Tips For New Drivers
Posted in: Driving Tips, News.
When you’re a new driver, the first few times that you head out without an instructor or someone next to you, can actually be a little bit more daunting than you might realise.
Although everything you’ve been taught will come into practice, it might be the first time that you need to rely entirely on yourself. There are a couple of tips that can help you be more comfortable when you’re driving.
One of the most important things is that you buy a car that you are comfortable with. And something that actually suits your budget. Carlton Car Centre happens to have a range of cars ideal for starters.
Photo by Oli Woodman on Unsplash
Wheels
Something that you get used to very quickly while using your instructor’s car is where the wheels are. So something you should take care of doing in your new vehicle is learning where the wheels are. So it pays to take some drives quietly by yourself.
You can take an empty plastic bottle that has been stepped on already, and put it somewhere like a quiet side street, or car park. Practice driving over it with your left and right front wheels in turn. Wind your window down so you can hear the bottle crunch this will give you a feel for the dimensions of your car.
Night Mirrors
Many drivers don’t know that a standard rearview mirror has two modes. One is for day time, and one is the night mode. This is to help you avoid being blinded by cars behind you. You can change the angle of the mirror by pulling down the lever that sits just underneath it.
Wing Mirrors
Although you are probably very used to getting in the car and checking your mirrors, seat belt, and steering wheel for all of your lessons and certainly for your test, you might fall out of the habit after just a few weeks of driving.
If your mirrors aren’t adjusted correctly a blindspot will appear. In order to eliminate blind spots, make sure you adjust your side-view mirror so that you can’t see the entire side of your car in them, you can only see the very back at maximum.
And your rearview mirror should be adjusted so that you can see the back of the window entirely. When you make these adjustments make sure you are in your normal driving position and even have your belt on to help.
Controls
You should learn where the controls in your car are as soon as you can. If you buy a secondhand car, it might not have an instruction manual with it, but you can find most of these online. Learn things like where your petrol cap release lever is, how to adjust mirrors, windscreen wash, music volume, and so on.
When you are confident when you know the controls are you don’t have to stress out looking for them in a pinch.
It takes time to be comfortable in your car driving alone, and so long as you remember all of the lessons that you took, there is no reason why you shouldn’t feel confident and safe as you drive.
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