Important car functions that are often misused by drivers

Internal and external air intake

These are the functions of the air conditioning system. 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 outside air intake mode, the air conditioning system will take 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 system of the car. Meanwhile, taking in inside air helps cool faster. However, if used for too long on a long journey, it will cause a lack of air in the cabin (due to CO₂increased), causing suffocation 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, it will cause hot air to circulate in the system, making the car noisier and taking longer to cool.

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.

Child lock

To maximize child protection, car manufacturers integrate child locks on the rear doors. Some drivers believe that the child lock for the rear doors can only be adjusted on the dashboard. However, this function can also be adjusted mechanically.

The child lock position is located on the inside or vertical wall of the rear door, usually marked with a child image. The driver only needs to turn the lock or push the small lever to the lock position to activate the child lock mode, then the door cannot be opened from the inside.

Front and rear windshield wipers

The front windshield wiper is simple, the driver just needs to swipe the right side on the steering wheel, up or down, but the rear wiper is a difficult problem for new drivers.

Also on that lever, the tip of the lever can rotate, you rotate and look through the rearview mirror to know the level of operation of the rear wiper.

Rearview mirror

The car's side mirrors are designed to be a certain size. Most drivers adjust the mirrors to leave a part of the car to observe the body. This part is large or small depending on the observation habits of each person. But experienced drivers do not do so.

Because if you can still see the car body in the rearview mirror while your head is in the normal position on 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.

Brakes

Many people have the habit of braking from a distance and think it is safe, but that action affects many vehicles behind.

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.

Emergency lights

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.

Emergency lights should only be used in an emergency, to notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle is in a state of breakdown, has a problem, 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.

With regular cars, SUVs, even limos, it is 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.