Experience driving downhill safely

Going downhill not only requires driving skills and flexibility but also requires understanding of geography.

Driving on a slope requires a lot of techniques, which sometimes we do not pay attention to, or do wrongly, causing the risk of damaging the vehicle or endangering our own lives.

Here are some mistakes when driving downhill and how to fix them as well as how to drive safely when encountering steep roads.

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Basic error

- When going downhill, the car goes fast and runs by inertia. The heavier the car, the higher the weight, the faster the speed, the greater the inertia of the car. If running in a higher gear, the inertia of the car when going downhill is greater.

- When going downhill faster than desired, we will intuitively brake. The more we brake, the hotter the brake pads get, leading to burning of the pads and loss of braking effect.

- Old, worn, poor quality brake pads, or defective pads, can peel off when braking suddenly, causing danger.

For the above reasons, when going downhill, the driver should minimize the use of brakes or only use them in an emergency. If not braking, we will lose control, so we should use the gearbox to brake the engine.

How to go downhill safely

- To safely go downhill, the driver needs to know the actual slope of the slope, geographical conditions, weather, terrain, traffic volume to choose the appropriate gear.

- The safe speed of the vehicle when going downhill is the speed that the driver can control when going downhill without having to use the brakes much, at that time we will go downhill mainly by using the throttle.

- Going downhill by throttle is when going downhill, we will use the throttle and let the car run by inertia.

​- On automatic transmission vehicles, in addition to D, there are also positions numbered 3-2-1 or L, S, M used to brake the engine when driving downhill.

- Whether it is a manual or automatic transmission, you still have to use engine braking when going downhill.

- When going downhill and the car drifts faster than expected, you must immediately step on the brake and shift the gear lever to a lower gear. Or choose a gear that is too low, when going downhill it will be rough, the engine speed will increase, driving like that is very harmful to the car and the driver will have difficulty controlling, at that time you should choose a higher gear. If you choose a gear that is too high, the car will run with too much inertia, then it will brake a lot, causing the pads to wear out and quickly damage the brakes, so quickly cushion the brakes and shift to lower gears.

- When the gear is in the appropriate position for each slope, we can drive the car downhill safely while still being able to control the speed and can stop when needed, even stop the car in an emergency.

- Letting the car go downhill at too high a speed and then continuously braking is a technical error, leading to a dangerous situation. If the engine brake is in too high a gear, or if the car goes too fast and then shifts down, it is also a technical error, because when the car is going fast and shifting down will cause the car to stop, and even damage the gearbox.

- Before entering a corner, you should reduce speed, when starting to enter the corner, turn the steering wheel gently enough to change direction to hug the corner. Turn the steering wheel according to the driving feeling and the cornering speed, avoid turning too much to cause the car to shake its tail, when the corner is over, slowly and gently return the steering wheel, avoid returning the steering wheel suddenly and absolutely do not let the steering wheel rotate or shake.

- With sharp turns, bends and steep slopes, in addition to reducing the throttle before entering the corner, the driver needs to shift to a lower gear to brake the engine and when entering the corner, the accelerator pedal should also be released, do not press the accelerator, then turn the steering wheel to let the car run by inertia, if necessary, brake lightly to reduce speed, to finish the steep corner, gently press the accelerator and return the steering wheel.

- To ensure safety when driving on steep mountain passes, do not change speed too suddenly, do not brake suddenly, but in an emergency, you can still brake to stop the vehicle.

- When going downhill and encountering slippery roads or muddy roads, the driver must be even more careful, no matter how modern your car is. When encountering this situation, try to drive at a steady speed, do not turn the steering wheel suddenly, do not brake suddenly, drive at the lowest speed possible, if the road has many mud puddles, then you must be even more careful.

Drive safely!

According to VnExpress