Driving a strange car, things you should be careful of

Feeling confused and lacking confidence when driving a new car is something that drivers often encounter. So what skills are needed to get used to driving a new car as quickly as possible while still ensuring safety? Let’s refer to some suggestions below:

1. Estimate size and visibility

The SUV, hatchback or sedan segments have different front and rear roof lengths and different turning radiuses. Therefore, drivers need to carefully observe from the outside to the inside. When sitting in the driver's seat, pay attention to adjusting the seat to fit the vision, adjusting the footrest distance to the accelerator, brake and gear pedals appropriately as well as the handhold to the steering wheel for the most comfort. In addition, to ensure that there is no collision, the driver needs to determine the size and control the vision when sitting in the driver's seat.

2. Habituation and reaction

These are the most important factors to help before driving. You should not be too confident like when driving an old car, be careful to take the car to deserted roads, test the elasticity, sensitivity of the accelerator and brakes to ensure safety.

3. Proficient with vehicle operations

When starting to drive any car, what you need to do is practice the basic operations. Of course, if you only know the dashboard and some positions such as the accelerator and brake pedals, you can control the car normally. However, when traveling on the road with countless unexpected situations, there will be many potential dangers.

Drivers should familiarize themselves with the locations in the car, and remember any unfamiliar locations, features, or button locations. In addition, the driver's seat, steering wheel, and rearview mirror should be adjusted to achieve a comfortable driving position, steering wheel position, and best viewing angle through the rearview mirror.

In addition, you should pay attention to the buttons on the steering wheel, door locks, windows up/down, turn signals, lights, wipers... most cars have many similarities, but there are some car models with quite strange designs.

Especially with cars with a lot of technology, getting used to all the adjustment buttons can be a pressure for unfamiliar drivers, and it may take you a lot of time. Therefore, the best way is to ask the car owner about the utilities if you look at them and do not understand the function keys.

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4. Vehicle engine

If you think that the engines are not much different, you are wrong. In fact, they are very different, depending on the terrain such as hills, plains, sand or mud, the engine will show different power. Therefore, you should ask the owner carefully about the engine power and try the accelerator pedal of the car to easily control it.

5. Go slowly

You should not drive at high speed when you first start driving, practice driving at low speed and gradually increase it when you get used to it. Always remember that the most important thing is safety and accuracy. Only by keeping calm and steady with your steering wheel can you become a professional driver.

6. Give way

If you drive slowly, you will surely encounter cars behind honking and urging you to pass. Do not rush to cut in or speed up. You need to calmly look at the rearview mirror, if there is a safe gap, turn on the turn signal and give way. Always stay calm, operate accurately and do not rush.

Once the car behind you has passed, return to your original lane and continue your journey. Getting used to yielding will also help you improve your driving skills.

7. Keep your distance

Keeping distance is the most difficult thing for unfamiliar drivers, especially when moving in big cities. In reality, vehicles on the road never park with the distance in books and instructions. Therefore, there will be a situation of cutting in front of the car, if it is rush hour, the distance between cars is only in centimeters.

Almost all drivers encounter this situation. So what should you do to avoid collisions? Find a road with few vehicles, ask someone to signal for you, practice approaching a motorbike or car and stop before colliding. Feel and measure the safe distance between your car and the car in front. Remember, each car has a different front end, so feeling the distance in front is very necessary when driving a strange car.

8. Look at the signs

No matter how familiar you are with the road or how well you remember the laws, always get into the habit of looking at the signs, because your guesses are not always correct. Remember the speed limit signs, no-car signs, no-stopping signs, right turn signs on red lights…, all of which require you to observe to avoid breaking the law.

Do not tail tall vehicles such as coaches, trucks, buses, you will lose all visibility and observation of the sea.

9. Turn around

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Turning the car around is not an easy task for new drivers. With heavy traffic conditions and vehicles always rushing by, staying calm when turning the car around is extremely important.

At places where there are signs allowing crossing the street or turning around, signal early, approach the place where you can turn around, then slowly turn the wheel and look in the rearview mirror.

On streets where it is necessary to apply the mid-road U-turn method, it is necessary to observe and find a position where you can turn around with little impact on other vehicles.

10. Parking, reversing

Parallel parking or reverse parking both require skillful driving skills. The safe parking distance in Vietnam is never enough, so you need to do this operation carefully.

Take your time when parking, check your mirrors, and ask for help when needed. Being overconfident when driving can be dangerous.

According to VNE