How Bad Automobile Maintenance Can Lead To Accidents And Steps That Can Be Taken To Avoid These Incidents
The roads today are the safest in the history of roads but mishaps still happen. The Majority of them are not fatal but some are and result in loss of life. Many of these mishaps are down to human error but a growing number are down to motor malfunctions, down to bad everyday maintenance. You might consider that the important parts of the motor that are being insufficiently serviced are the brakes, steering or the suspension, and that these are what is causing these accidents, but you would be incorrect. These parts are serviced annually on trucks that are three years old as part of the MOT, and because these parts are designed to be hard wearing they hardly ever fail between the twelve monthly checks. A lot of these mishaps can be attributed to three areas , the car windshield, the lights and the tyres, all of which should be serviced often to make sure they are in good working condition.
How should these three areas of the motor be inspected to avoid mishaps? Let us start by discussing the windshield; having a clear field of vision is necessary for operating any motor safely. At first you should really check the windshield for any chips and cracks and if you find any they need to be repaired straight away as these can distract you and impair your vision on the highway. Also your wiper blades need to be in working condition; this means that they possess no damage in the wiper blades and clear rain from the windshield without leaving streaks and marks. If your wiper blades have any of these faults then you must obtain some replacement wiper blades and fit them immediately. When selecting your replacement wiper blades remember they are not all identical. If you live somewhere where the winters are bad it may be worth obtaining flat wiper blades formed from silicone as these flat wiper blades will function in the worst conditions. Although the flat wiper blades made from silicone are costly they come with a one-year guarantee and they are good value for money.
It is now time to look at what inspections the lights on the motor need .The lights on a vechile should all be working and to ensure this they should be checked often. This can be done easily in a couple minutes with two people; one person operates the lights and the other person see if they are working. If any of the lights are not operating then replacement bulbs should be fitted straight away. If you don’t feel confident doing this yourself a lot of garages will fit them for a small fee. You should also think about enhancing your headlights to neon bulbs, as for most dark winter nights any extra light will always increase safety.
Finally, let us look at what checks should be repeatedly carried out on the tyres of a vechile to maintain its safe operation. The first thing to do is to check the depth of the tread which can be done using a depth gauge. For a tyre to be legal it must have more than 1.6 mm of tread over 2/3 of its surface but the manufacturers recommend more than 3 mm of tread over 2/3 of the tyre. The next thing to do is check is the air pressure in the tyre, this should be the same as the manufacturer’s specification which is typically on a sticker in the driver’s door arch. You check the pressure by attaching the pressure gauge to the tyre valve, then read off the value on the pressure gauge. If the pressure is lower than specified then you have to straight away pump up the tyre. You should check it again in a day or so and if the pressure has reduced then it is best to take the tyre to an expert and have it checked as it is likely to have a leak. Tyres will slowly deflate all the time so small pressure changes are likely over a period of a month or so.