The answer options
- Select The Reverse Gear
- By Selecting The Neutral Gear
- Change to a Higher gear
- Change to a Lower GearCorrect
Why that is the answer
Changing to a lower gear allows you to use engine braking. When you drop down a gear and ease off the accelerator, the engine creates resistance that slows the vehicle's wheels. This helps control your speed, particularly on steep downhill gradients, preventing the footbrake from overheating. Selecting neutral or a higher gear removes engine resistance, causing the car to coast and potentially speed up, making it harder to stop safely.
How this comes up in the real test
Questions from safety margins appear throughout the 50-question multiple-choice section, and the wording changes between versions. Learn the rule rather than the sentence: the DVSA can ask the same point from the opposite direction, and a memorised answer falls over the moment the phrasing moves.
The pass mark is 43 out of 50, so seven wrong answers is your entire margin. If a whole category is shaky, run the topic practice below until you are getting every question right for the right reason, then go back to full mocks under the clock.
More safety margins questions
- What circumstances will cause an increase in your total stopping distance?
- As you approach a right-hand bend, you should keep well to the left. Why is this?
- How can you avoid wheelspin when you’re driving on an icy road?
- How can you tell if your vehicle's tyres are losing their grip on a wet road surface?
- How should you make sure your brakes are working properly after passing through floodwater?
- In very hot weather the road surface can become soft. What will be affected by this?