Winter Vehicle Maintenance
Every Coloradoan understands that traffic safety becomes a huge issue during the winter season. This is one reason why we’ve covered proper safety while driving on the ice so extensively in the past couple of months.
In addition to understanding how to drive safely on icy roads, it’s important that you exercise proper winter automobile maintenance to ensure that your vehicle is at its best. To help you out, here is a quick list of things that you should check:
High-Quality Tires
To stay safe when you’re driving during the winter season, the equipment on your car must be in good working order. This is especially true when it comes to ensuring that your vehicle is equipped with high-quality tires. If you live in an area that is especially susceptible to the winter weather, then it wouldn’t hurt to invest in a tire that is designed for winter driving, but even just a quality, all-season tire can provide increased traction on snow and ice.
Properly Inflated Tires
When tires haven’t been properly inflated, this can cause a host of issues from loss of traction to worn-out treads. Both under- and over-inflating is bad news for tires. Be sure that the tires are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure at all times. And don’t just rely on a “visual check” – invest in a tire pressure gauge and rest easy that you’re hitting the road with your equipment in tip-top shape.
Brake Pads in Good Condition
In addition to taking care of your automobile’s tires, it is also important that you pay attention to its brake pads. When your brake pads get worn down too much, this can impede your ability to stop the vehicle properly, which can increase the likelihood of an accident, especially if the roads are a bit slick.
Wiper Blades and Washer Fluid
Since inclement weather always accompanies the winter season, it’s important that you make sure that your wiper blades are working properly and that your washer fluid is full. The blades will obviously improve your visibility when it’s raining while the washer fluid will help clean off any caked-on dirt that has stuck to the windshield because of the moisture.
Full Gas Tank
While it’s always important that you keep plenty of gas in the tank, it’s especially essential during the winter season: an empty or even half-full tank can create the perfect environment for water vapor to collect and freeze, which is bad news for your gas lines. To avoid this issue, keep your tank full as often as possible. And, side note: if you find yourself in the Colorado back roads with 30 miles between gas stations or stuck in a massive, weekend traffic jam on I-70, the last thing you want is a near-empty tank!
Jumper Cables and Flares
There are several pieces of safety equipment that you can carry with you during the winter season, but one of the most important is a set of jumper cables. Even better than that, however, is a battery pack that you charge once a month or so and can be used to charge your vehicle’s battery in case you run out of juice and get stranded. Flares will help keep you safe in the event your vehicle is disabled.
Cellphone Battery Chargers
A great way to stay safe during any season of the year is to ensure that your cell phone battery is always properly charged so that you can call for help if needed. It also isn’t a bad idea to have a battery backup in your glove compartment just in case your car’s battery dies and you don’t have enough power in your phone. While this may seem like overkill, you just never know what might happen, and you can never be too safe.
Even when you take every precaution, traffic accidents still happen. If you’ve been injured in an auto accident that wasn’t your fault, give the attorneys at Mintz Law Firm a call for a free case evaluation.