Driving a car needs a lot of learning. Today, in this article, we provides 5 handy driving tips about how to handle breakdowns.
1. Get your car off the road
It might sound totally obvious, but in the event that your car isn’t working properly, its not smart to stop it in an active lane. Whenever possible move it out of the way, and after safely off the road, apply the parking brake, and steer the wheel in the opposite direction of the road. This is so your car doesn’t roll into traffic.
2. Make a call for help
It’s hard to find a teen these days without a cell phone, so it’s a wise decision to put it to good use. Some car company’s offer roadside service, or if you have a membership with AAA give them a call. Ensure you have a flashlight, or something similar in your car for such an emergency.
3. Notify Others with lights and signals
Whenever you are experiencing a problem also be sure to turn on your led headlights or four-way blinkers. Having a flashlight, flare or triangle is especially handy when you run into issues late at night. Place a flare, or triangle about 50 feet away from your vehicle, and if you need assistance from police, try raising your hood, or tying a white cloth to your cars handle.
4. Stay in Your Car Except if it’s Unsafe to do so
While it may be attractive to walk around your car attempting to find a problem; if you just don’t know, or are waiting for help, stay in your car. Particularly on the highway, when leaving your car you can put yourself and others at risk of an accident. Standard stranger-danger rules apply here too: lock the doors, and roll up the windows. If you don’t trust someone providing help, roll down your window, instead of opening the door for them. If you must get out of the car, use the door on the opposite side of the roadway, to avoid walking into the road.
5.Tire Trouble
If you have to repair, or change your tire, make sure to pull over on a flat, even surface so that you can use the jack safely. Often times cars have all the right tools for coping with a flat tire, but it’s becoming very common for a car to not have a spare tire, and only have a tire-repair kit instead, so be sure you’re familiar with what tools are in the trunk before driving.