Thankfully, parallell parking was never part of my test. I’ve never managed it properly in any car I’ve owned, and in my current car I’d not even attempt it just down to the visibility and sculptural qualities of the back end.

I was thinking about this this morning during my commute. They used to expect you to know parallel parking, which I've used often, and reversing round a corner, which I've never used ever, even once. I appreciate the idea that it's actually about perception and vehicle control - reversing into a parking bay is a somewhat similar process - but the fact remains in 25 years of driving, I've never once reversed round a corner. But I tell you something I do every day; filter in and out of lanes of traffic onto or from slip roads and merged lanes. There 's a method to that but I was never taught what it is. The number of people I see who apparently can't do it, or at least do it really really badly, is amazing. And while if you reverse round a corner badly you might bump your tires on the kerb, if you filter onto a motorway badly someone might get hurt.

Who decided that reversing round a corner is something we all needed to know how to do? And why?