Tips for novice drivers part I. Review on Learning to Drive

[A] Starting the car smoothly:

(a)Sit on the driver's seat and put on the seat belt( strongly recommended.It has been made mandatory as well but you should be prepared to follow safety rules even when it is not made mandatory.)

(b)Close the door.Put the ignition key in and rotate clockwise. If your car has central door lock system, you will hear the doors getting locked. If you do not hear the locking sound, at least one of the doors is ajar. Shove it shut and then start again. Of course, in cars with rudimentary controls, there is no central locking system. Even there, you should ensure that all doors are securely locked.

(c)Press the clutch and bring the gear to neutral( which should have been on first gear if your car was parked on a flat surface or incline, or in reverse gear, if the parking was on a decline)

(d)Press the clutch with your left foot and press the brake with the right foot.Rotate the key clockwise and keep your hand pressed on the key. Release the key as soon as the engine starts.

(e)Move the gear to the first gear. Release the clutch partially till you can hear the engine vibrating. Release the hand brake.Then release the brake pedal slowly. The car starts moving even without pressing the accelerator. Now you can press the accelerator and release the clutch.

(f) As soon as you have a clear way, shift to the second gear and then third gear. In early morning condition with roads wearing a deserted look, you should be able to drive in third gear with reasonable amount of confidence.

[B] Driving the car smoothly without the car getting shut down

(a) On our crowded roads, pedestrians, two wheeler riders, cattle, potholes etc suddenly appear out of nowhere. An inexperienced driver suddenly has to reduce the speed and in the process his vehicle ends up getting shutdown abruptly. This becomes a nightmare in a heavy traffic as it leads to traffic jam in no time. Others in the jam quickly come to know that you are a novice driver. If you expect to get any sympathy from them, you cannot be more wrong.

(b)You need to ensure that your engine keeps running even when you come to a dead stop. The trick is to maintain a fine balance between the clutch and the brake. Press the brake just enough to stop the car and then release the brake pedal.While doing this, your left foot should be pressing the clutch partially.After bringing down the speed, the gear should be brought down to first if you need to move at a slow speed. The brake pedal stops the car whereas the pressed clutch keeps your engine running.If you expect that you may have to stop there for a few moments- such as on a traffic light, you should bring your gear to neutral and wait.Keep the clutch and brake pedals pressed. As the traffic is about to move again, shift your gear to the first and move on, first by means of partially pressed clutch and released brake, and then by pressing the accelerator.If the stoppage was on an incline, You could engage the hand brake, which you should disengage as you move again.

[C]     Keeping an eye on traffic

(a) Make the most of your two side mirrors and the central mirror. Learn to watch them periodically but do not neglect watching ahead of the car. In addition, keep an eye for the unexpected.You may get unexpected and unpleasant surprises when you least expect them. You should follow the traffic rules unscrupulously but at the same time, you should not expect others to follow them. You should be prepared for others violating traffic rules which will often make the things difficult for rule followers.

(b) Some instances of rule violations are: two wheel drivers overtaking you from the wrong side( without announcing their intentions), drivers driving on the wrong side as a short cut to reach his destination quicker, drivers disregarding red signal on the traffic junction etc. In addition, there are pedestrians and animals who appear on the road unannounced and in many cases refuse to budge. Such instances are far too many to enumerate. Every driver must learn to cope with them. For that he must be extremely alert and be prepared for them. Applying brake at the fraction of a seconds notice should become a second nature( Do not press the accelerator in stead of brake for God's sake in panic. It can actually happen. That is why my insistence on making brake application on such cases a reflex action for you.)

(c) Handling the steering may be quite intuitive for many, but I have seen some beginners who are all at sea while driving. They have their arms entangled while handling the steering wheel which makes it all but impossible for them to have any control over the steering wheel. Make sure that your two hands are on 10 past 10 position( assuming steering wheel to be a clock) and your two hands should more or less stay in their respective positions. While moving the steering, one hand should push the steering and the other should pull. Never allow your two hands to stay glued to the wheel while steering the wheel. Ending up with  your left hand on the right side and right hand on the  left side and the two hands in entangled position is quite hilarious in cartoons but is very dangerous while driving on the road. Grip the steering wheel firmly. Do not grip it in 20 past 8 position, otherwise your steering will tend to move the car sideways instead of straight ahead. Also grip the steering firmly so that the steering does not accidently slip from your hand and move inadvertently.

[D] Controlling the speed of the car on traffic

(a) It is one of the most important skills needed anywhere in the world, and a real life saver for one is driving on Indian roads. It is basically a combination of skills described in [A]  [B] and [C] above and then some more. In the earlier stage of your driving, you should care more for safety than fuel efficiency. Which means that you should drive on first and second gear on heavy traffic and switch to third gear only on lighter traffic.

(b) As you gain confidence of coping with heavy traffic, you should gradually begin to drive at a higher gear. Second gear on heavy city traffic, third and fourth on sparse traffic should become second nature after you gain experience and confidence. It will also ensure that the fuel efficiency of your car will improve.

I will include remaining tips on part II. I welcome comments to this review from readers.