The three pedals
The Department of Transport's learner-driver manual numbers eleven controls in a light motor vehicle. Three of them are the foot pedals, and they are numbers 8, 9 and 10.
| Pedal | What the manual calls it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left | Clutch (8) | Disengages the engine from the gearbox. Used to engage or disengage a gear, and to stop the vehicle stalling just before it comes to a standstill |
| Middle | Brake (9) | Brings the speed down or stops the vehicle completely. This is the service brake — the one the law requires every motor vehicle to have |
| Right | Accelerator (10) | Regulates the fuel supply to the engine, and so increases or decreases the speed of the vehicle |
An automatic has only two. The manual is explicit about it: control 8 does not exist on an automatic vehicle, which is why "which control is not found in an automatic vehicle?" is one of its own sample questions.
What the clutch actually does
The clutch is the pedal learners can use and still not explain, and it is the one the test asks about most directly.
It sits between the engine and the gearbox. Press it down and the two are disconnected: the engine keeps running, but nothing is driving the wheels. That single fact answers almost every clutch question you will be asked.
It is why you need the clutch to change gear — the gearbox cannot accept a new gear while the engine is still driving it. It is why the car does not stall when you brake to a stop with the clutch down — the engine has been let go of the wheels rather than dragged to a halt with them. And it is why an automatic does not have one: the gearbox does that job itself.
Two of the manual's own sample answers are worth memorising as a pair. "The control that assists the driver when engaging or disengaging a gear" is the clutch. "The control used to avoid the vehicle stalling just before coming to a complete standstill" is also the clutch.
The brake pedal is one of three brakes
In everyday speech a car has "the brakes" and "the handbrake". The law counts differently, and the counting is examinable.
Regulation 149 requires a motor vehicle — other than a motorcycle, motor tricycle or trailer — to be equipped with a service brake, a parking brake and an emergency brake. It then allows the emergency brake and the parking brake to be one and the same. So the pedal is the service brake, the lever or foot control beside the seat is the parking brake, and in most cars that parking brake is doing the emergency brake's job too.
Whichever brake it is, regulation 156(1)(a) requires it to be in good working order and condition whenever the vehicle is operated on a public road. That is not a service interval or a recommendation — it is a condition of being on the road at all.
The accelerator controls fuel, not speed
The manual's phrasing is worth keeping, because it is the phrasing the question uses: the accelerator is the control you use "to regulate the fuel supply to the engine".
Speed is the consequence, not the mechanism. A question that asks which control increases or decreases the speed of the vehicle and a question that asks which control regulates the fuel supply have the same answer, and a learner who has only learned one wording can be thrown by the other.
The order of operations
These are the manual's own sample questions and its own answers, for a light motor vehicle. Notice how often the first control named is not a pedal at all.
| What you are doing | The controls the manual names |
|---|---|
| Before changing the speed of the vehicle | The centre rear-view mirror (1) |
| Before applying the brake in order to slow down or stop | The centre rear-view mirror (1) |
| Before changing direction | The indicator light switch (5) |
| Changing from one gear to another | The clutch (8) and the gear lever (6) |
| Bringing the vehicle to a complete standstill | The brake (9) |
| Stopping in an emergency | The brake (9) |
| Keeping the vehicle stationary after parking | The hand brake (7) |
| Taking a sharp turn in the road | Mirror (1), steering wheel (4), gear lever (6), clutch (8), brake (9) and accelerator (10) |
Some vehicles have the parking brake as a foot-operated control rather than a lever. The manual says so itself, so a question about the hand brake is about the function, not the shape.
The mirror comes before the pedal
This is the shape of the section that surprises people. Ask the manual which control you use before you brake and it does not answer "the brake". It answers "the centre rear-view mirror".
The reason is in the manual's own note against that control: the driver must always first check the mirrors to be aware of the traffic situation behind, which lets the driver avoid an unsafe situation. Braking is a thing you do to the traffic behind you as much as to your own car.
So when a controls question asks what comes first, the honest answer is usually an observation, not an input. Slowing down starts with the mirror. Changing direction starts with the indicator.
Braking distance
- Longer on a wet road
- Than on a dry road
- Longer at a higher speed
- Than at a lower one
- Longer when loaded
- Than when empty
- The exam shape
- "Select the correct combination" — and the answer is all of themThe manual asks this same question three times, once for each vehicle class
A motorcycle applicant has no pedals in this sense
The controls section is the only part of the learner's test tied to your licence class. Regulation 104(2)(a)(iii) requires the examiner to satisfy themselves that you know the controls of a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates — so studying a car's pedals for a motorcycle test is studying the wrong vehicle.
On the motorcycle in the same manual the equivalents are spread across both hands and both feet: the clutch is a hand lever, the throttle is a twist grip, the front brake is a hand lever and the rear brake is worked by the foot. The gear lever is a foot control too.
That changes the answers as well as the hardware. Ask the car manual how to stop and it says the brake. Ask the motorcycle section and it says the front and rear brakes together — two independent systems, which is what regulation 150 requires of every motorcycle. Its answer for what to use immediately before coming to a standstill is the clutch and both brakes.
The mistake
Learning the pedals as three things you press and nothing else. The questions are about what each control is FOR, and the clutch's purpose — disconnecting the engine from the gearbox — is the one most learners cannot put into words under pressure.
The second one is preparing on the wrong vehicle. A motorcycle applicant who revises a car cockpit has revised a syllabus they will not be examined on, and a practice set that pools all three classes together is mostly not their syllabus either.
Practise the controls for your own class
Our vehicle-controls practice is scoped to the licence class you are studying for, so a motorcycle learner is asked about a twist grip rather than a clutch pedal. It is free, and every answer comes with an explanation.
Practise vehicle controls freeCommon questions
What does the clutch do?
It disengages the engine from the gearbox. That is what lets you change gear, and what stops the engine stalling when you brake to a standstill. The Department of Transport's learner-driver manual describes it as the control that assists the driver when engaging or disengaging a gear.
What order are the pedals in?
In a manual vehicle, clutch on the left, brake in the middle, accelerator on the right. An automatic has no clutch, so it has two pedals in the same brake-then-accelerator order.
Which control is not found in an automatic vehicle?
The clutch. The manual lists it as control 8 for a manual gearbox and states plainly that automatic vehicles do not have a clutch control.
Which control do you use to avoid stalling just before stopping?
The clutch. Pressing it disconnects the engine from the gearbox, so the engine is not dragged to a halt with the wheels.
Which control is used before applying the brake?
The centre rear-view mirror. The manual's answer to that question is the mirror, not the brake — you check the traffic behind you before you slow down.
How many brakes does a car have to have?
Three, in law: a service brake, a parking brake and an emergency brake. Regulation 149 allows the parking brake and the emergency brake to be one and the same, which is how most cars are built.
Are the pedals examined for a motorcycle learner's licence?
No. The controls section is tied to the class you applied for, and a motorcycle has a twist grip, two brake controls and a hand clutch lever instead. The rules of the road and the road signs sections are the same for every class.
Sources
- South African Learner Driver Manual, Department of Transport (v1.00, June 2012), section 3 — Vehicle Components and ControlsParagraph 2.2 and 2.5 identify the eleven controls of a light motor vehicle: 8 clutch, 9 brake, 10 accelerator, 7 hand brake, and the note that automatic vehicles do not have a clutch control. Paragraph 2.6 gives the sample questions and answers this page quotes, including the mirror as the control used before braking or changing speed. Paragraph 1.2 identifies the nine motorcycle controls: 2 clutch, 4 front brake, 5 throttle, 7 rear brake (operated by foot), 1 gear lever. The left-to-right pedal order is taken from the manual's cockpit diagrams (paragraphs 2.1 and 2.9), which label the clutch furthest left and the accelerator furthest right; the manual does not state it in words.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 149, as substituted by GNR.846 of 31 October 2014"No person shall operate on a public road a motor vehicle, other than a motor cycle, motor tricycle or trailer which is not equipped with a service brake, a parking brake and an emergency brake: Provided that (a) the emergency brake and parking brake may be one and the same brake." The 2014 amendment is later than the consolidated 2012 text, so it is the version cited here.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 150A motor cycle or motor tricycle must be equipped with two independent braking systems, one acting on the front wheel or wheels and the other on the rear.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 156(1)(a)A brake required by the regulations must be in good working order and condition whenever the vehicle is operated on a public road.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 104(2)(a)(iii)The examiner must satisfy himself or herself that the applicant knows and understands "the controls of a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates" — the provision that makes this section class-specific.
Last updated 2026-09-21.