My OperaMagic Mechanic Car Maintenance and Road Safety
Friday, September 10, 2010 5:44:39 AM
Car Maintenance and Road Safety
By Daniel Wright
Not all of us can afford the latest model car, nor can we change our cars every three years. But none of us can afford to neglect maintenance. It is hard to hand over the crisp folding stuff sometimes, especially when you have savings targets to meet or creditors to pacify. However, neglecting maintenance can hit you in the pocket when your auto insurance premium doubles due to an easily prevented accident. In fact, the cost of poorly maintained cars could be far greater than you ever imagined.
Consider this scenario. You are driving on the highway, the traffic is flowing freely. You are relaxed and enjoying chatting with your wife about the day you have had. The next thing you know, someone is slapping you roughly on the face. She is covered in blood. Your blood as it turns out. Something is making your eyes blurry. You become dimly aware that you are upside down hanging from your seatbelt. What you don't know is that blood is pouring from a deep head wound caused when your head walloped into the windscreen.
You front right tire blew out as you were tearing down the highway causing your car to veer off the road, leap into the air and roll over a time or two. What you will always wonder, is how come you were so lucky; your wife's badly bruised body healed in a few weeks. You suffered no detectable brain damage and your scar only made you more handsome. Not everyone is so lucky.
But accidents due to tire blowouts are preventable. Regular maintenance starts with tires. If you forget to put gas in the car, it will soon tell you. But the tires just keep on trying to do their job. Examine your tire treads every six months. Look at the depth of the tread as well as checking for any uneven wear. Bald tires are no joke especially in wet and greasy conditions.
But it is not just the tread that needs to be inspected. Particularly if you live in an area where there are high temperatures or extremes of hot and cold, take the time to check the walls of the tires for cracks, or get the local garage to do it for you.Perishing rubber puts lives at risk. So that jump in the cost of auto insurance is only a small.
By Daniel Wright
Not all of us can afford the latest model car, nor can we change our cars every three years. But none of us can afford to neglect maintenance. It is hard to hand over the crisp folding stuff sometimes, especially when you have savings targets to meet or creditors to pacify. However, neglecting maintenance can hit you in the pocket when your auto insurance premium doubles due to an easily prevented accident. In fact, the cost of poorly maintained cars could be far greater than you ever imagined.
Consider this scenario. You are driving on the highway, the traffic is flowing freely. You are relaxed and enjoying chatting with your wife about the day you have had. The next thing you know, someone is slapping you roughly on the face. She is covered in blood. Your blood as it turns out. Something is making your eyes blurry. You become dimly aware that you are upside down hanging from your seatbelt. What you don't know is that blood is pouring from a deep head wound caused when your head walloped into the windscreen.
You front right tire blew out as you were tearing down the highway causing your car to veer off the road, leap into the air and roll over a time or two. What you will always wonder, is how come you were so lucky; your wife's badly bruised body healed in a few weeks. You suffered no detectable brain damage and your scar only made you more handsome. Not everyone is so lucky.
But accidents due to tire blowouts are preventable. Regular maintenance starts with tires. If you forget to put gas in the car, it will soon tell you. But the tires just keep on trying to do their job. Examine your tire treads every six months. Look at the depth of the tread as well as checking for any uneven wear. Bald tires are no joke especially in wet and greasy conditions.
But it is not just the tread that needs to be inspected. Particularly if you live in an area where there are high temperatures or extremes of hot and cold, take the time to check the walls of the tires for cracks, or get the local garage to do it for you.Perishing rubber puts lives at risk. So that jump in the cost of auto insurance is only a small.
