Car Driving and Maintenance Tips.

The Car Insurance Warehouse believe your driving safety is paramount: We have put together a few tips to make sure you have some great information available to you right here on our website.

The Basics.

1. Speed
   
   Please obey the speed limits! Speeding fines are getting expensive and more prosecutions are successful than ever before. Hitting a child in the street over 30 miles per hour is very likely to result in a death and you could be prosecuted. The best way to slow you down is to think that it could be your child who runs out into a public road and a motor vehicle traveling above the speed limit may very well not be able to stop in time, that's assuming the driver evens sees the child in time.



2. Following Distance
   
   Make sure you keep a safe distance between the cars in front of you. Especially on the motorway The rule of thumb is three seconds. That's the time that should pass between a car in front of you passing a fixed point on the side of the road and your car passing that very same point. Sometimes called tailgating. This outrageous behavior is dangerous and a little patience could prevent an accident. Remember that even if a driver may not value his or her own life, the truth is that they are putting others lives at risk! The car in front may have a child onboard and that child's life is important.



3. Safety Checks
   
   Check your tires, mirrors, oil and water before you start a journey. Under inflated tires can mean a big increase in the amount of fuel you use. This affect your wallet and our environment. A flat spare tire will ruin your day and a garage is not on every corner anymore. May we suggest that you also carry a bottle of tire weld in the boot. Adjusting you r mirrors while driving is dangerous. You should concentrate on driving and other road users and pedestrians. A lack of oil causes unnecessary wear in your engine and could result in an engine failure after a period of time. The same goes from water, although overheating will do damage with in five minutes, not a week. Also there may be not water for miles around and stopping on the side of the road is not always safe in today's Britain.



4. Stopping On The Side Of Road
   
   Please, we implore you also avoid stopping on the side of the motorway if at all possible and do not stop facing oncoming traffic on A and B roads either. The traffic does not flow at 70 mph even in your dreams. It's more like 85 mph. The do not have enough time to spot you at all times an may veer to the hard shoulder when loosing concentration for just a moment. Trucks have lots of blow outs as many use retread tires which delaminate at high speeds. This could happen where you have stopped and that puts you and your passengers at great risk. During winter carry a warm jacket in the boot of your car should you break down to keep you warm. Never sit in the car should you break down. Please move away from the car and sit on the embankment a safe distance from your car, the traffic and keep warm.



5. Drink Driving and the Law
   
   Don’t drink and drive after heading down the local pub for a after work or Sunday pint. There are several pubs which support the designated driver campaign and they should offer the driver free soft drinks to keep your group of friends in their establishment for a few hours. Especially around the Xmas season the temptation is great and it take a just a little common sense to realise that you would needlessly endanger others if you you drive drunk. If your alone then call a mini cab.



6. Wear Your Seatbelt
   
   Clunk - Click as my little girl says every time we get in the car! Wearing a seatbelt is more important than it ever was. New cars may be safer but they are also faster and thanks to European trucks on our British roads now even more dangerous than ever before. You may drive well and indeed think that you are one of the safest drivers on our UK roads, but alas it’s not you that will cause the accident. Most likely it’s the other driver who has a complete disregard for other peoples safety and the right for all road users to get home alive. They will cut you up, tailgate your and push in to a 2 mile cue on the M25 at the very last second. And all without ever looking at their rear view mirror or the speedometer. They squeeze between trucks to catch the turn off crossing from the fast lane with complete disregard to your families safety and this is why you really need to wear your seatbelt. Its not your driving that worries me! The easiest way to help keep you and your family arrive at your destination safe and sound is t wear a seatbelt each and every trip. Don't take a chance. If you have an accident it will be too late. Remember that. Make sure that your children sit on the legal approved car seat or booster seats. Make sure that they are fitted correctly too. If in any doubt pop over to a Halfords near you and ask them for advice. Height, weight and age all play a small part in selecting the correct seat or booster seat, so if in any doubt once again seek advice from the professionals before buckle your child into the seat.



7. Check Lights and Car Battery
   
   Check your car battery has enough power in it. Winter really does drain a car battery, especially if it is an older car battery. It’s the cold weather that drains a batteries power. Also the darker nights mean you may forget to turn off your cars lights when you get home at night. Faulty interior lights and car alarms drain car batteries over a few days at the most too so make sure that your electrics are checked for faults as we go into the winter months.
   
   Turn on your lights, winter is almost here and it gets dark really early. Lights include headlights, park lights, tail lights, reverse lights and indicators too. To ensure everything is working properly, have a family member or friend walk around the car while you test the car lights at least once a week or before a big trip. This is a good habit to start and could prevent you from loosing light on a dark A road in the middle of the night. When it’s dark, it’s dangerous to be without lights. Always have a spare light bulb kit in the glove box ( Halfords sell a kit which has a selection of various bulbs in a great little plastic container to protect them from breaking and also for easy storage )and should you use a spare bulb have it replaced the next day. Do not take a chance.



8. First Aid and Space Blanket
   
   I don’t mean to sound over the top here, but there are several places online where you could buy a car first aid kit which fits under the front car seat or in the boot. You may never need it, but it could be vital if you witness an accident. Also think about getting a silver space blanket. You will have seen people on the M25 at night with them wrapped around to keep warm. I drive around the M25 every day of the working week and I have seen hundreds of them now. This tells me that it is more than just a perhaps you should get one than a you really must get at least two and put them in your cars boot.



9. Roadside Assistance Kit and Torch
   
   Every car should have a roadside assistance kit in the car at all times. That little red triangle is there to warn other drivers that you have broken down. The red triangle will tell other drivers to drive with caution as a vehicle has broken down on the side of the road. For this reason do not place the triangle 10 meters from your car! It takes an average car around 60 meters to stop if they are not speeding so give them around 30 meter warning to slow down. Your roadside assistance kit could also include a yellow Hi-Vi's vest and a tin of tyre weld. Routinely check that your wheel brace and car jack are in good order as if they are missing or broken your in more trouble than you need to be. The same goes for your torch battery, is it still fully charged? Most of the petrol stations sell the wind up torches - don’t laugh, they're great. Did you ever think of carrying a spare bottle of radiator water in your boot. You may laugh now, but it’s one of the most common breakdown faults!



10. Windscreen Wipers - Screen Wash Solution - Tyre's
    
    Winter brings a lot of rain in the UK. Your wiper blades get very little use in Summer and often perish in the heat. Do your wipers squeak when you use them. Are streaks of water left on the screen while you use them. I have found that many cars windscreen wipers do not work at all! The motors are faulty or wires loose. The number of times that I have come across faulty screen wash jets is so high I could not guess a high enough number. YOu may not think of this until it's too late so Ill let you in on a secret right now. If your cars demister fans do not work correctly you could endanger not only your own life but that of other motorists too. Check the fans work inside your dash and if there is a fault get them fixed right away! This cant wait for tomorrow. If you can’t see you are endangering your life.
    
    If you are not a confident driver and you get caught in a massive thunderstorm do the wise thing and pull over to the side of the road. Poor viability in the rain makes for unsafe driving conditions. Poor tyre's with little or no tread could cause you to aqua plain and loose control. That's what boats do when they get up to speed, and yes cars do it all the time on the motorway! The words that come to mind here are dicing with death! So to recap, never try to drive through a heavy downpour of rain, pull over at the safest place, preferable a service station or Little Chef and sit out the storm. Turn on your lights as soon as the weather gets worse. Car spares retailers even sell lights which perform better in winter so why not ask about them. Don't be shy to use your cars lights in poor visibility! Turn them on.



11. Carry Your Drivers Licence; Proof Of Insurance and Breakdown Insurance
    
    Should you have an accident it would be beneficial to both parties involved if you have a copy of your car car insurance details and drivers licence in your wallet. The same goes for if you have a mechanical breakdown as you will need to provide your policy number to the breakdown company before they arrange your tow truck. Finding the phone number to ring can also be a pain if you have forgotten to leave details in the glove box. Naturally it is safer to carry theses details in your wallet than leaving a copy in your glove box. This could help prevent identity fraud and The Car Insurance Warehouse would highly recommend that you do not leave personal details in your car. Leaving a pen and paper in the glove box is another good idea should you have an accident and one better would be to take a photo of the accident with your mobile camera in these circumstances. Record the conversation you may have with the other party should you be in an accident with your mobile phone too, should your phone have the facility and now days most do! To avoid confrontation we would suggest that you leave the phone in your pocket though or hold it in your hand, but do not make it obvious you are recording the conversation as this could end up putting you in a dangerous and perhaps confrontational situation. Only do this is you can do it without drawing attention to the fact.