The habit that sets up everything else
The cockpit drill has two real benefits. The first is practical: in your own car, the settings rarely need changing, because unless someone else has been driving it, everything’s usually still where you left it. The value shows up when you’re in an unfamiliar car, a hire car, a different pupil’s vehicle, a test car, where nothing is where you expect and the drill gives you a fixed routine to fall back on regardless.
The second benefit matters more, and it’s why the drill is worth extending by one letter. The usual version is DSSSM: Doors, Seat, Steering, Seatbelt, Mirrors. Add a second M for Me, and the drill stops being purely mechanical. DSSSMM: Doors, Seat, Steering, Seatbelt, Mirrors, Me.
That final check, Me, is a moment to ask yourself honestly: how am I feeling today? Tired, distracted, unwell, or preoccupied with something that happened an hour ago, all of these affect your driving as much as a wrongly adjusted mirror, and none of them get caught if the drill ends the moment the mirrors are set.
Doors
Close the door, then check it. Take the handle with your left hand and give it a firm pull. If it rattles, it’s only caught on the safety catch, not properly shut. Check over your shoulder that it’s safe, open it, and shut it firmly. Check again. Do the same for any passenger doors. This isn’t box-ticking, an improperly closed door is a real hazard the moment the car moves.
Seat
Position the seat so you can fully depress the pedals. Push the clutch pedal to the floor with your left foot; if the seat’s right, the base of your spine will be pressed against the backrest and your leg will have a slight bend. Listen for the click that tells you the seat is locked in position. A seat that’s not locked can slide under braking, which is exactly when you need it not to move.
Steering
With both wrists resting on top of the wheel, you should have a slight bend at the elbows and be able to move your hands freely around the wheel without your elbows catching the door. Adjust the backrest, not the reach of your arms, to get this right.
While you’re there, check the head restraint. It should be at least as high as your eyes or the top of your head. It won’t prevent whiplash if you’re hit from behind, but correctly adjusted it limits how far your neck travels, which limits the injury.
Seatbelt
Pull the belt out, insert the buckle, and run your fingers down the length of it to check for twists. It should sit flat across your lap and up over your shoulder. A twisted belt is uncomfortable at best and can cause injury under hard braking at worst. When you take it off later, feed it back gently rather than letting it spring back and crack against the door.
Mirrors
Three mirrors matter to the driver: the interior mirror and the two door mirrors. Adjust the interior mirror by the frame, not the glass, so you don’t leave fingerprints. Line the top of the mirror with the top of the rear window, and angle it slightly so you can see the right-hand side of the rear window, or the edge of your own headrest.
The door mirrors are convex, curved outward to widen the field of view. That curve means objects appear smaller and further away than they really are. Adjust each one so you can just see the edge of your own car, roughly the door handle, in the bottom corner.
Even with all three mirrors correctly set, blind spots remain either side of the car. That’s what shoulder checks are for, and no amount of mirror adjustment replaces them.
Me
The final step, and the one it’s easiest to skip because there’s nothing physical to adjust. Before you turn the key, take a moment and ask: how am I feeling today? Am I alert, or running on too little sleep? Am I taking anything, prescribed or otherwise, that could affect my reactions? Is there something on my mind that’s going to be sitting in the car with me?
None of this shows up on a DL25 mark sheet, and none of it changes the seat or the mirrors. But a driver who is tired, unwell, or distracted will make worse decisions at every one of the competencies that follow, no matter how well the seat is set. Making Me the last letter rather than an afterthought means it happens every single time, not just on the days you remember to think about it.
Mirrors, Well Before
There’s a habit worth building alongside the physical adjustment: using the mirrors well before you signal, change direction, or change speed. Not at the moment of the manoeuvre, before it, so the information they give you can actually change what you decide to do. A mirror check taken after you’ve already committed to slowing down has told you nothing useful.
Why This Matters for Teaching
When you’re coaching a pupil through this later, the temptation is to demonstrate the drill quickly and stop at Mirrors, treating Me as your own private habit rather than something to pass on. It’s worth resisting. A pupil who understands why the seat position affects clutch control, or why a twisted belt matters, will get it right without being told every time. A pupil who’s also been taught to ask themselves how they’re feeling before every drive, not just on the days something’s obviously wrong, is being taught a habit that will matter long after they’ve passed their test.
Next in the series: Moving Away, covering the P.O.M. routine and the differences between moving off on the flat, uphill, downhill, and at an angle.
Leave a Reply