Winter Driving Safety Tips

Winter driving safety is not only dependent on how a car functions, but it is also dependent on drivers observing safe driving tips.  As anyone who has lived in the southern areas with no snow knows, winter driving definitely requires special skills.  

Winter Driving Car Care for Safety

Before starting out on a winter drive, drivers should do a quick car walk around.  This includes inspecting the windshield wipers, making sure that the wipers are in working order, and ensuring that each are free from ice build up.  On this walk around, you should also check the car tires for proper inflation.  Especially if the car has not been in a shelter, it is important to take the time to start your vehicle ahead of time.  This helps to ensure that the windshield, side windows, and back window are free from ice and snow build up.  If you do not have time to let the car’s heater clear off the ice and snow, it is important to use an ice scraper to clean off the car’s windows before proceeding with winter driving.  Lastly, checking fluid levels and the battery underneath the cars hood, are important steps in winter driving car care.  This includes checking the antifreeze level.  

Tips For Safe Winter Driving

Safe winter driving takes special driving techniques.  The first tip for safe winter driving is to go slow and take the needed time.  Remember that the speed limit posted is meant for ideal road and weather conditions.  Winter driving conditions are not ideal and it is OK to drive well below the speed limit, if winter driving conditions warrant.  The second tip is to look out for dangerous weather situations up ahead.  For instance, ice accumulates on bridges, so you should slow down and be ready to cross bridges cautiously.  You should not follow other cars too closely.  In normal conditions, three second car spacing is sufficient.  In winter conditions, this time might be a seven or eight second driving distance.  Safe driving distances between cars should be observed in all winter driving conditions.  Another tip is to be careful when braking during winter driving.  Especially when conditions are icy, drivers should “tap” the brakes instead of continuously pressing the brakes.  “Tapping” the brakes helps to keep the car from sliding on the ice and allows for greater control.  If the car has anti-lock brakes, steady constant pressure should be applied. 

Safe Winter Tips In Case of A Car Accident

Even the most careful drivers and those that observe all of the tips for safe winter driving, may eventually have an accident.  So, what should you do when a winter accident happens?  If you have a set of cones, emergency flares, or warning triangles from a winter safety kit, you should use these items to alert other traffic about the accident.  It might also be smart to have an In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact in your cell phone in case emergency responders need this information.  If you don’t carry a cell phone, this ICE information can be contained on a written card stored in the glove compartment.   Most importantly it is crucial to stay calm in an accident, check for injuries, alert authorities, and exchange insurance information.

Ways to Improve Fuel Efficiency for Your Car

During the winter, many states will have switched to using a specially blended fuel mixture for driving in the cold weather. With gas prices rising, everyone is looking for ways to improve fuel efficiency. You can find simple things to do to lower your gas usage in your home, but it is equally important to find ways to lower your gas usage in your cars. There are some simple things that you can do to help you lower your fuel costs in your car.

Change Your Driving Habits

The easiest way to cut your fuel costs is to change your driving habits. One easy way is to drive at slower speeds. Driving less than 60 miles per hour will help you save a significant amount of money. If you commute and can use the freeway, you will be able to boost your gas mileage rather than having to stop and start repeatedly, which uses more gas. The freeway will allow you a way to work that is free from stop signs, stoplights, and railroad crossings. You should also keep your idle time to a minimum. When you are idling, you are wasting fuel. If you are stopped at a railroad crossing, for example, you can turn off your engine to save on fuel. During the winter months, you do not need to warm up your car in the morning as the engine will warm as you drive the car. 

Keep your Car in Good Shape

You can save a lot of money on fuel costs just by keeping your car in good shape. Make sure that you adhere to a regular general car maintenance schedule. Regular maintenance should include a tire inspection, oil changes, air filter changes and other fluid checks. A tire inspection will make sure that your tires are inflated at the proper air pressure level. If you do not know what pressure you should be using, you can find it on a sticker that is posted on the door-jam of the driver’s side door or in the owner’s manual that you were given when you purchased the car. When you perform your oil changes, you should make sure that you are using the correct grade of engine oil. Your owner’s manual should list the grade of oil you should be using. It’s a good idea to have your air filter changed when you change your oil. Dirty filters will keep air from freely flowing through the engine and cause you to burn more fuel. 

Other Things You Can Do

One thing you can do the help you save money on fuel costs is to remove all unnecessary heavy items from your car to reduce your load. A heavier car will consume more fuel because you need more energy to move a heavier object. Keep items off your roof rack, if possible, as this will make the car less aerodynamic. The wind resistance will cause you to use more fuel to propel the car forward through the air. You can combine your trips rather than having to drive to one destination, back home, and then drive to another destination and back home.  You should try to plan your trip so that you can complete all of your stops in a complete circuit rather than traversing the city several times.

Keeping Your Engine Healthy

The car’s engine is the brain and the heart of the vehicle. It’s the control center for just about everything the vehicle does and it keeps it running. Because of this it’s very important that you maintain the engine of your car much like you maintain your health; doing everything you can to help keep the engine healthy and running. Most of these things require visiting a garage or mechanic for tune-ups, inspections and routine maintenance, however there are many things you can do on your own in order to keep it running as smoothly as possible right in your own home and with just a single visit to the auto parts store for some supplies. These things should be done on a regular basis; usually after several months have passed or the car has traveled a certain distance.

Maintaining the Engine

There are a variety of different fluids that go into the engine to keep it running at its top performance. Motor oil is crucial to everything running smoothly and is used by just about every system located under the hood, so it should be emptied and replaced, something you can do with just a little bit of research. The coolant should be changed twice a year at the very least in order to prevent build-up of silt and other filth. This is crucial since your vehicle uses combustion to perform, and if the coolant is not functioning properly, the vehicle itself can overheat quite easily. The vehicle also has transmission fluid that helps create friction within the engine, but as the vehicle runs this fluid warms up and begins to oxidize, causing it to lose those crucial characteristics.

Replacing Parts

Sometimes engine parts will deteriorate, whether due to lack of care or environmental circumstances. Rusted metal can deteriorate rather quickly, especially when put through the strain that the engine puts on most of its parts. Something as simple as a hole worn into the side of a tube can cause a drastic change in the engine’s performance, even making it cease functioning entirely. A hole can cause a leak of vital fluids or release necessary pressure for the engine to run. When this happens it’s important to bring the vehicle to a garage where replacement parts can be ordered and installed. It’s not recommended to try and replace parts of the engine alone or at home without the proper experience or tools.

Long Term Care

Many people store their vehicles for long periods of time, either due to changing season or because they’re going away. When this is done there are certain precautions one should take to keep the vehicle working at its best when it’s taken out. Make sure all the tanks are full of fresh fluids; oil, coolant, antifreeze, transmission fluid, etc., and that there’s still some gas in the tank. To keep the engine running properly someone should stop by once a month, or even every two months, to turn the vehicle on and let it run for a short period of time. This allows the engine to keep from growing stagnant and helps locate any problems that might have developed.

How to Choose the Right Car Tires

Car tires are important to how your car functions and how your car drives.  Thus, it is important to choose the right tires for your driving habits, for the driving conditions you drive in, and for the car that you own. 

How Often Should Car Tires Be Replaced

Car tires should periodically be checked for wear.  Traditionally, the penny method has been used where when a penny is inserted into the tread, if Lincoln’s head is visible, tires should be replaced.  Additionally, tires can be changed based upon mileage. However, this method can be inaccurate because there are many factors that influence tire wear including initial tire quality, driving habits, and weather.  For tire change based upon mileage, most sources say tires should be replaced every 40,000 miles.  

Consistent Type of Tire is Important

All four of your car tires should be as identical as possible or your car may be harder to handle. If your tires aren’t identical, it is possible that one end of your vehicle won't respond as completely or as fast as the other end of your car. When you need to select a replacement tire for one that has gone bad, it is a good idea to select one that is the same brand, speed rating, and size as the other tires already on your car.  Remember, the ultimate goal is that all of the tires on your car wear out at the same rate and at the same time.  If you start to notice that some of the tires on your car are wearing at a faster rate than the other tires, it is a good idea to find out why.  Many things including incorrect wheel alignment, lack of tire rotation, and loose mechanical parts can cause uneven tire wear.   If there is metal showing on the inner or outer wall of your tires, you should not drive on them.  Consult one of our technicians to find the particular problem with your car tires and get the issue corrected before damage occurs to your newly replaced tires.  

How to Choose the Correct Tire

Is it the correct size designed to carry the weight of your vehicle?  This is one of the first considerations in finding the correct tire for your car.  Tire load is something important to observe because if the tire is overloaded, it will not have the same capacity to respond in an emergency situation.  Tire diameter is another consideration when selecting tires and this factor is amplified by newer cars dependence on computerization.  The cars’ computer is fed data from your tires and if your tires are not the proper diameter for your vehicle, this input data can be eschewed.  One of the main things your tire diameter tells the computer is your cars’ speed.  If the diameter is off, this data may be off too.  Some car owners like the look of larger diameter tires.  In this case, smaller vehicles like cars and vans can have a diameter variation of plus three percent.  Bigger vehicles like pick-ups and sport utility vehicles can have a diameter variation of plus fifteen percent.  If you have questions on how far your cars tire diameter can variate, please ask one of our technicians.