The most commonly confused important car functions

1. Take in air inside and take in air outside

Vehicle air intake and exhaust air intake modes.

First is the function of taking in air inside and outside of the air conditioning system when operating in hot, stuffy or humid weather conditions.

When in the internal air intake mode, the air conditioning system will directly take the circulating air in the cabin to charge the evaporator or heater to change the temperature. With the external air intake mode, the air conditioning system will take the air from outside to charge the evaporator or heater.

Modern cars will automatically select between internal and external air intake. In cheaper or older cars, the driver must select manually.

Basically, the outside air intake mode will create fresh air for the cabin, while ensuring enough oxygen for the people inside. However, if the car is traveling through a smoky or smelly area, the outside air intake mode will suck the dust and smell into the cabin, causing discomfort.

In addition, when the outside humidity is high, taking in outside air will cause moisture to enter the cabin, damaging the interior and systems of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, taking in fresh air helps cool faster. However, if used for too long on a long journey, the amount of air in the cabin will be lacking (due to increased CO2), causing stuffiness and fatigue for the people inside.

Intake air should only be selected when the temperature in the cabin is cool. If the temperature is still hot (usually happens in the summer when parked in the sun), it will cause hot air to circulate in the system, making the car noisier and making the cooling time longer.

When driving in rainy and windy conditions, the windows will be covered with steam, making it difficult to see. You should close the windows, turn on the air conditioner to hot mode, turn on the fan and choose to let in fresh air. Do not turn off the air conditioner or open the windows slightly. This will only cause the windshield to be covered with steam.

2. Adjust the rearview mirror

Adjusting your rearview mirrors properly will help you drive more safely and avoid unfortunate accidents due to blind spots.

A car’s side mirrors are designed to be a certain size. When drivers adjust them the way they think is right, the risk of blind spots increases. Why is this?

Most drivers adjust their mirrors to leave a small amount of space to see the vehicle’s body. This is a personal preference. For many, this helps them see the car better, but experienced drivers advise against it.

If you can still see the vehicle body in the rearview mirror while your head is in the normal position in the driver's seat, the blind spot will increase.

You should adjust the rearview mirror so that the car body is not visible, so that when you just tilt your head slightly to the left or right (when turning the steering wheel), the car body is still visible. And like that, when your head is in the normal position, you can still observe the cars behind in the blind spot.

You may not be used to adjusting your mirrors this way at first, but after just a few days, you will find this mirror adjustment method very helpful.

3. How to use the brakes

Many people have the habit of braking from a distance and think that it is safe, but they do not know that this action affects many cars behind. Braking from a distance and then red light until the stop unintentionally causes other harm.

When the car behind sees you brake, it will brake, and then the car behind will brake again to maintain a safe distance. This slows down the whole convoy unnecessarily, causing traffic jams.

If you know how to adjust your speed appropriately on the road, especially at intersections, or turns, you can help the car behind you limit braking, thereby helping traffic move better.

4. How to use emergency lights

Many drivers in Vietnam do not know how to use emergency lights properly.

Many drivers are still quite confused about the purpose of emergency lights. There are situations where emergency lights are turned on indiscriminately, causing confusion among other road users as to what the driver’s intentions are.

The most obvious situation is the emergency lights on when going straight through an intersection. Some long-distance buses also turn on their emergency lights when moving on the road even though the vehicle is not having any problems.

As the name suggests, emergency lights are only used in emergencies, to notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle is in a state of breakdown, having problems or is operating in a dangerous mode.

For example, trucks or tractor-trailers turn on their hazard lights to notify other vehicles that they are moving slower on the highway, going uphill or downhill while carrying a heavy load.

Emergency lights on regular cars, SUVs, even limos are turned on when the car is parked on the sidewalk, emergency lane on the highway, in bad weather conditions, limited visibility.

If your car has a flat tire on the road or engine trouble, pull over to the side of the road and turn on your hazard lights to help the car behind you see it, slow down, and avoid you from a distance.

5. Parking in the sun

When driving, if you close the windows and turn on music, the sound will seem to resonate in your ears. This is obvious when the sound resonates and is not mixed with outside noise due to the closed windows.

When parking in the sun, you need to open the windows at least 1 cm to let the heat escape. If you close the windows, your car will be like an oven.