Winter Essentials For Your Car
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7 Essential items for your car or truck this winter.
Winter driving presents more challenges than summer driving does. Not only do lower temperatures weaken our car’s battery, the hazardous conditions on the road make driving more dangerous as well. With modern twenty-first century technology, it is easier than ever to be prepared for inclement weather, but many times Mother Nature has different ideas than the weatherman. It is much better to error on the side of caution. 3: Tow Rope / Chains. Snowy and icy road conditions can cause many vehicles to lose traction, slide off the road and become stuck. Having a tow rope or chain handy can be a great tool to get you unstuck again if you have another vehicle to help pull you out.
Those of us who have experience driving in snowy and icy conditions are better prepared and knowledgeable about what to expect than those from the southern regions of the country who are just visiting, or newcomers to areas of the country that are more prone to wintery conditions.
Here are 7 items to keep handy for winter driving safety.
1: Snowbrush / Ice scraper. The most crucial item that you will use almost every day is a snowbrush and ice scraper. More often than not, your car will have a layer of ice on the windows that needs to be scraped off before you can see to drive safely.
You must also remove all snow from your vehicle, including the roof before driving. In many areas you are responsible for damage to other vehicles caused by snow flying off of your vehicle. Large chunks of snow flying off of the roof of your vehicle can easily others.
2: Jumper Cables. Our car batteries strength is measured in cold cranking amps, the colder that it gets, the less ability our battery has to start our vehicle. With a set of jumper cables some help from a kind stranger can easily get you started, or the kind stranger will be you to help another get their car started.
5: Rock Salt or Kitty Litter. Rock salt will melt the ice around your tires, and the coarseness of the salt will help your car gain the extra traction to get unstuck. Pouring kitty litter in front of your tires will also help you gain the extra traction you need to get going.
Besides helping with traction, rock salt, and kitty litter are heavy and will help add extra weight to your vehicle to further aid in traction. If you have a rear wheel drive car, it is a good idea to keep at least two bags of rock salt in your trunk over the drive tires to give you more traction on wintery roads.
6: Extra winter clothes. Hats, gloves / mittens, and snow boots are good to keep in your vehicle if you break down, and need to wait for help, or walk home. Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves will, but give you less movement of your fingers. If you normally wear your regular shoes in your car having winter boots handy will keep your feet warm in an emergency.
7: Flashlight. If you break down, or get stuck a flashlight will help you investigate the situation. If you need to walk home in the dark, it will help you see in the dark and allow other drivers to see you. Check out our selection of the best books in different catagories in our - Bookstore. Previous Article - How to Write Your Story. Expat Emporium is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
It is a good idea to keep your cell phone fully charged before starting off on a trip in the winter. Keep a charger that plugs into the power port in your vehicle to charge your phone in an emergency.
It is a good idea to keep a battery charger in your garage that has an instant start mode to get a dead battery started quickly.
Get a new high-quality set of wiper blades just before the start of winter to keep your widows free from snow. Pushing snow away will tax your wipers more than rain. Having a new set of wiper blades will help give you the clearest view possible outside of your window.
Never let your gas tank get below a half a tank in the winter months. The extra weight of the gas will increase your traction in wintery conditions.
Remember to give yourself extra stopping room while breaking to avoid accidents, or spinning out on the road.
Drive safely.
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