In modern day cars, when you switch off the ignition,
unlike in the cars of by gone days, you have not switched off the engine, you
have disabled the car. You will have no breaks, no power steering, no power
windows, the car is dead!
Lesson Number One in driving should be, never ever
shut down your car engine. Not even if there is a fire under the bonnet. You
will need power to lower the windows for fresh air.
One of the most dangerous moves a driver or motorcyclist
can make is to free wheel downhill, meaning engine switched off. And I see this
all the time on the Kalka- Dharampur National Highway. It’s about 25 km. and
all downhill.
A driver with his mother, wife and two children in the
car, switches off the engine and comes downhill with only his foot on the brake
pedal! Horrors!
With his foot on the brake pedal there will be
constant friction between the brake shoe pad and the brake, disc or drum.
Within a few kilometres the heat will build up and render the brakes
ineffective.
Fuel saved! Family in hospital!
It is an unwritten rule in motoring; if you go uphill
in a particular gear, you MUST come down in the same gear. The engine provides
the braking. It is cheaper, more effective and much safer.
A few years ago, coming down on this Dharampur- Kalka
stretch there was a brand new car which had run into the mountain side. Front
end completely smashed, airbags open, passengers shook up, happily no one was
hurt.
How did this happen? I stopped to offer help. Again,
happily not required! What happened I asked? The man had given a brand new car
to his Son to drive. Of course, no instructions were given, just the keys and
the driver’s seat! Chances are the man had no automotive knowledge to impart.
This happens all the time in India. You buy a car and start driving! That
simple! No knowledge of road rules, road etiquette, how to park, no
commonsense. Nothing! Which is why the traffic on our roads is a mess.
This is what transpired that day. Son driving, Dad
must have told Son to switch off engine to save gas. Son twisted the key all the way to lock! This locked the steering
wheel and Son was not able to go around the corner. Fortunately he was facing
the hill and drove straight into it. Had he been facing the khud...!
Let’s see what happened.
As you get into the car, the steering wheel is locked.
You insert the key into the slot in the steering column and unlock the
steering. That is Move One. Move two; the first twist of the key
moves it to accessories, like the
music system and others. Move Three;
one more twist takes the key to operate ignition/ on. All the lights on the dashboard come on. This is the ECG of your car showing fuel, battery,
oil, power train, seatbelt, airbag, and maybe more. Move Four; of the key activates the starter. As soon as the engine
fires up, release the key. It will automatically flip back to ignition/on. And the car will continue to purr, idle is the correct word.
The proper procedure is to engage gear, then, only
then, release the handbrake. More on
this later.
Now we know what the young man did to crash Dad’s car.
He twisted the key all the way to lock and lost the
use of his steering wheel.
Happy Motoring!