5 Simple Tips on How to Drive Safely on Downhill Roads
Driving in a rugged terrain can be challenging to most motorists. Winding around the mountain can be fun, but driving safely on downhill roads or uphill is challenging. Driving uphill can cause your car to overheat and may lead to car breakages as a result.
Your car might not be having a strong engine to survive the uphill drive, but it can surely drive downhill because of the help from gravity. If the road gradient is high, your car brakes may not offer the full support to stop your car whenever you want to stop it while driving.
It is important to take precautions when driving downhill to avoid accidents. This article will explain to you what to do to drive safely on downhill roads.
- Shift to a lower gear to preserve the brakes
When driving downhill, your car gears are what should be used rather than brakes to slow down the car. The brake pads will fail after sometime due to too much friction applied on them trying to slow down the car. What you should do is to shift the car to a lower gear, one that can drive the car slowly.
If you apply the gear, the car will drive slowly downhill and come to a halt when in the bottom of the hill.
- Look out for corners to avoid sliding off the road
Some roads are not straight downhill. They can twist around a mountain at times. You as a driver ought to look out for these corners and slow down the car when you want to make a turn.
At times, gravity may speed up your car and the road is not straight. Apply brakes and turn the car slowly to avoid slipping off the road.
- Make sure you are in the right lane
Sometimes, your car may be in the wrong lane and it’s speeding downhill, other cars might be driving uphill too, it may be too late to change to the right lane considering your car is speeding due to gravity. What you need to do to avoid any accident that may occur is to drive in the right lane.
- The gear should not be neutral
Shifting the gear to a neutral position when driving is not a good option, the engine is not in your control. The only option left when you want to slow down your car is to use the brakes. As we discussed earlier, using the car brakes can damage them due to too much friction.
In addition, you cannot react fast to a bad road condition in front when the gear is neutral. You ought to engage gears to drive safely on downhill roads.
- Become careful when there is a downpour
Driving when it is raining is dangerous, especially when you are driving downhill. The road might not be tarmac too.
During this time, the road is too slippery and dangerous because brakes or the low gear might not help much. Visibility too is low. The best thing is to be very careful when driving.
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