What to do when the car runs out of gas in the middle of the road?
Running out of gas on the road is every driver's nightmare, here are some tips from experts in case you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation.
Specifically, follow these 5 steps:
1. Locate the nearest gas station
Most importantly determine where the nearest gas station is to you using your car's navigation system or smartphone and pull over there.
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| Running out of gas on the road is every driver's nightmare. (Photo: Car.com) |
2. Move at a steady speed
Cars consume fuel most efficiently when traveling at speeds of 56-72 km/h. So when you find yourself running low on gas, don't try to rush to the gas station, but instead slow down and maintain a steady speed.
3. Turn off unnecessary devices
Turning off the air conditioning is a valuable way to save fuel and should be done immediately. Because turning on the air conditioning in the car will increase the strain on the generator, thereby increasing the demand for engine use, causing fuel to be consumed faster.
The same goes for car radios, phone chargers and other unnecessary devices, turning them off will save fuel significantly.
4. Close the window
Closing the windows will reduce wind resistance for the vehicle, thereby reducing the vehicle's fuel consumption.
5. Driving downhill
If your navigation app shows two gas stations nearby, one on the other side of the hill and one at the bottom, don’t even think about it and drive downhill, but never put it in neutral. Cars today are equipped with a feature that automatically turns off the fuel injectors when the car is going downhill, even though the car’s inertia is still keeping it moving. When it goes into neutral, the car will need fuel to keep the engine running.
These are the best ways to deal with a situation where you run out of gas or are close to running out of gas. But to avoid these situations, get into the habit of not letting your tank get any lower than 3/4 full in the city and 1/2 full in rural areas.
