the car and walk around the vehicle checking that the lights are on. Note that in the B+E (Trailer) test you must
check the towing vehicle as well as the trailer lights. Locate the hazard warning light switch
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
Click the image to enlarge
Turn the hazard lights on by pressing this switch in, then walk around the vehicle checking all the indicators are
flashing, including any side or door mirror repeater lights. Note that in the B+E (Trailer) test you must
check the towing vehicle as well as the trailer lights. Note - This question is a show me.
The examiner will be check the indicators with you. If
any of the indicators are not working on any
vehicle it is a moving traffic offence and the examiner CANNOT take the car
out on test knowing they are not working. This is not the examiner
being awkward, its the law. For the brake lights to come on you must press the brake
pedal. The problem is that you cannot see the back on the car from
where you need to be to do this. Therefore there are a number of
options, ANY of which are perfectly acceptable answers. You press the pedal while a friend stands at the back of the
car and tells you if the lights are coming on. You reverse up to a reflective surface such as a garage door
or a window, press the brake pedal and look for the reflections.
Use something moderately heavy (such as a bag) to press on
the brake pedal for you and look at the lights. It should not take a lot of
pressure on the brake pedal to active the brake lights. Note - This question is a show me.
The examiner will be your "friend" and will check the lights for
you. If the brake lights are not working on any
vehicle it is a moving traffic offence and the examiner CANNOT take the car
out on test knowing they are not working. This is not the examiner
being awkward, its the law. Second Note - On a B+E Test (car and trailer) you would be
required to check both the car AND trailer brake lights are working!
This check WILL be performed as a part of the trailer hitching excercise in
the B+E test. Locate the fog light switch(es) for your car (it is possible
that your car is only fitted with a rear fog light, in which case you will
have only 1 switch).
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto
Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
Click the image to enlarge Note - Some cars have 2 switches because they have front and
back fog lights. Front and rear fog lights MUST be seperately
switchable. The law requires your car to have 1 working fog light at
the rear, you do NOT have to have fog lights at the front.
Explain that the fog lights will only work when the side
lights or dipped beam lights are already on, therefore you would switch the
side lights/dipped beam lights on first, then switch the fog lights on using these
switches.
You should ONLY put your fog lights on when the visibilty is
less than 100 metres.
The main beam lights are activated when:-
The lights are already at dipped beam You pull the indicator up towards the steering wheel and
feel a "click". To switch them off pull the indicator to
the steering wheel again. When they are on a blue indicator light will show up on the
dashboard, (sometimes shaped like this below).
This is the ONLY blue light on any car dashboard and ALWAYS
means the high beam lights are on.
If you try to put the high beams on without having the
dipped beams on first you will simply cause the headlights to flash.
Explain that you would press the brake pedal and check that the pedal feels reasonably firm,
not soft or spongy. (This would indicate a leak or air in the brake system).
Then, you would drive the car on a quiet road, at a low speed and press the pedal,
making sure that the car stopped and did not pull to one side or the other.
Pull the handbrake up:-
The tyre pressures for any vehicle are listed in the owners
handbook which is generally kept with the vehicle. In addition the
information is often kept on stickers in various places on the vehicle such
as: Inside the passenger door frame on the Ford Fiesta
Inside the fuel filler cap on the Smart ForFour
Fiat Punto Vauxhall Corsa Land Rover Freelander
Only
available in the handbook for this vehicle Click the image to enlarge You are not expected to know what these tyre pressures should be, simply to know WHERE to find out the information.
You then explain to the examiner that once you know what the pressure should be you would go to a garage with an air line and inflate or
deflate the tyres accordingly to the correct pressure.
A Good Tyre. Tread even
the whole way around and across the full width
This tyre has bad wear to the tread on one side.
This is illegal
This tyre has split in the sidewall, which will almost certainly blow out. This tyre has good sidewalls with no damage
This tyre has a nail in the tread. This
could blow out suddenly. This is illegal
Click the image to enlarge When the head restraint is in the correct position the top of the restraint is roughly level with
the top of the head of the person in the seat.
There should be no, or minimal gap between the back of the head and the restraint.
The
restraint is adjusted by pressing in a clip at its base and sliding it up or
down as needed, typically as in the picture below (actual details may differ
slightly).
It is important to have the head restraints in the correct
position so as to minimise injury to the neck in the event of accident, in
particular being hit from behind (aka a "rear end shunt").
The power steering only operates with the engine running.
To test it:-
The ventilator controls for your car will look like this:
Ford Fiesta
Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto Vauxhall Corsa
Land Rover Freelander
For the front windows the demister operates by blowing air over the inside of the windows, therefore: Rotary controls "Digital" controls
Setting the air conditioning "on" (if fitted) will generally clear the windows quickly and effectively,
especially on very wet days, but this does use a lot more fuel. Your instructor will show you how to do this.
Ford Fiesta Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto Vauxhall Corsa Land Rover Freelander
A yellow warning light will glow when this is on.
Do not leave this on once the window is cleared as it is not good for the window.
The windscreens should always be kept as clean as possible.
When driving sometimes mud or dirt can be thrown onto the windows by passing cars etc.
To clean this, pull the windscreen wiper switch (right side stalk switch, like the indicators but on the other side)
towards the steering wheel.
The “squooshers” will spray water onto the window and the wipers will automatically make 3 sweeps to clean it off.
This should not be used as a replacement for cleaning the windows properly
when the chance permits.
Locate the horn switch for your vehicle (normally but not exclusively the central steering boss).
Ford Fiesta Smart ForFour (automatic)
Fiat Punto Vauxhall Corsa Land Rover Freelander
The load should (as far as possible) be distributed evenly throughout the trailer. Heavy items should be loaded as low
as possible so they don't tip over and also so that they are mainly over the
axel(s). Bulkier, lighter items should be
distributed to give a suitable ‘nose weight’ at the towing coupling. The nose weight should never
exceed the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications.
Walk around the vehicle and physically check that all
windows, roof lights and all doors (especially cargo doors) are properly closed, secured and cannot come undone during your trip.
Any load must be carried so that it does not endanger other road users.
It must be securely stowed within the size and weight limits for the vehicle.
The load needs to be secure so that it cannot move or fall from the vehicle when cornering or braking.
An amusing photograph perhaps, but not acceptable on the roads in the UK.
This page was last updated 27 September 2012
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If the ABS is not functioning correctly a warning light will come on on the dashboard.
It will generally be a yellow colour as it is a warning light, but the car CAN be driven with faulty ABS.
However we at The Smart Way highly recommend it
is fixed as soon as possible.
