Things to keep in mind when driving a new car
Buying insurance, driving slowly, looking in the mirror, giving way, keeping distance, looking at signs... are things to keep in mind when driving a car for the first time.
Anyone who is new to driving will have some confusion and stumbles before becoming a confident driver. Here are some tips to ensure the safety of the driver and others on the road:
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1. Go by small car
When you first drive, you should avoid using large-engine, high-capacity, luxury, expensive cars. These cars have great power, fast acceleration, and can easily create a feeling of overconfidence in you. Confidence will make you drive at high speeds, accelerate quickly, while your skills are not enough to handle, and easily cause accidents.
Every mistake on a car with a large engine will lead to a much more serious accident than a small car. Therefore, when you first learn to drive, choose a compact car with an engine capacity of 1.0 to 1.4 liters, easy to repair and cheap.
2. Buy insurance
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced driver, you should buy insurance for your car. Especially for new drivers, collisions are inevitable no matter how careful you are, so learn and buy insurance to save on repair costs.
3. Get familiar with vehicle operations
When getting into any car, you need to familiarize yourself with the positions on the car. Practice operating the clutch, accelerator, brake, gear lever, handbrake… when the car is not running, to remember the positions for precise operation when driving.
Adjust the driver's seat, steering wheel, and rearview mirror so that you have the best driving position, steering wheel position, and viewing angle through the rearview mirror.
Remember to fasten your seat belt before starting the car. If you do not fasten your seat belt, the air bag will not only not save your life in an accident but also make it more dangerous.
3. Go slow and steady
New drivers should not accelerate suddenly and go at high speeds. Practice precise driving skills at low speeds, then gradually increase speed.
Always remember, the most important thing when driving is to drive safely and accurately, not fast. Take your time participating in traffic and do not rush because of your lack of confidence in learning to drive.
All drivers go through a period of uncertainty when they first start driving, so they can sympathize with you.
4. Look in the mirror
When we first drive, we often pay too much attention to the front and forget to look at the rearview mirror. Get into the habit of looking at the mirror to observe both sides of the road and behind the car. This will help you avoid situations that new drivers often encounter such as cutting in front of other cars, scraping the side of the car against the side of the road when driving too close, and crossing lines.
The most important thing is to back up, don't turn around or stick your head out the window to back up, but practice looking in the mirror and backing up.
5. Give way
Go slowly and steadily, of course you will be honked and flashed by cars behind you asking you to pass. Don’t rush to cut in or lose your composure and speed up because of the honking.
Stay calm and look in the rearview mirror. If there is a safe space, use your turn signal and give way. Always remember to be precise and not hasty.
Once the car behind you has passed, return to your original lane and wait for the next honk. Getting used to yielding will also help you improve your driving skills.
6. Keep your distance
Keeping distance is the most difficult thing for drivers, especially when moving in crowded cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.
Cars never park at the distance you read about in books, motorbikes constantly cut in front of your car, and both sides of your car will be full of motorbikes with a distance of only 5-10 cm, if it's rush hour.
All drivers, young or old, encounter this situation, but "old drivers" have enough experience to know how far enough to avoid a collision.
Practice reading this distance. Of course, don’t practice in traffic because you’ll probably get sick before you get a feel for the distance.
Find a road with no traffic, ask someone to signal for you, practice approaching a motorbike or car and stopping before colliding. Feel and measure the safe distance between your front end and the vehicle in front. Remember, each vehicle has a different front end length, so feeling the distance in front is very necessary when driving a strange vehicle.
7. Look at the signs
Get into the habit of looking at every traffic sign on the road, if you don't want to constantly pay fines to the traffic police.
Speed limit signs, no cars signs, no stopping and parking signs, right turn signs on red lights..., all require you to observe so you don't break the law.
Don't tail tall vehicles like coaches, trucks, buses, you will lose all vision and view of the sea.
8. Turn around
Turning around is a basic driving skill, but it is not easy, especially for new drivers. With heavy traffic conditions, cars always honking, turning around on a crowded road requires more calmness than skill.
In places where there are signs allowing crossing the street, turning around, or signaling early, when approaching a place where you can turn around, slowly turn the wheel and look in the rearview mirror.
On streets where U-turns are required (a lot in Vietnam), it is necessary to observe and find a position where you can turn around with the least impact on traffic on the road.
You can practice skills, but pressure from other vehicles, car horns… will sometimes make you forget all skills, so you need to stay calm in difficult situations.
9. Parking and backing up
Parallel parking or reverse parking both require skillful driving skills. The standard distance for parallel parking is never enough in Vietnam, so you need to reverse more skillfully and carefully.
Calmly park your car, check your mirrors, but don't be too confident. Confident driving without good skills means causing a collision. If you find it difficult, ask for help, ask someone to use the turn signal./.
According to VOV.VN
