Safe driving experience, avoid traffic jams

This year, the Lunar New Year holiday lasts until January 26 (the 5th day of the Lunar New Year). Right now, many families are preparing to pack up and return to the city, to work and to their normal routines.

A line of cars inched forward on the Phap Van - Cau Gie highway towards Hanoi after the 2022 Lunar New Year. Photo: Dinh Hieu

If mustdriveTo bring your family back to the city, you should consult someexperiencefollowing:

1. Check the vehicle condition carefully

When returning to the city after Tet holiday, it is inevitable that there will be traffic jams on the gateway roads even during off-peak hours. Traffic jams for too long can cause the car to overheat, or even die in the middle of the road, taking a long time to fix.

Therefore, it is essential to spend some time carefully checking the details on the vehicle before departure.

Just like checking your car before every long trip, you need to "check" details such as: Tires, brakes, battery, engine coolant, windshield washer fluid, car lights,... to ensure your car is in the best operating condition, minimizing unnecessary risks on the road.

You should also fill up your fuel tank before returning to the city to avoid having to stop for a long time on highways and beltways with an empty gas tank, which is very inconvenient.

2. Avoid rush hour

Many families want to enjoy the Tet holiday to the fullest, so most of them tend to start their journey in the afternoon of the last day of the holiday. This causes a large number of cars and motorbikes to enter the city at the same time, causing traffic jams at the gateways.

Normally, the time from 3pm to 9pm will be the "hottest" time on the gateway routes after each long holiday. Therefore, if there is nothing too urgent, you should change the departure time to make the trip "easier". You can depart in the morning or leave it until late at night to avoid traffic jams.

3. Choose the appropriate route

Choosing the right route is also very important when returning to the city after Tet holiday. There will be many different routes to get into the city that you can take, not necessarily the main road and the nearest route.

When preparing to reach the turning points, we can refer to information on the radio or use the Google Map application to update and check the traffic jam situation to choose the most reasonable and clear route.

Drivers should avoid going to the city during rush hour and choose a suitable route. Photo: Vu Diep

4. Keep a safe distance, do not brake suddenly

In case you are unfortunately caught in a traffic jam, do not be impatient because impatience will not make you go faster. In particular, pay attention to keeping a safe distance because the car in front can brake suddenly at any time and if you are not careful, you can easily crash into it. In that case, the fault is entirely yours.

When driving in traffic jams, you should also minimize sudden braking, which will cause the car behind to crash into you, taking a lot of time to resolve and making the traffic jam worse. Continuous sudden braking also makes the people in the car uncomfortable after a tiring journey, they may even vomit in the car,...

5. Don't go "fill in the blank"

When the road is crowded, a bad habit that many drivers have is “filling the gap”. Whenever they see an empty lane next to them, they change lanes and cut in front of the car behind them to “get” up.

In fact, it is not uncommon for cars to drive into the emergency lane or into the motorbike lane. If you change lanes or cut in front of other cars out of haste, it is very easy to cause a collision, making the traffic jam even more terrible.

Comply with the Road Traffic Law and always keep yourself in the most comfortable state of mind behind the wheel. Photo: Hoang Hiep

The advice from experienced drivers is to stay calm, try to stay in the correct lane and only change lanes when absolutely necessary, to avoid causing frustration to surrounding traffic participants. At the same time, absolutely comply with the regulation and traffic flow of the authorities.

And finally, always keep yourself in the most comfortable state of mind behind the wheel. Being impatient, frustrated or losing focus will not help you avoid traffic jams, but can harm yourself and those around you.