7 safe reversing skills for new drivers

(Baongghean.vn) -Reversing is one of the difficult skills because it is difficult for the driver to observe accurately behind as well as control the clutch, plus the sitting position is not comfortable.

The hardest part of reversing a car is getting the car to back up while still moving in the right direction, and where it needs to be parked, avoiding hitting other cars parked behind.

To reverse a car "properly" and effectively, you should master the following 7 ways:

1- Stop the car, turn on the hazard lights and put it in reverse

This is the first step to follow, each car has a different way of reversing from manual to automatic. Regardless of the transmission, always remember to press the brake during the first step.

2 - Adjust the mirror

Adjusting the rearview mirror helps the driver have a more reasonable rear view in each specific reversing situation. Experienced drivers may not need to adjust the mirror, but for new drivers, this is very necessary.

Many people have the habit of folding down the passenger side mirror to see the last wheel track. People familiar with the car can accurately estimate the size of the car, so they do not have to adjust the mirror too much.

3 - Turn your head to observe

Turning around, the driver will have a more favorable and realistic viewing angle than looking through the mirror, but is that really necessary?

In fact, looking through the rearview mirror and seeing the rear window is often the way for the driver to estimate whether the car is close to the wall or not. Observing this way is only suitable when the driver has a good estimate of the size of the car.

The outside rearview mirror (especially the passenger side) is a convex mirror that often comes with a warning line "the distance in the mirror between objects is farther than the actual distance outside, meaning the car behind has an actual distance closer than the distance it displays on the mirror, so that the driver is not subjective.

The inside rearview mirror is usually a flat mirror so it reflects the correct distance. Therefore, which mirror to use is a habit of each person when they have experience.

Just looking in the mirror or turning your head completely around has the same effect if the driver has already estimated the actual distance, but just sitting and glancing in the mirror is certainly less strenuous for the driver.

4 - Drive slowly

Reverse is always the strongest gear in the gearbox, meaning that with the same level of clutch release, accelerator (or brake release in automatic cars), reverse always runs faster than first gear. Moreover, visibility is limited, so driving slowly is the safest way when unexpected situations occur.

5 - Reverse direction

New drivers often lose direction when turning the steering wheel to reverse. Remember that when reversing, the steering wheel is turned to the side the car will reverse. And it is necessary to control the front of the car when reversing, because the nose of the car is always facing outside the turning radius, so it is easy to collide.

6 - Use low beam

Using low beams to estimate distance is also a very good way. When reversing into positions near walls, bushes, gates or in garages... you should turn on the low beams, because the light reflected from the lights on objects will help us estimate the safe distance. The smaller and brighter the light, the closer the car is to the obstacle.

7 - Go forward with the back, go backward with the belly

This is a slogan that the training school often teaches students when they start learning to drive, they must move forward and backward on an S-shaped road or a zigzag road. That is, when moving forward, they must stick to the wider side of the curve, for example, when turning left, they must stick to the right, when turning right, they must stick to the left. Conversely, when moving back, they must stick to the right and when moving left, they must stick to the left.

Figuratively, the curve can be seen as a girl lying on her side, her back is the wide outer edge, her belly is the narrow inner edge. When moving forward, you need to follow the girl's back, meaning you need to align the car along the outer edge to create space on the belly, avoiding the side of the car being scratched. Conversely, when reversing, you need to follow the belly, to create space on the back to avoid being scratched.

On a narrow curve with divided lanes, the back and belly are only counted for the lane the vehicle is traveling in. Do not count for the entire road because that can easily lead to a head-on collision with oncoming vehicles.

Ngoc Anh

(Synthetic)