Accidents often take place on secondary roads, particularly during long public holidays. So you should take extra care when driving on a secondary road. You should watch for motorcycles or farm trucks that may have no light signals or may be going against the traffic. It is best not to drive at a high speed.

You should also watch for railroad crossings. On rural roads, some railroad crossings have no proper barriers. So every time, before you drive across a railroad, you should look on both sides of the tracks to make sure there is no train coming. Even though the train may be a safe distance away, it would be better to first let it go. You must stop your vehicle at least five metres away from the tracks. When the train has passed and there is a signal for the waiting vehicles to move on, you may drive past the crossing.

Stopping is prohibited in the following areas:

1. In traffic lanes, except on the far-left lane next to the pavement when there is no bus lane
2. On a pavement
3. On a bridge or in a tunnel
4. At a junction
5. In a designated “no-stop” zone
6. At an entrance to a building
7. In a way that obstructs traffic

Brake failure

While driving, if you step on the brake pedal and it feels soft and the vehicle does not slow down, it indicates brake failure. Do not panic. You need to concentrate on the situation at hand to ensure that you do things correctly. First, keep the steering wheel stable and then shift to lower gears, one by one, to slow down the vehicle. You may use the hand brake to help reduce the car’s speed. Control the steering wheel to avoid other vehicles or other obstacles until you can safely park your car.

Tyre burst

Tyre explosion may be caused by unusually low air pressure in the tyre. An initial indication is that the steering wheel feels very heavy. When a left tyre bursts, the vehicle swerves to the right before turning sharply to the left. When a right tyre bursts, the vehicle turns sharply to the left first before veering to the right. You should avoid abrupt braking as the vehicle will overturn. Instead, keep the vehicle stable. And don’t press the clutch to change gears abruptly. Doing so will disconnect the engine from the transmission system. You should lightly press the brake, little by little, to reduce the speed. Then you should shift to lower gears and control the vehicle to stop at the roadside. Don’t forget to turn on the emergency lights to tell other vehicles that your car has a problem.

Emergency lights should be switched on when your car is stationary in order to warn fellow motorists that there is a car being parked there. Do not keep the emergency lights on when your car is moving.

More importantly, while driving at a high speed, you must not press the brake pedal, or you will lose control of the vehicle and cause it to overturn. When the speed gets lower, you may begin to brake, park the vehicle and turn on the emergency lights.