28th November 2016
As well as preparing your vehicle to face difficult winter weather conditions, you should also make sure that you have the following items with you to prepare for the unforeseen eventualities that winter driving can bring.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to fit winter tyres to your vehicle. Winter tyres are designed differently to summer tyres and provide enhanced stability on slippery winter surfaces resulting in a safe drive. Find out more about winter tyres and storing summer tyres in our tyre hotel.
Buy an ice scraper to remove snow and ice from your windscreen on cold mornings. Ice scrapers are inexpensive, and this is the most effective method of clearing your windscreen. Do not use your windscreen wipers to remove ice as they can easily stick to an icy windscreen and this could cause an electrical malfunction. Some motorists choose to pour boiling water on a frozen windscreen, however, this may lead to windscreen damage.
As most breakdowns occur in winter, it is important to ensure that you can contact others in an emergency. Keep an in-car phone charger in your vehicle so that you can charge your battery whilst driving.
During winter, it is not unusual for routes to be closed or blocked off due to difficult weather conditions, road closures or accidents. For this reason, Merityre Specialists would advise carrying a sat-nav to help recalculate your route automatically.
Winter is the darkest time of year, so if you do come in to difficulty when driving, it is important that you can see what you are doing! Make sure that you keep a torch with you just in case you need to exit your vehicle or check for damage.
Your car will provide warmth when you are driving, however, if you suffered a breakdown and needed to evacuate your vehicle, you need to ensure that you stay warm. Keep a spare set of warm clothes and a blanket in your boot for use in an emergency. To keep your battery healthy, you should try not to run your heating or any other electrical items when the engine is off, so this may be another opportunity to use any warm clothes or blankets instead.
Whilst most roads should be gritted and maintained in winter, you may at some point need to manually remove snow. Carry a folding spade to save space in your boot and make sure that it is big enough to effectively shovel snow.
Contact your local Merityre Specialists branch for further advice and guidance on keeping yourself and your vehicle safe on the road this winter.