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This is a collaborative post.
Travelling with kids in the back of your car? If you are, then you might adjust your driving style somewhat or avoid roads you know can be particularly tricky, especially if you’re driving at night. Although this is a good idea – what could be more important than ensuring the safety of little ones, after all? – but there are some other basic car care measures you can take that will prove to be even more effective. What are the most important ones?
1. Make Sure Restraints Work
Older kids must buckle up on a car journey just like adults. However, your car might have old, twisted or frayed seatbelts that won’t do a good job in an emergency. Make sure each seatbelt moves freely and doesn’t jam. Younger kids must have height and weight-appropriate booster seats so that seatbelts can do their job, preventing children from moving suddenly by restraining them across their wastes and chests, not their necks. Of course, little children need to be in full child seats or baby restraints. Make sure all the anchor points are in place and, where appropriate, airbags are temporarily switched off to accommodate them.
2. Book a Duxback Treatment
Duxback is a professional-quality glass treatment that was originally designed for the aviation industry. It is now widely used in the automotive sector to make driving safer. It does this by stopping water from beading on glass, creating streaks that impair the driver’s view of the road ahead. When done by a professional, it can dramatically improve visibility in rainy conditions. You’ll notice the difference with a Duxback treatment even in light rain but it really comes into its own with heavy downpours. Since the treatment enhances water repellency and reduces dirt adhesion, regular Duxback applications can also extend the life of your wiper blades and improve overall driving comfort. If you are planning to book a Duxbak treatment, you can check with experts at Reg Greenwood for getting Duxback treatment for your car and ask whether your headlamps can be treated, too, since it isn’t only the windscreens of vehicles that can benefit from this car care tip.
3. Have Wheel Alignment Checked
Wheel alignment isn’t just about handling and performance because it is also about being safe on the road. When your car’s wheels are pulling against one another, it isn’t just a drag you’ll feel on the wheel but a problem for staying in your lane. Misaligned wheels wear down tyres prematurely, too, which can make them less effective when braking. Checking the tracking will mean you can drive more safely whether you have kids on board with you or not.
4. Confirm Your Lights Work
Just one faulty lamp can make all the difference when visibility is poor. If you are travelling with children, then you will want every other road user to know whether you’re intending on turning right or left, so your indicators must be in good working order. The same must go for your headlamps and braking lights, of course. Don’t overlook your fog lamp, essential in low-visibility weather. Simply changing one or two bulbs can make all the difference to car safety and it doesn’t take long!
5. Inflate Your Tyres
Finally, remember to check how pumped up your tyres are before heading out on the open road with children. You should check them routinely, of course, but not every motorist does. Therefore, if you are planning a trip with kids in the back, now is probably the right time to make this check. You cannot tell whether your tyres are partially under-inflated by kicking them or looking at them. You need to use a pressure gauge. Given most filling stations have them and they’re easy to use, there really is no excuse for not re-inflating your tyres to the recommended level.