So you’d like to start the year right, and you don’t know how, where or why?
Maybe it’s time you took a look into your garage, and took a long, hard look at your vehicle. There may be some things that you’re missing, and some things that you can add up to it to improve your everyday driving and make it safer.
So if you’re looking to make a resolution to treat your car better, to be a better driver, or for any other particular reason, we’re here to help you start the year right with your car.
Safety
We could all always do better when it comes to driving, especially when talking about safety. Some of us get reckless, upset and get plenty agitated even at the littlest things, and that’s not healthy (both emotionally and physically).
First, breathe in, breathe out, and try to calm yourself. Park for a little bit, and walk around, grab a drink and distract yourself if you think you’re going into a road rage.
Failing that, get a dual dash cam.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again- it’s pretty weird (and a little embarrassing) seeing yourself react so adversely to such a very small thing to happen; a swerve here, and cut there, doesn’t warrant a lot of screaming inside your vehicle.
To see all that in video should embarrass you straight and should help you take it a little cooler next time. Not to mention, it insures your vehicle against any accidents or incidents on the road- provided that you're not the one at fault, of course.
Another huge thing that we should talk about related to driving- reversing. Whether if you’re parking or getting out of park, you should know that reversing is one of the main vehicular activities that causes accidents.
Reversing is a bit dangerous due to the fact that there are plenty of big blind spots in the car when reversing- these are things that need to be addressed with more visibility, such as a reversing camera. Consider installing one if you’d like to be a better driver, especially when you’re parking or reversing.
If you’re one of those people that always forgets to put on their seatbelts, this year is a good year to get started on a new and safe habit of always making a mental note to put on your seatbelt no matter what happens.
If you have a habit of using your phone, driving without any proper sleep while intoxicated, now is the time to stop those habits. They’re very dangerous, and you’re not just endangering yourself but you’re also endangering other.
It’s a worthy new year’s resolution to do away with those habits as they make the roads safer for everyone; one more safe driver out there means less chances for an accident.
We have a lot of available magnetic car phone holders, which you can see here. This should help you keep your phone right where it is, if not in your pocket: mounted, and free from distracting you and keeping your eyes off the road.
Make sure that if you're going to be driving the next day, that you're getting enough sleep. 7-8 hours is ideal, especially for drivers that will be driving long distances. People do fall asleep in cars and obviously, that's a huge safety risk for everyone involved.
Tyre & Car Health
One aspect of motoring that’s often overlooked is tyre health, or tyre monitoring. And some even have the belief that overinflating them will give them better gas mileage; underinflating will give you better traction.
It’s time to stop that, and always make sure that you have your tyres set to the correct psi level. We’ve answered this over and over again on social media and have mentioned it so many times as well in our blog- it’s time to keep your tyres at the correct level of inflation, which is around 30-35 psi (depending on your car; always defer to your car's manual for this).
Remember that overinflating will shorten the lifespan of your tyre by wearing out its tracks earlier, and you’re at risk for a blow out. Under-inflating exposes the tyre’s non-rubbery material to the hard road, eventually destroying the tyre for good. A good pressure gauge, or a TPMS can help (if you'd really like to check if you have the correct psi level down to the decimal point).
Even if you were to go off-roading, always defer to your car's manual for the correct tire pressure.
If you’re not knowledgeable with cars, it’s a good idea to get an OBD2 diagnostic scanner for this coming year. They’re perfect for almost all kinds of cars, and they provide codes that relate to your car’s current status.
This should help you figure out what is the problem with your car, and help make trips to your mechanic easier and free of guesswork (for the most part). Both items are available here at Elinz- just follow the links above for more information.
Convenience
When's the last time that you've had your car suddenly die in the middle of a long trip? It's a gigantic hassle, isn't it? To make sure that it doesn't happen again, always make a habit of checking your car batteries. Conventionally, you should change your car batteries every three years, but sometimes, especially if you drive day in, day out, you'll need to replace it earlier, usually 2 years in or a year and a half alone.
If you can get a car battery charger, get one- it's important as you need to be able to go on even if your car's batteries die out for any reason.
We have different car battery chargers available here, and check which ones would be great for your vehicle, as seen here.
There you have it- these items and tips should make for a smoother year of driving this 2020- all items mentioned are available here at Elinz!
