--- title: "Your car has automatic transmission. When sho… | Theory Test" description: "Your car has automatic transmission. When should you use 'kick down'? The correct answer is “To accelerate quickly”. Read the instructor's explanation of the" lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/#organization", "name": "Fast Track Driving Lessons", "url": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/", "email": "info@fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk", "areaServed": "GB", "description": "Intensive driving courses and driving lessons across the UK with DVSA-approved instructors." }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/#website", "url": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/", "name": "Fast Track Driving Lessons", "publisher": { "@id": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://fasttrackdrivinglessons.co.uk/search?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "QAPage", "mainEntity": { "@type": "Question", "name": "Your car has automatic transmission. When should you use 'kick down'?", "text": "Your car has automatic transmission. When should you use 'kick down'?", "answerCount": 1, "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "To accelerate quickly. In a car with automatic transmission, kick down selects a lower gear when you press the accelerator pedal fully down. This provides rapid acceleration, which is useful when you need to overtake safely or join a fast-moving motorway. Because kick down revs the engine higher, it increases fuel consumption rather than improving fuel economy, and it is not used for braking or controlling cruise control." }, "suggestedAnswer": [ { "@type": "Answer", "text": "To brake slowly" }, { "@type": "Answer", "text": "To improve fuel economy" }, { "@type": "Answer", "text": "To engage cruise control" } ] } } ] --- Get an exclusive 15% off - Offer ends next week! 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DVSA-style practice question · Hazard Awareness ## The answer options - To brake slowly - To accelerate quickly**Correct** - To improve fuel economy - To engage cruise control ## Why that is the answer In a car with automatic transmission, kick down selects a lower gear when you press the accelerator pedal fully down. This provides rapid acceleration, which is useful when you need to overtake safely or join a fast-moving motorway. Because kick down revs the engine higher, it increases fuel consumption rather than improving fuel economy, and it is not used for braking or controlling cruise control. ## How this comes up in the real test Questions from hazard awareness 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. [Practise Hazard Awareness](/theory/quiz/hazard-awareness)[Sit a full mock test](/theory/mock-test) ## More hazard awareness questions - [A friend has given you some cough medicine. You take some and wish to drive your car, what should you do first?](/theory/questions/a-friend-has-given-you-some-cough-medicine-you-take-some-and-wish-to-drive-your-car-what-s) - [A motorcyclist has just overtaken you. What should you do if the motorcyclist sharply cuts in front of you?](/theory/questions/a-motorcyclist-has-just-overtaken-you-what-should-you-do-if-the-motorcyclist-sharply-cuts) - [A police officer is making this signal to oncoming traffic. 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